YMMV / Mr. Vampire

• Escapist Character: Master Kau can be considered this. He's a powerful kung fu master who gets to fight and defeat all manners of ghosts and supernatural creatures, healer who knows how to remedy almost any supernatural ailment, Taoist priest with all sorts of magical tricks up his sleeve, and a respected pillar of the community who's sought out by rich people who want his services. Just about the only downside to living his life is having to put up with two exceptionally dumb students but other than that, living in Master Kau's shoes would be quite the wish fulfillment for most people in the audience.
• First Installment Wins: Even now, the first Mr. Vampire is remembered the most fondly out of all the films. At best, the sequels tend to be seen through the lenses of either Contested Sequel or outright Sequelitis.
• Genre Turning Point: Mr. Vampire wasn't the first Jiangshi kung fu film but it was the first to popularize the genre and have a huge influence on Hong Kong horror movies. It also popularized the one-eyebrowed priest archetype played by Lam Ching-ying, who became a staple in countless sequel and spinoff Jiangshi films since. At a meta level, the Jiangshi film genre swiftly declined after Lam's death from cancer in November 1997.