The Gambling Ghost is one of the lesser-known entries in Sammo Hung's canon, staying for only a couple of weeks in Hong Kong cinemas, and not appearing until now (mid-2006) on DVD. It's kind of a shame, because while it's nothing extraordinary, The Gambling Ghost moves at a fast clip, has some good action sequences, and never takes itself too seriously -- in other words, it's one of those movies that reminds viewers why they love the "golden age" of Hong Kong movies so much.

The film could be considered a melding of some of the most popular genres in Hong Kong. The first part concentrates on comedy, as Sammo and his buddy Mang Hoi try to pull off scams, with little success. This is probably the weakest part of the movie, though truthfully, most of the comedy is not slanted towards Westerners (many of the jokes poke fun at Mainlanders, making them out to be greedy and lecherous). Next, the film-makers introduce elements from the popular ghost movies from the region. After Sammo tries to steal and sell a dai lo's car, Mang Hoi is kidnapped and held for ransom. This brings in the ghost of Sammo's grandfather (also played by Sammo), the epynomous title character. Gramps agrees to help out young Sammo, if he in return helps get revenge for his death. This section picks up the film's pace, and there are several very funny scenes, including one with Lam Ching-Ying as an over-zealous Taoist priest bent on sending Grandpa Sammo back to the underworld.

As with many films from this time, The Gambling Ghost's last half-hour is dominated by action, and it's solid stuff. This was one of Sammo's last action-heavy starring roles (though he has started to return to the fray in his more recent work like SPL), and he seemed to want to end the movie with a bang. He fights people (including long-time HK movie villain Billy Chow and gweilo Bobby Samuels) while portraying three different characters (he also plays the dad in the family) in a scene that lasts about fifteen minutes. There's nothing terribly fancy about the fight, but it was great seeing just pure brawling versus the over-edited wire/computer-fu that passes for "martial arts" film-making nowadays from both sides of the pond.

Even though this production from Sammo is relatively minor and low-budget, it still stands head and shoulders above most of the "big event" productions Hong Kong film-makers are trying to force upon audiences nowadays. It reminded this reviewer of the days when one could practically grab just about any HK video at your local store and be guaranteed a good time. Sure, there's nothing truly great about The Gambling Ghost, but it's fun -- something which a lot of recent Hong Kong action movies have failed to be.

[review from hkfilm.net]