Review courtesy of Hong Kong Superstars (www.hksmag.co.uk)

The latest film from that reservoir dog Ringo Lam sees Lau Ching Wan ("The H.K Triad") go head-to-head with Tony Leung ("Island Of Greed") in an exciting movie that mixes a genre or two together but manages to come up with something that is all its own. Even the title is cool - it means one thing in the beginning of the film and another thing altogether at the climax !

The opening scenes are of a virtually empty multi-storey car park - only the odd member of staff appears to still be there. A solitary car makes its way out of the car park which is followed by the sound of gunfire and a small van speeding its way towards the exit in rapid succession.

The attendant is brutally run over as the van makes its getaway (this is a visually unpleasant scene but from a special effects standpoint is very well handled). Manson Ma (Lau Ching Wan) appears to be the only one who could identify the suspects (his car is in the car park) but he is nowhere to be found.....

Security tapes show that Mr Ma appears to have been kidnapped. The police (led by Tony Leung as Inspector Pit) soon receive a call telling them where they can find him - he is hanging upside down in an old haunted hotel where the owner had killed his wife and then poisoned himself and his son many years before.

Manson seems to be "broken" by his experience and his behaviour becomes increasingly bizarre and far out. If you haven't already seen the film do you think you know where this film is heading ? Be prepared to eat humble pie because this film doesn't go where it appears to be going !

The above is only the beginning of a film that seems like it's taking the viewer from A to B only to end up in C - things are most certainly not as they first seem. Lau Ching Wan (Manson Ma) adds another classic performance to his portfolio - his portrayal of a man losing his mind proves once and for all that he (along with Anthony Wong and one or two others) is one of the premier screen actors of his generation and on the evidence of this you wouldn't bet against him making a US film before too long.

Ching Wan is very good in this film but it is Tony Leung (Inspector Pit) that is the surprise package. His portrayal of a hard yet not invulnerable cop is a real eye opener - if you (like I did) have him pegged as someone who always plays fairly cool and laconic individuals you really have to see this film.

The apparent abandonment of the initial ghost storyline (only to have it re-appear in the films finale) doesn't detract from the film. It gives it a supernatural air that makes what would have been a hard boiled cop drama (albeit a damn good one) something a little different - this is a must-see.