Vampire Effect is one of those movies you can't help but love. You've got vampires, elaborate and thrilling fight scenes galore, love and loss, comedy and drama, and -- of course -- two cute babes who can light up the screen with a smile one minute and be kicking vampire you know what the next. Even Jackie Chan shows up to join the fun in two really entertaining scenes. It's 88 minutes of cheesy goodness with some surprisingly serious moments thrown in, as well.

Of course, it should have been several minutes longer, but some Hollywood jerk in a suit decided to edit out a few things from the original Hong Kong release (all of the original music was replaced, as well).

The Twins Effect (Chin Gei Bin), as it was titled in Hong Kong, was only the nation's highest grossing film of 2003, so someone is going to have to explain to me why it wasn't good enough to be released in its complete form here in the States. If you're wondering why it was originally called The Twins Effect, it's because the two female leads, Gillian Chung and Charlene Choi, just so happen to be a popular Cantopop duo known as -- wait for it -- the Twins.

Choi plays Helen, a delightfully quirky young lady whose string of bad luck with men may finally have come to an end when she meets Kazaf (Edison Chen). There's just one problem (which is actually more of a compound problem) -- not only is Kazaf a vampire, but Helen's brother Reeve (Ekin Cheng) is the foremost vampire hunter in the world. Chung plays Gypsy, Reeve's new assistant and love interest. Despite a rocky beginning to her relationship with Helen (the two wage a terrific battle over a teddy bear), the two young ladies come together as a force to be reckoned with when the lives of both Reeve and Kazaf are threatened by a renegade vampire who betrayed the royal vampire family in his quest to become all-powerful. Kazaf, you see, is actually a vampire prince and the only hurdle left standing between the Duke (Mickey Hardt) and his evil goal.

The film's many fight scenes are cheesy and defy most of the laws of physics, but I found them to be highly entertaining. Chung and Choi may be pop singers, but they more than hold their own in the physical combat department (and look good doing it). Jackie Chan provides some great comic relief as he puts his uniquely comedic martial arts skills to good use in what has to be the funniest scene in the movie.

I don't want you to think this movie is all fun and games, though -- there's an element of tragedy in this story, as well. One scene in particular came as a complete shock to me.

The only criticism I have of this film (apart from the American release being a butchered version of the Hong Kong original) concerns the English dubbing. I have no idea how accurate the translation was, but I do know that the English voices really didn't suit the characters in all cases. Helen's English voice, in particular, totally failed to capture the character's bright and energetic personality and really did not suit her at all. I'm not going to hold the bad decisions of men in empty suits against this film, however.

Even in its wrongfully edited form, Vampire Effect is an immensely entertaining vampire/martial arts comedy that most viewers should greatly enjoy from start to finish.