After the disappointing Mr Vampire 2, the story is taken back in time to the good old days of the first movie and sticks closer to the original formula. It’s a good job, too, because Mr Vampire 3 manages to save the series from joining the ranks of the undead.

Lam Ching Ying is here, of course, and is joined by Billy Lau as the incompetent Captain, but it is a shame that Chin Siu Ho, Ricky Hui, or even Yuen Biao couldn’t join the party. To compensate, there is a large supporting cast, including cameos by the likes of Wu Ma and Sammo Hung (creator/producer of the series).

There is certainly a lot happening, and the pace is kept frantic throughout. Quite a few supernatural beings float in and out of the film, some of them for no more than a few minutes, while some stick around to hinder our heroes. Female ‘fox spirits’ put in an appearance, a whole family of spooks gives Richard Ng the runaround, and vengeful spirits possess good guys.

The main source of trouble is a local bandit who uses witchcraft to cause lots of aimless trouble. In fact, the bad guy in this movie has no main objective (taking over the world and the like), which means that the film as a whole lacks any direction. Stuff happens, chickens get bled, ghosts are captured and recaptured, fun is had by all, but there is no real plot to speak of. It doesn’t really matter when you realise that it’s hard to list all the cool things that you’ve seen. One battle early on in the film is particularly cool, and Lam Ching Ying does a great leap over an enemy, before back-kicking him in the head in lovely slow motion.

Even the great Lam Ching Ying seems at times confused by what’s going on, and a couple of times he just seems to wander off during moments that would be better with him in the frame, He’s still the star of the show, but is supported well by his co-stars. Richard Ng is as funny as always as Lam Ching Ying’s bumbling opposite number, assisted by an undead duo who dress as vampires, but have more in common with ghosts. Billy Lau is equally amusing, resurrecting the possessed ‘human puppet’ routine from the original, and camping it up nicely, but sadly lacking a lot of the vindictive qualities that made his character in the original so great.

Mr Vampire 3 is a fair apology for the first sequel in the series. It’s lively, imaginative and moves along at an insane pace, but something is missing. Under the final credits runs a montage of madness collected from key scenes, and despite reminding us of how much fun it’s been, there is still an uneasy feeling in the bottom of your heart (and the heart of your bottom). Then it hits you, cold and hard, the one thing that stops Mr Vampire 3 from really reaching the dizzy heights of the first film – shouldn’t there be vampires in this?