General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20264 min read

Mr. Vampire III (灵幻先生)

Mr. Vampire III (靈幻先生; also released as Mr. Vampire Part 3) is a 1987 Hong Kong horror comedy directed by Ricky Lau and produced by Sammo Hung, the third entry in the Mr. Vampire series begun with the 1985 hit Mr. Vampire (殭屍先生)¹^•². It stars Lam Ching-Ying as the Taoist priest Master Gau (九叔), Richard Ng as the itinerant conman priest Mao Ming, Billy Lau, Lui Fong, and Pauline Wong as the witch¹. The film earned HK$19,460,536 in Hong Kong, ranking 13th among all films released there in 1987³.

Key fact	Detail
Chinese title	靈幻先生 (traditional) / 灵幻先生 (simplified); also known as 僵屍先生3¹
Release	Hong Kong 17 December 1987; Japan 12 March 1988; South Korea 30 April 1988⁴
Director / producer	Ricky Lau Koon-Wai; producer Sammo Hung Kam-Bo²
Box office	HK$19,460,536 in Hong Kong, 13th place for 1987³
Series position	Third of the Mr. Vampire films; returns to a period setting after the modern-day second installment²
Distinctive point	Despite the series title, the film contains no vampires; its antagonists are a witch and her bandit gang⁵
Production	Bo Ho Films with Orange Sky Golden Harvest; Cantonese language⁶

Spoilers

Plot

After the modern-day setting of Mr. Vampire II, the series returned to a period setting, which reviewers describe as a back-to-basics approach². The story follows Mao Ming (Richard Ng), a Taoist priest of limited skill who travels from town to town with two friendly ghosts, the adult Ta Pao (Lui Fong) and the child ghost Hsi Pao (Ho Kin-Wai). The trio runs a con in which the ghosts haunt houses and Mao Ming collects fees for exorcising them². Their scheme collapses when they attempt to haunt an already genuinely haunted house, and their wanderings bring them to a village under siege by bandits who practice sorcery, led by a witch (Pauline Wong)².

Mao Ming is mistaken for a bandit and arrested by the village security captain (Billy Lau), and is saved by the village's resident Taoist master, Master Gau (Lam Ching-Ying)¹. After a dispute, the two ghosts are taken into Master Gau's custody, and Mao Ming resolves to part from them, but Ta Pao is captured by the bandits⁹. The two priests eventually join forces to defeat the witch and her gang, and in the climax the robbers turn two morticians into vampires, which Master Gau must tame¹⁰. Fortune Star's synopsis also describes the police deputy raping and killing the witch, whose spirit later returns as a vampire¹⁰.

Production

The film was made by Bo Ho Films with Golden Harvest, written by Lo Wing-Keung and Szeto Cheuk-Hon, and shot by cinematographer Andrew Lau, later the director of the Infernal Affairs trilogy⁶^•⁷. Action direction is credited to Lam Ching-Ying, Stephen Tung Wai, and the Sammo Hung Stunt Team⁸.

Reported running times differ across databases: 88 minutes (1905.com, OutNow, atmovies), 92 minutes (Letterboxd, Fortune Star, Cinegraph), 93 minutes (Newton), and 94 minutes (Kungfu Tube)¹^•⁴^•⁹^•³.

Place in the series and reception

Mr. Vampire (1985) popularized the jiangshi, or Chinese hopping vampire, genre by mixing horror, comedy, and kung fu, and it spawned three official sequels plus unofficial imitations⁵. The third installment is notable within the series for containing no vampires at all; its supernatural threats are ghosts, a witch, and sorcerous bandits⁵. Reviewers noted that the film's premise, a living man partnered with friendly ghosts, anticipated Peter Jackson's The Frighteners by about nine years².

Critical reception was mixed. The lovehkfilm review called it little more than silly fun that pales beside the original², while Far East Films judged it a more faithful sequel than part 2, praising Lam Ching-Ying's screen presence and Pauline Wong's witch, but finding it rushed with underdeveloped characters⁸. A Blueprint: Review assessment of the Eureka Blu-ray box set described the film as darker and more violent than the second entry, with atmospheric use of smoke and colored lighting and retro optical effects for the magical weapons⁷. Aggregated audience scores sit around 6.7/10 on IMDb and 48% on the Rotten Tomatoes audience score¹¹.

The film was released on Blu-ray in 2023 by Eureka Entertainment as part of a Mr. Vampire sequels box set, presented in 1080p from a new 2K restoration⁷.

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Franchise and series entries as standalone works › Horror and slasher series film entries › 1970s and 1980s releases

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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