DOCTOR SHOCK'S HORROR THEATER HALLOWEEN MOVIE OF THE DAY: SHAOLIN VS. EVIL DEAD (2004). Well, I managed to do it. I chose a movie that combines kung fu with horror for Halloween viewing! SHAO LIN JIANG SHI (or SHAOLIN VS. EVIL DEAD) stars the great Chia Hui Liu (or known in the West as Gordon Liu): the Master Killer of THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN, HEROES OF THE EAST and THE EIGHT DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER to name a few. SHAOLIN VS. EVIL DEAD was filmed after Gordo's turn in Quentin Tarantino's KILL BILL -- or is that TWO turns? Anyway, Gordo stars here as Pak (otherwise known as "Brother White") who is escorting those lovable hopping vampires across country to be buried. Who doesn't love hopping vampires?!?! Naturally, things go awry for Pak and his two students and the hopping vampires eventually break loose from their spell and go on a rampage. Combine this with tons of zombies clawing their way out of the earth and the hijinx are well underway. SVED borrows quite a lot from past classics of Chinese comedy/horror films such as the mega-hit MR. VAMPIRE and Sammo Hung's wonderful ENCOUNTERS OF THE SPOOKY KIND and this film is sadly not up to their level. However, the special effects (with CG pizzazz along for the ride) are actually quite top notch. Gordo doesn't do a whole lot of fighting (but at his age who's kvetching) but instead does more of the magic wielding stuff. He also has a rival for leadership of the school in Hak (aka "Brother Black") played by THE STORY OF RICK AND IRON FIST's Siu-Wong Fan with a fashionable hair-do. I've seen this movie described as a "gore fest" but that must be by people who haven't actually seen the film. Sure zombies explode and all that good stuff but it's not done in a juicy/gorey way so, if you don't like explicit gore, don't be put off because there's none of that here. While definitely no great film, SHAOLIN VS. EVIL DEAD is fun and diverting for fans of this genre. The film actually ends VERY abruptly and you may be stunned at the suddenness of the end credits; however, keep in mind that there was a sequel planned (which I haven't seen) that picks up where this film left off.

And for today's Halloweenie Comic Book Cover of the Day we have SCREAM #9 from 1974. Love me a bloody mummy!