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 very
once in a while, a film comes along with a premise
that is simply astounding in its brilliance. The
Korean "Vampire Cop Ricky", which
follows a useless, corrupt policeman who turns
into a vampire whenever he gets an erection, is
one such film. Amazingly, director Lee Si Myung
(also responsible for "2009:
Lost Memories") takes the bold approach
of treating the concept half seriously, attempting
to mix together a dizzying range of genres. Even
more amazingly, this brave move pays off, and the
film somehow manages to straddle the fine line
between genius and insanity in a way which results
in nothing less than a modern classic.
The film begins with a
ludicrous prologue set in
Transylvania
, where a Euro-vamp stereotype is bitten by a
mosquito (which sends him into an amusingly over
the top fit of howling rage), which flies to
Korea
with the help of a passing plane. Here, the
mosquito bites useless and corrupt policeman Na Do
Yeol (played by Kim Su Ro, also in "Taegukgi"),
who finds himself turning into a vampire whenever
his strongest emotions are aroused -- in this
case, his libido. As well as trying to come to
terms with his new powers with help from a Lam
Ching Ying ("Mr. Vampire") style priest,
Na finds his past misdeeds coming back to haunt
him, threatening the lives of his friends and
would-be girlfriend, and pushing him to clean up
his act and follow the path of the righteous.
The film is simply hilarious
throughout, with some classic scenes such as those
which feature Na on the run from a gang of thugs,
desperately watching pornography on a mini DVD
player in the hope of inspiring a return of his
powers. This gives a pretty good idea of the
comedic tone throughout, though surprisingly the
film features very little in the way of sleaze,
and actually has a fairly moralistic heart. It is
of course worth noting that the subtitles never
refer to either the main character, or indeed
anyone in the film as Ricky, which nicely sums up
the cavalier and cheerfully lunatic feel to the
proceedings.
The film's true strength lies
in Lee's skill at combining genres, as although on
paper the mixture of fraternalistic police
thriller, horror, sex comedy and romance may be
quite inconceivable, Lee actually manages to pull
all these seemingly disparate elements into a
cohesive and highly engaging whole, which emerges
as what is perhaps best described as a perverted
take on "Batman
Begins". Wisely, Lee keeps things briskly
moving, with plenty of action and laughs, never
allowing the viewer to stop and consider just how
ridiculous the film really is.
Unlikely as it may sound, the
viewer does come to care for Na, and his
redemptive journey is played out in the best Shaw
Brothers fashion, and feels genuine and heartfelt.
This is mainly due to star Kim Su Ro, who turns in
a great performance which is part wacky face
pulling and part tortured emotion, and which comes
complete with Bruce Lee style squeals and the
shouting of English language slogans during the
frequent martial arts sequences. Of course, it is
hard to forget that he is a guy who turns into a
vampire when sexually aroused, but strangely
enough, this never gets in the way of the film's
dramatic elements, which actually makes the gag
premise even funnier.
Indeed, it is the very fact
that the film is played half for laughs, and half
with a straight face and earnest heart that marks
it as a classic. Whether enjoyed as an absurd
comedy or mixed bag of thrills, "Vampire Cop
Ricky" stands as one of the most entertaining
films of the last few years, and hopefully one
which will find its niche as a genuine cult item.
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