This is a horror comedy about a an evil fox witch (Pauline Yu-Huan Wang) who does battle with a beautiful sorceress named Chiang Su-Su (Charine Chan). The witch was then vanquished by Su-Su's brother (Gabriel Wong). However, 600 years later, the witch resurrects and aims to suck the life force of 108 men in order to gain unlimited power. Thrown into the mix is herbal store owner Chiang Wu (Fung Woo), his ghost-buster wannabe daughter Yiu (Sandra Ng), his reporter daughter Yi (Charine Chan) and his godson Hwa Fu Chun (Gong Ng).There are some really neat action scenes involving the film's heroes and the villainous witch, but the action, unfortunately is mostly sequestered toward the beginning and the end of the film. A large portion of the entire movie concentrated on the subplot of Hwa attempting to woo Yi, while Yiu is trying to woo him. What results is a silly romance, but with some nonsensical comedy and slapstick humor mixed in at the expense of the horror backdrop. This will makes you think you're really watching a comedy film instead of a horror story. This method wasn't very balanced and, unfortunately, many other Hong Kong ghost comedies suffer from this.The acting wasn't bad and the plot does have a respectable cast of characters/actors. It's a laughable film at times, but it could do better with more horror scenes and ghost action.Grade C-
... View MoreReally good horror action comedy concerning the return of an evil fox spirit that needs to kill a certain number of people to be reborn. The task of protecting the world falls to the decedents of the people who locked the spirit up in the first place.As some one who loves Asian cinema to a fault I've had to wade through dozens of really poor horror films to see a few that are any good. Its even harder to find good horror comedies which tend to stress the comedy at the expense of the horror to hang everything on a nonsensical story. This is a one of the rare good films that gets the balance right. Best described as a film similar to the Chinese Ghost Story films, this is a film that manages to strike the right balance between all its seemingly incompatible elements. Frankly the film shouldn't work but it does. It works so well that I ended up much too late last night watching the film to the end. I had put the VCD into my player figuring to watch the first disc before bed, expecting never to finish it, instead I ended up watching it all the way to the end. This is a great little film that is perfect for a Saturday night on the couch with popcorn and a soda. Its so good I'm looking to replace the VCD with a DVD.
... View More1391: Good Chiang Su-Su (the lovely and radiant Charine Chan) manages to defeat evil spirit the Elf Fox (a hottie woman who sports huge white paws and deadly claws!), but has her soul transferred to a jasper incense holder and remains dormant for hundreds of years. In 1991 the Elf Fox returns to lethal life to wreak havoc in modern Hong Kong. The Fox Elf needs to absorb the souls of 108 men in order to obtain her full power. It's up to Su-Su's sweet descendant Yi (also played by Chan), grouchy monk shopkeeper Chiang Wu (the funny and animated Fung Woo), dashing, handsome foster son Wang Hsa (affable Yuen Chor), sassy ghostbuster Yu (the hilarious Sandra Ng Kwan Yue), and several others to defeat the Elf Fox before it's too late. Director George Leung offers an inspired and energetic blend of horror, action, comedy and fantasy. Moreover, Leung maintains a fast pace throughout, elicits enthusiastic acting from a personable cast, and stages the wild action set pieces with considerable go-for-it rip-snorting gusto. The engaging characters, funky special effects, slick, vigorous cinematography, an amusingly broad sense of daffy humor, and the robust, stirring, hard-charging shuddery score further enhance the winningly wacky charm of this hugely enjoyable and off-the-wall treat.
... View MoreThis is on the low rent Brentwood Eastern Horror DVD series. It starts in 1391 a brother and sister are attacked by a white evil fox that turns into a woman with big white paws for hands with claws that extend and get very long. The sister fights well but is killed by the woman/fox and her spirit (and the spirit of the woman/fox) enter a jade pagoda (which looks like a very large jar). We move to 1991 (IMDB says this film is 1989 but the English subtitles say 1991) where the descendant of the sister who was killed along with his daughter Yu are charging people to remove evil from their houses. Yu feels she is not paid enough for her work and leaves her dad to form her own "Ghostbusters" crew with 2 other women. She becomes much more successful making more money than her dad. Her father is a gambler who owes a lot of money to the "mob" who runs the gambling house. Dad's younger daughter Yi is a reporter always after a story and pictures to go with it. Enter a young man who calls the girl's dad foster dad who immediately becomes Yu's obsession. Of course he only has eyes for the younger Yi which makes Yu wonder "Why Why I am very pretty young with a good figure. Why doesn't he like me?" There is also a chunky Lama who let's everyone in on the young guy is a powerful Lama too and the key to getting the Evil Fox. The spirit of the Fox is released as is the sister from the past and the sister takes over Yi's body while the Fox enters the body of a sexy woman and in a very mild sex scene sucks the life out of the building manager while the fat security guard watches. In the end the young guy kills the Fox and the sister dies. Yi returns to normal but Yu becomes possessed by the sister and the young man's trouble starts anew. This movie has terrible white subtitles that are both hard to read and extend past the side of the full screen. If you enjoy Chinese comedy and I guess if you speak the language it would help, this is a pretty good fun movie like Mr Vampire.
... View More