Shaolin vs. Evil Dead (2004)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

ill agree with most out there if you base this movies rating purely on the first installment, yes you may end up being sorely disappointed. but if you wait it out and I'm sure some of you have then your now aware that those scenes at the end of s vs e weren't test shots as others have lead you to believe but were in fact........OK before i go on ill let you know that the rest of the review is quite a spoiler so for any who want to wait and see the sequel please don't read on.......now as i was saying those "test shots" as they were poorly stated were in fact final scene shots well some anyways from the sequel shaolin vs evil dead 2: ultimate power, which BTW is out for sale in china now, not 100%sure when it will be available domestically but it is out there so please don't base your reviews on what others have said before me because they are entirely wrong the sequel was bought and paid for in 2005 why others have called these scenes in the closing credits "test shots" i know not and just to let you all know I'm not passing on info from other sites i read well about the movie itself and its quality I'm not anyways i just finished watching it so by all means keep your eyes open and look out quite a good movie after all even with all the throw backs to the vampire comedy movies of the Chinese cinema's past

Actually I enjoyed this movie. This film is no gorefest, it's quite mild. Apparently when they imported they decided to market it as a cross between martial arts schlock and horror schlock, which would certainly be enjoyable in its own way, but that's not what it is, so it's not surprising many were disappointed.I found it enjoyable for the authentic cultural touches...combatting evil and undead with a Taoist slant rather than crosses is quite interesting.The abrupt ending with what must be scenes from part II rolled in a small box next to the credits was certainly clumsy and disconcerting though.

STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits Unsurprisingly, there's little in the way of a discernible plot to this slice of Hong Kong cinema- unfortunately there's also a distinct lack of exciting martial arts action too. Luckily, the unintentional comedy works wonders, such as the hilarious dubbing, a scene in which Gordon Liu asks a boy to urinate on the floor because he needs to use "virgin's pee", a scene in which he instructs his soldiers by using a rhyme that sounds like a high-school cheerleaders chant and a small child chasing after another boy calling him 'mummy' and covered in what is seemingly spunk. ***

Throw a low-budget movie together with some Chinese vampires, likable kung-fu master, psychedelic special-effects, a good-looking babe and some funny sidekicks and what do you get? If you're lucky, you end up with a classic like Mr. Vampire. If you're not lucky, you end up with Shaolin vs. Evil Dead.It isn't that the movie is a low-budget piece of garbage that is totally convoluted and incomprehensible (far from it) the problem is that it suffers from the medium budget mediocrity of most straight to video or made for TV fantasy movies. Although it contains all of the aforementioned fun ingredients (kung-fu, zombies, babe etc.), it just doesn't contain enough of these elements in enough exciting or outlandish ways to be considered anything close to a cult classic. (So don't expect anything as funny as a Stephen Chow movie or as over the top as the real Evil Dead movies: both of those are in a class all their own.) With that being said, I can say that I was fairly entertained for 90 minutes (it's always a treat to see Gordon Liu) and it makes for good Saturday Matinée popcorn movie fare: moving fast, and keeping up the comic book imagery. It is a fairly sincere attempt by the small cast and offers good character development if there ever is a part two.And yes, the cut to the credits is ridiculously abrupt for no apparent reason. (Couldn't they have at least finished the current scene?) but other than this goof (which seems to be making many enemies of the film) it *does* come pretty close to delivering what it promises on the cover. It is after all named "Shaolin vs. Evil Dead".