A Wicked Ghost (1999)A Wicked Ghost boasts a straightforward plot; a series of events following a seance gone awry. The horror begins when a group of four young Hongkongers share their blood - diluted in a bowl of water - as a way of contacting the dead one night. The rosy liquid is taken while the guy (named Rubbish) who came up with the idea burns some oil extracted from a corpse. A fifth person, Ming (Gabriel Harrison), opts out of the proceedings and steps aside to watch as a female ghoul drops in. Rubbish soon dies and the others are mighty spooked. Later, newspaper reporter Cissy (Gigi Lai) arrives at the scene and snaps photos of Rubbish's corpse. The imprint of the ghost appears on the dead body when her snaps are developed. She and Ming each contact drama tutor and all-round ghost expert Francis Ng for tips. Over the coming days the other blood n' water drinkers top themselves, leading Cissy, Francis's character and Ming to look for clues to stop the most wicked ghost. The early lead comes in as a red herring despite its fancy reasoning but more clues show up on a visit to Rubbish's deserted New Territories village and in a Water Supplies Department disconnection notice. As residents of other villages start to die mysteriously, the intrepid three set about stopping the otherworldly attacker. The direction and scripting, both by Tony Leung, are adequate though nothing groundbreaking. But it's an improvement on his A Lamb In Despair - the star of which, Edward Mok, appears here as Gigi's boss and hubby. The cast members are attractive but don't stretch themselves for their roles. Francis Ng offers a fairly straight role in a quiet manner - a nice change. The film also features the goateed old man who appears in the first Troublesome Night film (at the shrine). Again, he holds a distinctive presence. The movie offers several distinctly local touches and points of interest; in particular a quick moment touching on encroaching development in the rural New Territories. Other local horror touches include Taoist charms, Hell banknotes, hair blown from unseen spooky sources, and traditional song in several moments and over the odd ending. Despite there being little by way of strong atmosphere and suspense, I found A Wicked Ghost made for harmless low-budget HK horror viewing. Some info about the DVD release: Universe's DVD edition lacks vibrant colour but is still a clean, watchable presentation for this low-budget affair. Bonus items are the spooky little trailer, as well as extra trailers for Troublesome Night 6, Rules of the Game and House of the Damned. A star file is given for Francis Ng up to his film 9413. Subtitles are in Chinese simplified and traditional, English and Bahasa (Malaysia) while the dialogue is in dubbed Cantonese and Putongua choices. |
Credits: Directed by Tony Leung |
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