Vampire Assassin

Vampire Assassin is a 2005 direct-to-DVD film directed, written by, and starring martial artist Ron Hall. The film is notable for its cameo from Rudy Ray Moore in one of his final roles, along with B-movie luminaries such as Mel Novak (Game of Death) and Gerald Okamura ( Big Trouble in Little China).

Vampire Assassin
Directed by	Ron Hall
Written by	Ron Hall
Produced by	Ron Hall David Huey Jesse Kitten
Starring	Ron Hall Mel Novak Gerald Okamura Rudy Ray Moore
Cinematography	Ed Tillman
Distributed by	Lions Gate Entertainment
Release date	August 9, 2005 (2005-08-09)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Plot

When protagonist Derek Washington (Hall) was just a child, he witnessed his father's murder. Because of this, he became very afraid of blood. However, when a sting operation to find a counterfeiter named Gustoff Slovak (Mel Novak) goes wrong, Derek is forced to face his fear: blood. The operation backfires, resulting in a massacre that leaves Derek's team wiped out. Derek reaches the shocking conclusion that Slovak is actually a vampire, and joins forces with a weapons expert named Master Kao (Gerald Okamura). Kao is the last in a long line of vampire hunters, and agrees to train Derek in this ancient art of vampire slaying. However, in order to defeat Slovak, Derek must become a vampire assassin.^{[citation needed]}

Legacy

In 2017, the film was featured on a Halloween-themed episode of Red Letter Media's Best of the Worst, together with Hack-O-Lantern and Cathy's Curse. The film was poorly received, with the hosts noting its misleading cover art and low production value, and comparing it unfavorably to the film Blade. The episode concluded with the hosts destroying their copies of the film in a skit parodying a scene from Hack-O-Lantern.^[1]

The film’s notoriety reached new heights when Red One—a $200 million blockbuster starring Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, and J.J. Simmons—featured a fictional Nintendo Switch game titled Ultimate Vampire Assassin 4. Though the game doesn’t exist in real life, it’s referenced multiple times throughout the movie, serving as a meta-joke and a nod to the original film’s bizarre legacy. This inclusion sparked renewed interest in Vampire Assassin, with fans and critics revisiting its chaotic charm and dissecting its influence on low-budget genre filmmaking.