Watch Robo Vampire

Robo Vampire is a bizarre and entertaining cult classic action-horror movie from 1988, directed by Godfrey Ho and starring Robin Mackay, Nian Watts, and Harry Myles. This low-budget Hong Kong-made film combines kung fu, vampires, and robots in a way that's sure to leave you scratching your head and wondering how anyone could come up with such an outlandish premise.

The story centers on a narcotics agent named Tom (Mackay) who is enlisted by a group of businessmen to stop a drug lord in Southeast Asia known as The Golden Triangle. The drug lord, who is aided by a powerful sorcerer, has an army of hopheads and vampire assassins at his disposal. To combat this formidable enemy, Tom is assigned a new partner: a robot that's been reprogrammed specifically for vampire hunting.

Yes, you read that right: a robot designed to kill vampires. But wait, it gets even better. The robot is not actually a robot in the traditional sense, but rather a man in a suit that has been painted silver and given a helmet with red LED lights for eyes. He looks more like a walking toaster than a high-tech killing machine. Nonetheless, Tom and his metallic companion set out to take down the drug lord and his undead minions.

Along the way, Tom befriends a young woman named Annie (Watts) who is forced into prostitution by the drug lord's henchmen. Together, the trio fights their way through a series of increasingly absurd encounters, from shootouts in abandoned warehouses to battles with vampire mobsters.

Any attempt to make sense of the plot is futile. The movie switches back and forth between scenes of Tom and the robot chasing down vampires and scenes of the drug lord's minions doing drug lord minion things. The transitions are often jarring, and the characters seem to have little motivation beyond "we must stop the bad guys." The dialogue is stilted and poorly dubbed (at least in the English language version), with a lot of awkward pauses and monotone delivery.

But Robo Vampire is not meant to be taken seriously. Its charm lies in its goofy premise, its over-the-top action scenes, and its sheer audacity. Where else are you going to see a robot fighting vampires with kung fu? Or a scene where the sorcerer uses his powers to turn a bunch of corpses into zombies that he can control? Or a climactic showdown in which the robot and the drug lord face off in a cheesy battle to the death?

Many viewers will find the film's flaws to be unbearable, but for those who appreciate campy B-movies, Robo Vampire is a must-see. It's a film that revels in its own ridiculousness, refusing to take itself too seriously or worry about things like logic or plot coherence. It's no masterpiece, but it's a lot of fun.

One thing worth noting is that Robo Vampire has very little to do with actual robos or vampires as we understand them. The "vampires" in the film are more like zombies, and the "robot" is just a guy in a silver suit. The filmmakers seem to have taken inspiration from a variety of sources -- kung fu movies, horror movies, sci-fi movies -- and mashed them together without much thought for how it would all fit together. The end result is a film that's truly one-of-a-kind, a bizarre and entertaining spectacle that's unlike anything else you've ever seen.

In conclusion, Robo Vampire is a bad movie that's so bad it's good. If you're a fan of campy B-movies or just enjoy laughing at absurdity, give it a watch. It's a film that's best enjoyed with a group of friends and a generous amount of alcohol. Just don't expect to make any sense of it.

Robo Vampire is a 1988 horror movie with a runtime of 1 hour and 30 minutes. It has received mostly poor reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 3.4.