Supposedly, Wong Kar Wai was not only involved in the script for this movie (and its predecessor) but also makes a cameo appearance in a small role. I tried to catch a glimpse of him but then got way too distracted by the insanely bizarre plot that bombards the audience with decidedly low-brow sightgags and demented visuals at a breathneck pace. That's to be expected from early Jeff Lau films, however, and one of the main reasons why these films rate so high on the camp factor enjoyment scale.

The films opens with a furious action setpiece involving vampires at the police station and Ricky Hui's novel approach towards subdueing them (well, the female ones at least). However, he gets half-bitten in the process and spends the rest of the film transforming into a werewolf whenever hit by moonlight. That's not a good thing, especially when you've just been assigned (along with buddy Jackie Cheung) to a newly formed Ghostbusters unit consisting of a bunch of losers and weirdos like "bad luck girl" and an East Indian "Romeo". The middle half of the film first introduces each member of this motley crew and then places them in a military camp for ghost-fighter training. Alas, the camp is infested with various bloodsuckers and zombies, and after much slapstick shenanigans, we descend into a frenetic final reel that sees our group of heroes battling both their own ineptitude and the forces of the undead in a truly inspired final showdown. The method used to finally defeat the head demoness is the stuff of legend, and the inspiration for the immortal parting words that end the film: "We will remember him every time we urinate!"

To their unending credit, the cast do their best to keep a straight face, and in fact they try really hard to play it straight. This results in some divine comedy, such as the tragic parting between Romeo and Bad Luck girl, with melodramatic string music replacing the otherwise very cheesy score. You will laugh, you will cry, and you will have a grand time sitting through this zany horror comedy.

My all-time favorite in this genre is probably still Spooky Family, but HCS2 ranks up there with the best of them.

Recommended.