Troublesome Night VII
Director: Nam Yin
Year: 2000
Rating: 6.0
The Troublesome Night
series continues unabated through these dismal box office days in HK. This
one – as in Troublesome Night VI – only contains one story. Herman
Yau who directed all of the previous films in the series is nowhere to be
seen in this one and producer Nam Yin takes over the reins. I vaguely recall
reading something about a falling out between Yau and Nam Yin. It is a bit
of a shame because I thought Yau’s Troublesome Night VI was the best in the
series and this one is definitely lacking the edge and tension of the previous
films. It also oddly enough primarily takes place during the daylight hours
– perhaps it should have been the beginning of a new series – Troublesome
Days!
In fact, this film has no edge at all – and by the end I realized that Nam
Yin had really made a love story, not a horror film. Looking at it from this
perspective, the film is actually touching and sweet – but of course people
don’t generally watch a Troublesome Night film for this reason. They want
a few jolts and chills – and the only ones that this film has are totally
manufactured by someone jumping unexpectedly into the camera frame.
The film does have a large and solid cast – Troublesome Night veterans Louis
Koo, Simon Lui, Helena Law Lan and Amanda Lee show up as does Wayne Lai, Law
Koon Lan, Ng Chi Hung, Hui Siu-Hung along with a number of young actors. I
particularly enjoyed Amanda Lee’s (popular Cantopop singer) performance as
she gets to sing a few lovely numbers.
In the film she actually plays a singer called Amanda Li and she, her backup
singers and a video crew go to a small rural island to shoot a MTV video.
There is some playful interaction between the crew and the villagers – the
villagers want to milk them for as much money as they can – and so stick them
into a one star hotel with the amenities of a hole in the ground – which in
fact the toilet is.
But its not the bare bones conditions that are bothering them so much as
the strange sounds in the night, waking up on the beach after going to sleep
in your bed, seeing a blur going by at supersonic speed and the death of one
of the video crew.
Finally, Helena Law Lan appears and her presence immediately adds weight
to the film. She gathers everyone around her and tells them the tragic tale
of Louis Koo and his love for Chan Chung Ling twenty years ago. They are now
ghosts separated in different dimensions and unable to find one another. With
the assistance of Amanda singing an old ballad (I believe a Teresa Teng song),
Helena attempts to bring the dead lovers together and bring peace to the
island.