Ep. 32: Encounters of the Spooky Kind

There's perhaps never been a more exciting movement in action filmmaking than the Hong Kong New Wave in the 1980's, and within that body of work perhaps no films more unique and unusual than the hopping vampire movies.

What are Hong Kong Hopping Vampires? Well, they're vampires from the Qing Dynasty who hunt for victims by...hopping. Feet together, arms out, one stiff hop after another. And this film - Encounters of the Spooky Kind - is the one that heralded in the entire craze with an unforgettable martial arts showdown between Sammo Hung as Bold Cheung and Yuen Biao as his Hopping Vampire foe.

And so in this episode we - along with cinematographer Ryan Kroboth, our friend Evan, and Dr. Connie Chen - explore just what the heck a hopping vampire is, why they exist, and furthermore how Sammo Hung and a host of other Hong Kong action filmmakers in the 80's were able to create the most insane stunts and fight sequences ever committed to film.

We're also getting into the weeds with how certain cinema lenses are used to achieve the signature "kung fu snap zoom" that fills this movie with dynamic frame adjustments, the history of Hong Kong cinema's Peking Opera tradition and the stuntmen/leading men who emerged from those schools, and of course discuss this film's unforgettable final frames and decide which side of the Letterboxd debate we fall on - is it extremely problematic or is it the best final "The End" freeze frame of all time?

So hop along with us as we continue through spooky season with, in our opinion, an essential film for the Halloween season, Encounters of the Spooky Kind!

Encounters of the Spooky Kind
Directed by Sammo Hung
1980, Hong Kong

Additional music credits:

"Yokai", "Dark Sakura", "Hannya", and "Yurei" by Kraosando

"Jing Diao" and "Xing Jie" by Jiangsu Song and Dance Ensemble

Incredibly Strange Video is produced and edited by Ryan Quinn and Cassie Kay. Follow us on Bluesky @isvpodcast.bsky.social for updates on the newest episodes!

Theme music:
The End by EVA
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All excerpts from the films discussed are used for educational and critical purposes only.