1 review
This is one of the Hong Kong ghost comedies produced by Sammo Hung, a story about an opera troupe, lead by Kuei (Wei Tung), tricking each other with ghost stories and horror tricks, and ultimately playing the most scariest prank on arrogant opera actor Chia (Ho Kai Law). Thrown in the mix is a goofy-looking and hideous mischievous ghost (Yuet Sang Chin), who haunts the opera stage to scare the actors for his own amusement.
This movie also stars "Vampire Buster" actor Lam Ching Ying, in a role he did before he starred in the more famous film "Mr. Vampire," a movie that shot him to a new level of stardom and would precede many ghost comedies and dramas involving hopping vampires and Taoist magic. While it is nice to see Lam in this film, he doesn't take on a very centrist role and doesn't use much magic or perform any spells to capture the ghosts. Actor Ho Kai Law, who plays Chia, gave a very over-reactive performance as the arrogant actor angry at his fellow troupe members for joking around at his expense. Martial artist star Wei Tung did a few Kung-Fu sequences in the film, but he should have been utilized more.
The movie starts off really slow with the troupe members just joking around and playing tricks on each other. Real ghost action doesn't take place until 30 or 45 minutes into the film, but even the ghost was portrayed as pretty dumb-looking and irritating. The more horrific and terrifying ghost that made this movie a little more exciting doesn't appear until the climax, which I think was the best part of the movie - full of martial arts, scary scenes and Chinese opera action.
Overall, a very sub-par film. If you would like to see Lam Ching Ying in a pre-Mr. Vampire movie, I recommend watching "The Dead and the Deadly," also produced by Sammo Hung.
Grade D+
This movie also stars "Vampire Buster" actor Lam Ching Ying, in a role he did before he starred in the more famous film "Mr. Vampire," a movie that shot him to a new level of stardom and would precede many ghost comedies and dramas involving hopping vampires and Taoist magic. While it is nice to see Lam in this film, he doesn't take on a very centrist role and doesn't use much magic or perform any spells to capture the ghosts. Actor Ho Kai Law, who plays Chia, gave a very over-reactive performance as the arrogant actor angry at his fellow troupe members for joking around at his expense. Martial artist star Wei Tung did a few Kung-Fu sequences in the film, but he should have been utilized more.
The movie starts off really slow with the troupe members just joking around and playing tricks on each other. Real ghost action doesn't take place until 30 or 45 minutes into the film, but even the ghost was portrayed as pretty dumb-looking and irritating. The more horrific and terrifying ghost that made this movie a little more exciting doesn't appear until the climax, which I think was the best part of the movie - full of martial arts, scary scenes and Chinese opera action.
Overall, a very sub-par film. If you would like to see Lam Ching Ying in a pre-Mr. Vampire movie, I recommend watching "The Dead and the Deadly," also produced by Sammo Hung.
Grade D+
- OllieSuave-007
- Oct 24, 2013
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