Encounters of The Spooky Kind 2 (1990)
A.K.A. "Spooky Encounters 2"
Director: Ricky Lau
Cast:
Plot: Ah Po (Sammo Hung) is desperate to get some money together to prove he is worthy of marrying his girlfriend Little Chu (Gung Ts Yan). Her pompus father Mr. Chu (Teddy Yip) owns a successful teahouse and only wants the best for his daughter, and he certainly doesn't think of Ah Po too highly. Another possible suitor for her is Mr Sze (Lam Man Chung) who is prepared to do despicable things to get his way and employs an evil sorcerer (Huang Ha) to assist in his plans. Lucky for Ah Po his sifu, Master Jiao (Lam Ching Ying) is a Taoist Priest who has the means to fight against black magic. With his trusted but not too bright friend Hoi (Meng Hoi), Ah Po tries opening a congee stall to earn extra money, but when the only customer he gets is a ghost (Wong Man Gwan) his troubles really begin. He finds himself drawn to help the ghost, but when Mr Sze finds out he decides to use the strange turn of events to his advantage and sets about ruining Ah Po's chances of ever winning Little Chu's hand in marriage.
Review: Ten years on from the first film and this is a sequel in name only as we have a new set of characters and a completely new storyline although a few of the original stars return. The main change here is that "Encounters Of The Spooky Kind" was without doubt responsible for starting the sub genre of martial arts films where the comedy and horror mixed in with the action to suburb effect, while this film is almost trying to put some life back into this genre that by now was beginning to run out of steam. This very nearly succeeds too. Directed by Ricky Lau who had previously worked with Sammo on several other projects, most notably on "Where's Officer Tuba?", Lau himself is no stranger to this kung fu/horror sub genre due to his involvement with the very successful "Mr Vampire" series of films, and what this particular film lacks in the action department it makes up for in abundance with the comedy, and that is certainly where the strength of this film lies. Sadly, to a certain extent that is also where the problem lies. There is not much horror on show for long periods of time so the mix never feels quite right, and even though this is an entertaining ninety minutes with plenty of plot developments with a supernatural mix of vampires, ghosts, zombies and black magic along the way, the film ultimately doesn't come close to being an equal to its far superior predecessor.
Starting with a great vampire sequence that instantly puts Ah Po and Little Chu in peril this at first looks like it is going to be an all out horror comedy from the start. The vampire shows more interest in his opium pipe than sucking blood at first, but when it turns out that it is all a dream the horror elements disappear for quite a while as we get introduced to our characters properly. As always we get a reliable performance from Sammo as the accidental and somewhat reluctant hero of the piece. Coming across like a selfish and childish fool at first, his character develops a more caring nature as the film progresses. Meng Hoi, who in my opinion is not the strongest actor in Hong Kong cinema, gets to play to his strengths here and does manage to play the comic side kick role with a certain amount of style. Something he has done more than once with Sammo throughout his career. The real highlight of the film for me has to be the excellent Lam Ching Ying who had been in the first film playing a policeman, but now has a completely different role. Here he returns to familiar ground playing a version of the Taoist Priest he made so famous in "Mr Vampire". With his faultless comic timing and the gloriously deadpan deliverance of his every line you just have to admire every moment he is on screen. It is a joy to watch Lam Ching Ying in full flow and it makes me painfully aware of what a great loss to Hong Kong Cinema his early passing has been.
As the main villain of the piece we have Huang Ha as the evil sorcerer who is almost unrecognisable in his make up that reminds me so much of Mr Miagi in the "Karate Kid" films. He certainly looks the part, but his character is under written so he ends up carrying very little menace. Lam Man Chung flits between funny and annoying as Mr Sze. You just know he's going to be no good as he sports the traditional hairy mole on his face that you expect to see on the comic bad guy. In one sequence he fights Sammo while he is under the influence of monkey magic. The fight has some great athletic moves with Sammo pulling off some fantastic flips. Lam Man Chung is doubled for his moves, sometimes quite obviously, but it does prove to be one of the action highlights of the first half of the film. Teddy Yip is just hysterical from beginning to end as poor old Mr Chu. I have always rated Teddy Yip as one of the finest character actors in these films, but here he gets to show what a fine comic actor he can also be. Of the women in the cast it has to be said that Gung Tsz Yan draws the short straw. As Ah Po's girlfriend Little Chu she really doesn't get much to do for big chunks of the film while Wong Man Gwan on the other hand as the "friendly" ghost has far more emotion to display with Tam Sin Hung as her blind mother also getting plenty of opportunity to display some acting prowess.
One of the comic highlights for me has to be when Ah Po is so frightened after being covered in cockroaches (Something that Sammo would have had to do for real in this CGI free period.) that his soul jumps out of his body. If like me you are not the biggest fan of creepy crawlies, you may just find this the most unsettling scene in the film. When the ghost takes over the body for a while, Sammo's body poses are a pure delight as he takes on some accentuated female attributes. Another moment that mixes the horror and comedy so well comes just before the cockroaches when Ah Po is fighting two zombies, one of which is very small and takes a very unhealthy interest in trying to bite Ah Po's private parts. Cringe worthy stuff, especially for any male viewers.
Of course, this wouldn't be a film starring Sammo Hung without an all action climax, and this film does not disappoint in that department. Sammo, Meng Hoi and Lam Ching Ying fight the forces of evil where they get all sorts thrown at them from deadly mommies to snake men with exceptional fighting skill. One of these snake fighters is none other than Ngai Sing, who once again faces up against Sammo for what is the undoubted action highlight of the whole film. During this sequence we are also treated to a masterful display of Lam Ching Ying's incredible hand movements as he dispatches a few mommies. There is also a magnificent stunt at the fight conclusion where an explosion sends Sammo and Meng Hoi flying through the air. Visually stunning. Like the first film the finale has a memorable fire gag that leaves one stunt man burning for what seems like an eternity. (Rather him than me!)
Like most films featuring Sammo and his team's fight choreography from this time there is some great action, but sadly not enough. You can't help feeling there could have been more. The characters are fun and some genuine laugh out loud moments make this one that is well worth watching. I do enjoy this one almost as much as the first "Encounters" film, though it is plainly not in the same league when it comes to innovation or the overall quality of story or cast. Lam Ching Ying is simply marvellous and just about steals the film for me. Once again we have Sammo in a film that is easily better than the competition at this time, but don't expect a repeat of the classic original.
Rating: 3.5/5
Director: Ricky Lau
Cast:
Plot: Ah Po (Sammo Hung) is desperate to get some money together to prove he is worthy of marrying his girlfriend Little Chu (Gung Ts Yan). Her pompus father Mr. Chu (Teddy Yip) owns a successful teahouse and only wants the best for his daughter, and he certainly doesn't think of Ah Po too highly. Another possible suitor for her is Mr Sze (Lam Man Chung) who is prepared to do despicable things to get his way and employs an evil sorcerer (Huang Ha) to assist in his plans. Lucky for Ah Po his sifu, Master Jiao (Lam Ching Ying) is a Taoist Priest who has the means to fight against black magic. With his trusted but not too bright friend Hoi (Meng Hoi), Ah Po tries opening a congee stall to earn extra money, but when the only customer he gets is a ghost (Wong Man Gwan) his troubles really begin. He finds himself drawn to help the ghost, but when Mr Sze finds out he decides to use the strange turn of events to his advantage and sets about ruining Ah Po's chances of ever winning Little Chu's hand in marriage.
Review: Ten years on from the first film and this is a sequel in name only as we have a new set of characters and a completely new storyline although a few of the original stars return. The main change here is that "Encounters Of The Spooky Kind" was without doubt responsible for starting the sub genre of martial arts films where the comedy and horror mixed in with the action to suburb effect, while this film is almost trying to put some life back into this genre that by now was beginning to run out of steam. This very nearly succeeds too. Directed by Ricky Lau who had previously worked with Sammo on several other projects, most notably on "Where's Officer Tuba?", Lau himself is no stranger to this kung fu/horror sub genre due to his involvement with the very successful "Mr Vampire" series of films, and what this particular film lacks in the action department it makes up for in abundance with the comedy, and that is certainly where the strength of this film lies. Sadly, to a certain extent that is also where the problem lies. There is not much horror on show for long periods of time so the mix never feels quite right, and even though this is an entertaining ninety minutes with plenty of plot developments with a supernatural mix of vampires, ghosts, zombies and black magic along the way, the film ultimately doesn't come close to being an equal to its far superior predecessor.
Starting with a great vampire sequence that instantly puts Ah Po and Little Chu in peril this at first looks like it is going to be an all out horror comedy from the start. The vampire shows more interest in his opium pipe than sucking blood at first, but when it turns out that it is all a dream the horror elements disappear for quite a while as we get introduced to our characters properly. As always we get a reliable performance from Sammo as the accidental and somewhat reluctant hero of the piece. Coming across like a selfish and childish fool at first, his character develops a more caring nature as the film progresses. Meng Hoi, who in my opinion is not the strongest actor in Hong Kong cinema, gets to play to his strengths here and does manage to play the comic side kick role with a certain amount of style. Something he has done more than once with Sammo throughout his career. The real highlight of the film for me has to be the excellent Lam Ching Ying who had been in the first film playing a policeman, but now has a completely different role. Here he returns to familiar ground playing a version of the Taoist Priest he made so famous in "Mr Vampire". With his faultless comic timing and the gloriously deadpan deliverance of his every line you just have to admire every moment he is on screen. It is a joy to watch Lam Ching Ying in full flow and it makes me painfully aware of what a great loss to Hong Kong Cinema his early passing has been.
As the main villain of the piece we have Huang Ha as the evil sorcerer who is almost unrecognisable in his make up that reminds me so much of Mr Miagi in the "Karate Kid" films. He certainly looks the part, but his character is under written so he ends up carrying very little menace. Lam Man Chung flits between funny and annoying as Mr Sze. You just know he's going to be no good as he sports the traditional hairy mole on his face that you expect to see on the comic bad guy. In one sequence he fights Sammo while he is under the influence of monkey magic. The fight has some great athletic moves with Sammo pulling off some fantastic flips. Lam Man Chung is doubled for his moves, sometimes quite obviously, but it does prove to be one of the action highlights of the first half of the film. Teddy Yip is just hysterical from beginning to end as poor old Mr Chu. I have always rated Teddy Yip as one of the finest character actors in these films, but here he gets to show what a fine comic actor he can also be. Of the women in the cast it has to be said that Gung Tsz Yan draws the short straw. As Ah Po's girlfriend Little Chu she really doesn't get much to do for big chunks of the film while Wong Man Gwan on the other hand as the "friendly" ghost has far more emotion to display with Tam Sin Hung as her blind mother also getting plenty of opportunity to display some acting prowess.
One of the comic highlights for me has to be when Ah Po is so frightened after being covered in cockroaches (Something that Sammo would have had to do for real in this CGI free period.) that his soul jumps out of his body. If like me you are not the biggest fan of creepy crawlies, you may just find this the most unsettling scene in the film. When the ghost takes over the body for a while, Sammo's body poses are a pure delight as he takes on some accentuated female attributes. Another moment that mixes the horror and comedy so well comes just before the cockroaches when Ah Po is fighting two zombies, one of which is very small and takes a very unhealthy interest in trying to bite Ah Po's private parts. Cringe worthy stuff, especially for any male viewers.
Of course, this wouldn't be a film starring Sammo Hung without an all action climax, and this film does not disappoint in that department. Sammo, Meng Hoi and Lam Ching Ying fight the forces of evil where they get all sorts thrown at them from deadly mommies to snake men with exceptional fighting skill. One of these snake fighters is none other than Ngai Sing, who once again faces up against Sammo for what is the undoubted action highlight of the whole film. During this sequence we are also treated to a masterful display of Lam Ching Ying's incredible hand movements as he dispatches a few mommies. There is also a magnificent stunt at the fight conclusion where an explosion sends Sammo and Meng Hoi flying through the air. Visually stunning. Like the first film the finale has a memorable fire gag that leaves one stunt man burning for what seems like an eternity. (Rather him than me!)
Like most films featuring Sammo and his team's fight choreography from this time there is some great action, but sadly not enough. You can't help feeling there could have been more. The characters are fun and some genuine laugh out loud moments make this one that is well worth watching. I do enjoy this one almost as much as the first "Encounters" film, though it is plainly not in the same league when it comes to innovation or the overall quality of story or cast. Lam Ching Ying is simply marvellous and just about steals the film for me. Once again we have Sammo in a film that is easily better than the competition at this time, but don't expect a repeat of the classic original.
Rating: 3.5/5
Review by D. M.
Photos by Klara
Photos by Klara
For bigger photos please click on thumbnails
For more pictures visit the Encounters of the Spooky Kind 2 Album
For more pictures visit the Encounters of the Spooky Kind 2 Album