Haunted Karaoke (1997)

In January 1997, a Tsim Sha Tsui branch of Top One Karaoke was firebombed, killing 17 youngsters trapped inside. Come October 1997, this horror comedy based on the event hit the Hong Kong cinemas. Though relatives of the dead weren't impressed, casual viewers were left with a fine little horror flick.

When cops Jor (Dao), Chicken Wing (Lai) and Linda (Yuen) are out on a bust, they chase triad Big Eye Kuen (Ng) into a karaoke lounge. Ghouls suddenly pop out of their KTV cells and line the corridors for some killing. Linda dies, and so does Kuen. And then the cops realise what's up ‚ the premises they're in burnt down a year back and Kuen was one of the three who torched the place. The ghost kids are out for blood.

With some "do-it-or-else" advice, the head ghoul persuades the cops to lure back the remaining arsonists before July 14. And with help from spooks Linda (by now looking great with fangs) and Red Shoes (Chung Chun), they do just that. Simple plot, yes? No. The filmmakers have pulled out all stops to deliver enough super-long ghost tongues, bumbling cops, fancy digital effects and general inanity to surprise at every twist. It's the kind of film where lines like "Damn your intestine!", "The lantern can speak", and "These bullets are spiritual" seem completely normal. Tasteless fun.

DVD information: The Universe disc gives a nice enough presentation, leaps and bounds above the murk of the earlier VCD. The film still comes out dark but most is shot at night anyway. The print is clean and sometimes looks too crisp for its own good. It's divided into eight chapters. Three sets of subtitles are switchable and the English could have done with some basic spell checking at the very least. Interesting English and Chinese biographies are available for Wong Jing and Jane Chung. The weird and enticing trailer for Haunted Karaoke is included, as are trailers for three other Golden Harvest flicks: Hot War, Enter the Eagles and Extreme Crisis.

Credits:

Director: Billy Tang
Producer: Raymond Chow
Executive producers: Wong Jing and Abe Kwong Man-fai
Starring Lai Yiu-cheung, Michael Dao Tai-yu, Monica Chan, Jane Chung Chun, Kingdom Yuen King-tan, Lee Siu-kay, Ng Chi-hung, Matt Chow and Helena Law Lan