Visa to Hell
Director: Dick Wei
Year: 1992
Rating: 6.0
Dick Wei, the
great action actor in over 100 Hong Kong films, directed three films of which
this is his debut. It is a huge mess and we should probably be grateful that
he directed so few films. But within the mess and the nonsensical plot is
a film that I have to admire just for trying so hard. Wei throws so much
weirdness into this and then just stands back to see if it sticks. Apparently,
everything stuck. None of it makes sense in the real world but this is Hell
where nothing has to make sense. There are no rules. There is no logic. So,
if you want to have dancing girls and ninjas that can vanish in a second,
why not. If you can bring guns to Hell and kill people who are already by
definition dead, why not. Hell is whatever you want it to be. Not necessarily
a bad place to spend eternity. Unless you get killed again which seems unfair.
Once should be enough. After you get past passport control you may go to
Heaven - where you line up and get an umbrella that will take you there.
We don't get to see Heaven but I bet it isn't as much fun as Hell.
It begins though in the living world. Jiu
Mou (Lam Wai) is a cop and with his men are chasing a psychotic killer, the
Black Panther played by Dick Wei. For some reason their supervisor says he
is putting them undercover and gives them all black jackets to wear with
a skull on the back. That should certainly fool the bad guys. They are also
looking for Shenting, a missing witness to the Black Panther's murders -
she is played by Emily Chu. The Black Panther decides to keep Jiu Mou's family
of wife, son and daughter hostage and wait for him to come home. He does
with about 50 cops. Bad move Black Panther. The Black Panther kills the family
and in the ensuing fight, he and his men are all killed. But, this isn't
enough for Jiu. He needs more revenge and finds a Taoist priest willing to
send his spirit to Hell to get it. For most of us revenge ends at the death
of our target, but not for Jiu. The priest loads him up with things he will
need for Hell like a gun, fake money, cigarettes and brandy and he keeps
a line of communication open with him.
In Hell Jiu is attacked by demons, ninjas
and Dracula - guns it seems work fine in Hell (the NRA will be pleased) and
when you shoot someone, a green ooze comes out. He fights his way to a village
where things are more orderly with a Security force and Buddhist monks chanting.
Here he meets Shenting, who claims to still be alive back on earth but her
soul has left her body. They go looking for the Black Panther who has become
the right-hand man of the Ghost King. He is a creepy old man who sits on
a throne. The Ghost King has his own territory and a truce with Hell.
Jiu sees his family walking towards heaven
and they tell him they are happy and for him to move on. Shit, I came to
Hell and you are happy? Two of the Security guards are played by Chin Siu-ho
and his Hell wife played by Kara Hui Ying-hung. I am a little pissed with
director Wei - Hui has a fight but basically it is a cameo. They were in
so many films together that she deserved better. It gets weirder and weirder,
sillier and sillier - though I liked the Entertainment area where you could
get a beer and watch a bikini clad female dancing on a platform. Hell might
not be so bad after all. With all this talent. the action should be better.
It is very standard and there is no one action scene that stands out.
