David Chang Movies

Focusing on idiosyncratic characters and culture-clash comedy, rather than on the high-tech action its title might suggest, writer-director Peter Wang's The Laserman dramatizes the personal and professional struggles faced by a young Chinese-American scientist. When a bungled experiment leads to the death of his lab assistant, laser specialist Arthur Weiss (Marc Hayashi) is forced to reevaluate his life. His family provides little solace, as his attempts to deal with his mother (Joan Copeland), a Jewish woman obsessed with Chinese culture, and his brother (Tony Leung), a petty thief, lead only to more stress. Things begin to look up for Arthur when he receives a offer from a mysterious company to resume his research, but he soon discovers that his employers hope to use his developments for questionable ends, placing him in a disturbing moral crisis. Wang crowds the film with oddball personalities, opting for a quirkier sort of comedy than in his earlier A Great Wall, a more realistic look at the Chinese-American experience. Although the sheer number of these supporting characters and subplots often threatens to overwhelm the film, it attracted positive critical response for its offbeat humor. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

In this strange but fun genre hodgepodge, Prof. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) is up against seven rotting vampires clad in gold masks. They were revived by Dracula (John Forbes-Robertson) at the behest of a Chinese priest in 1804 and a century later are terrorizing the village of Ping Kuei. One of the locals attends Van Helsing's lecture in Chungking and enlists the vampire-hunter, his son, and a pretty heiress (Julie Ege) in ridding the village of its curse. There's a lot of skillfully handled martial arts swordplay, hopping vampires, and more blood than usual before Cushing gets to run Dracula through with a spear. It's an interesting mix of Shaw Bros. martial-arts and Hammer gothic that doesn't always work, particularly with Forbes-Robertson's tarted-up Dracula apparently lingering way too long at the makeup table, but it's enjoyable enough for a rental. This was, sadly, Hammer's last Dracula film, despite plans to pit the vampire and Van Helsing in India the following year. Anchor Bay's widescreen video release contains both the original film and the hopped-up 75-minute 7 Brothers Meet Dracula, which played in American grindhouses. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide