The Fake Ghost Catchers (1982)
鬼畫符
No matter how hard the trio in Ghost Adventures tries, they will never be the Three Stooges. Anyone who knows what The Shaw Brothers represent to Chinese cinema may well scratch their heads at how kung fu and ghosts can go hand in hand. It makes for some crazy and innovative set pieces when mortals have to fight the undead!
When Bao (Hsiao Hou) quits his job as an assistant to a fake medium and is hired to aid a female ghost flee another supernatural suitor, just who is being chased by whom (in the living and the dead world) gets crazy. This other entity thinks he can still make a bride out of her in the afterlife. I liken the laughs to the antics of the Marx Brothers, but let’s just say the hilarity is more fully understood for those fluent in Cantonese (or find a subtitled version of this film). We even see some of the classic superstitions in use here, like how ghosts prefer to hide under an umbrella. Spirits shun the sunlight, and this cover is the only way they can travel during the day.
Out of the Dark (1995)
回魂夜
Stephen Chow, the King of Asian Comedy, made a horror film and it’s a strange brew to say the least. It has it’s supposedly gory moments and I feel it’s no worse than what people see in Evil Dead 2. This movie becomes self-aware at times, and is worth a look for it’s take on how people in modern day China looks at ghosts.
Leo (Chow) is the main protagonist in this work and he can talk to ghosts. When an apartment building is haunted by more than one previous resident who died of mysterious circumstances, the attempt to cleanse the place can only lead the gang he recruits to self doubt. Toilet humour and strangeness aside, this film is a must for fans of this director’s work.
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