Hua gui zhu zheng ge li

This Hong Kong horror comedy is supposed to be a parody of Tom Hanks' The 'Burbs. Unlike The 'Burbs, which I've found to have overzealous acting, unfunny jokes and a lack of suspense, this movie actually has doses of creepiness, horror and suspense. The main plot deals with four ghosts who were inadvertently released from a photograph and, in the process, wreaks havoc and causes suspicions over their human neighbors.

Three of the ghosts featured in the movie were pretty freaky and will send chills down your spine with their dastardly deeds such as feeding on blood and threatening to conquer the world. Their suspicious actions being spotted by their neighbors is a nod to The 'Burbs and actually is more suspenseful - I would be if I see my new neighbors committing ghostly and out-of-this-world deeds. I just wished the "neighbor" angle was emphasized more.

The subplot of the film was a little intriguing as well, as it deals with cop Dragon Chan (Pak-cheung Chan) falling in love with one of the ghosts, Siu-Sin (Sharla Cheung), while not knowing she's a ghost.

There are plenty of ghost action, slapstick comedy and oddball jokes. The acting wasn't the greatest, but it's serviceable. Overall, not a bad movie.

Grade B-

Our Neighbors are Phantoms (1990) is a strange film that was produced and written by schlocky slapstick film-maker Wong Jing. He wrote the script and had his usual cast of players (Amy Yip, Chingmy Yau, Charlie Cho) star in the film. A group of friends notice that some strange people have moved next door. One of them finds out that their new neighbors are some evil ghosts who want to be re-incarnated. All except a female ghost who doesn't want to hurt anybody (but she has a crush on one of her new neighbors), A strange horror/comedy that's a parody of the Hollywood film The b'urbs. Funny at times. Fun stuff if you can find a copy.

As with all of Amy Yip's earlier films (especially in Wong Jing productions) her characters were usually reserved business women, not the sexpots that she would later make a successful career out of portraying. One of Chingmy Yau's first films and she's portrayed in a similar fashion.

Highly recommended.