One has to wonder what the point of this horror
anthology was. It consists of three different episodes that are less frightening
than the leftovers in my refrigerator. They are pleasant enough and have
some nice comic moments – but I think the intent was to scare (or at least
it is marketed that way) – but the film falls woefully short of that target.
This is Wilson Yip’s directorial debut, but he has come a long way since
this film with his recent critically acclaimed Bullets over Summer and Juliet
in Love – and even his popular cult horror film – Bio-Zombie of a few years
ago.
In the first story Veronica Yip is a night nurse that begins seeing ghosts
wandering the hallway. It doesn’t seem to bother her too much though as she
goes on reading and eating. One of the patients is a famous singer/idol who
has gone into a coma and the film takes a few good-natured swipes at that
world and their rabid fans. It seems that his soul has been stolen from
his body by the ghost of a fan who killed herself over him – and it is up
to Veronica to try and talk the ghost into letting his spirit go. In
the meantime though Veronica takes the opportunity to ask his spirit if Andy
Lau is really gay and whom Aaron Kwok is dating!
The second episode finds Anita Yuen on a deserted stretch of road late at
night trying to interview a ghost. She is a student in a psychology class
– barely able to stay awake most of the time – and she and three friends discover
that their school rivals are interviewing a serial killer for their class
project. So they decide to top this by sending out Anita (looking adorable
behind her large rimmed glasses) to find a legendary ghost and record her.
The car breaks down and things begin getting a little spooky. It’s not much
– but I would still rate it higher than the Blair Witch Project!
Finally, we get two easy going slacker cops – Jordan Chan and Tsui Kam-kong
– who are assigned nighttime radar duty. Nothing much happens until a little
old granny goes faster than the speed limit – on foot! That and disappearing
in thin air clue the boys into the possibility that this little old granny
may be long dead.
Even though it would be easier to find icebergs in Arizona than scares in
this film, the film does have a few excellent points. The cast is terrific
and they do a good job with their roles. The acting is uniformly understated
and enjoyable to watch. In the first two episodes Veronica and Anita are practically
performing monologues - and Anita in particular is a standout in that
slightly wacky way of hers. In the third segment, Jordan and Tsui have some
excellent chemistry going -and at times it appears that Jordan is doing
all he can to stop from cracking up in laughter.
