The Chinese Ghostbuster (1994)
Reviewed by: STSH on 2006-04-04
Summary: Just average
Without subtitles, this one was a bit hard to follow.

Simon (Mark Cheng) is sent to the spirit world by Lam Ching Ying, bumps into Mui (Yau Yuet-Ching), who finds him charming and then crosses over to modern HK to find him. Mui takes along an older ghost (possibly her uncle, Wu Ma) and a fighting midget. She finds Simon and has a one-night stand with him, but the path to true certainly doesn't run smooth between a ghost and a man. Mui is disappointed to find Simon doesn't want more. There were several references here to $10 million, perhaps a gambling debt, and they part for awhile. The ghosts are also being pursued by a long-haired demon (Waise Lee), who provides the excuse for a number of sword-play and flying fight scenes, which range from amusing (where a vacuum cleaner is used to good effect) to quite good. Mui and Simon eventually get back together, and they meet at the church in full wedding gear. But the demon kidnaps Simon and takes him to a disco, where the good ghosts fight the demon yet again.

There's lots of soft focus, weird camera angle and fast zooms, and the overall look is quite beautiful. But it's far from gripping, and despite running just under 90 minutes, it felt about 20 minutes too long. Apart from the fight scenes, the actors walk through their parts, and the pacing is not up to scratch.

OVERALL : A barely second-rate attempt to copy the Chinese Ghost Story formula.
Reviewer Score: 4