Gui yao gui

April 2021

Encounters of the spooky kind 2 has nothing to do with number 1, its just another very similar film with many of the same actors.

Lam ching ying is playing his more usual role this time and Meng Hoi figures prominently too.

If you love these ghosty comedy horrors then you cannot go wrong, i slightly prefer this to the first one, the end 15 mins are fantastic.

10 out of 10.

Not as good as Spooky Kind 1, it is nevertheless entertaining. The special effects were better from the first film but the choreography isn't. Sammo Hung does a good job with the fight scenes but the problem is there isn't enough of them. Scenes that would have looked better using humorous kung fu instead are wasted with drawn out sequences, such as the rotting corpses with the roaches. It's still a better film than most Hong Kong Fu films of the 90's, and worth a peek if you're a horror film fan.

To me, this sequel was superior to the original film. There's less action but it was more 'cerebral' ... focusing on Taoist mysticism. Also, it wasn't presented in a slapstick manner. While comedic moments exist throughout the film, the overall tone was more serious. And, the spooky characters (ghosts, ghouls, etc.) were far more believable in the sequel than in the original film. However, though I enjoyed this film more than the original, I rated it 5 out of 10 due to production glitches.

First, the film IS available on VHS from the domestic (US) releasing company, Tai Seng Video (www.taiseng.com) in NTSC VHS format. Note, though, that their exact title on file is "Encounter Of The Spooky Kind II" with no 's' character after 'Encounter'. The site also has a cover photo of the tape box. However, unlike the original film's widescreen presence, the sequel is pan/scan. Further, the subtitling was atrocious in parts ... putting the English words below the viewable area on most TVs or actually cutting off parts of words on the left/right sides of the screen. In the original film, subtitles were below the active letterbox frame but well within the viewable area. Also, the people who subtitled the sequel obviously didn't speak English as well as the people who subtitled the original film. Example from the sequel when Abao, a friend, and their Master confront angry wild dogs:

Abao: Master, how do we get through them?

Master: We _snick_ our way through.

There are a number of other examples but I won't go into them. Still, if you can overlook those problems, I think you'll find the film enjoyable overall.