Wui wan yeh

A Hong Kong horror-comedy about a partially mentally-impaired professional wannabe (Stephen Chow) who attempts to help an apartment building rid itself of evil ghosts. He trains a bunch of clueless security guards in warding off the ghosts, providing them with off-the-chart techniques.

What started out as a pretty intriguing horror flick quickly loses steam afterward. This movie is basically forced comedy with poor slapstick humor and childish tactics that rendered the cast extremely irritating. The acting was awful and the story was riddled with sloppy editing.

Some Hong Kong filmmakers are sometimes notorious for winging its movies - filming them in an impromptu manner with limited editing, no post-production and little preparation. The crew clearly didn't want to take this film seriously - they just had fun with it, suspending their imagination and creativity, but failing to provide us with an impressive product. Some of these filming techniques is called nonsensical comedies - you either love them or hate them. When I watch a comedy, I hope to get humor that just flow naturally, not over-the-board slapstick gags and goofy puns.

Stephen Chow is known for his slapstick comedies and I equate him to the likes of Jim Carrey. However, this movie is one of Chow's worst pictures and I recommend that people stay way from this film!

Grade F

Stephen Chow, Hong Kong's biggest star and international comic genius, leads a great cast of new faces and old favorites to take on ghost busting in a film full of both laughs and thrills.

Hong Kong ghost comedy? Well, that is something different. The humor is a bit odd. It is not bad, but it seems like the timing may be just slightly off, and this probably has something to do with the subtitles... what people say takes a moment longer to register than what we see (unless, of course, we understand Cantonese).

I find the cultural differences (or similarities) interesting. Although there is virtually no overlap between the religions of the West and the East, it seems like we share a very similar view about ghosts. Now, personally, I do not believe in ghosts... but what is presented here for a Chinese audience still makes perfect sense for an American audience. Interesting.

About the end of the movie, there are some things, ah, what, what, come up, come up, who can't come up. What is it? Take the scrubbing knife quickly. What is the previous one? Now is the time to make up the number of words 123, that is to say, there are always one or two people in the legend. About the end of the movie, there are some things, ah, what, what, come up, come up, who can't come up. What is it? Take the scrubbing knife quickly. What is the previous one? Now is the time to make up the number of words 123, that is to say, there are always one or two people in the legend. That is to say, the legend always. Anyway, I won't do it. If I don't do it, I will come up quickly. If I don't get it, I won't get it before.

Truly, one of Chow's best efforts to date. The first twenty minutes or so is pretty uneventful save for a few scenes with the now well-known crew, but the moment Leon (Stephen Chow) enters the stage hilarity ensues. His appearance (black round glasses, a plant by his side etc) as well as his name is an obvious parody of Leon the Professional, especially if you add the silly outfit Kwan (Karen Mok) sports later on, deliberately reminiscent of Natalie Portman's garment in the said cult movie. Make no mistake, this is a ghost movie, the kind only Stephen Chow could make. Wui wan yeh is a must for any fan of Chow's and beyond.

Oddly enough with my fascination and love of the Hong Kong cinema then it wasn't before now in 2022 that I actually watched the 1995 horror comedy "Wui Wan Yeh" (aka "Out of the Dark") for the first time. Truth be told, then I had actually never even heard about this movie from writer and director Jeffrey Lau before now as I stumbled upon it.

Needless to say that I needed no persuasion to sit down and watch it, especially since the movie had Stephen Chow and Karen Mok in the leading roles.

Now, the storyline in "Wui Wan Yeh" is very archetypical for a mid-1990s supernatural movie such as this from the Hong Kong cinema, for better or worse. So if you have watched movies of that genre from the 1990s, then you know what you are in for. And sure, writer Jeffrey Lau did manage to put together a movie that was watchable and enjoyable enough for what it was. However, this wasn't a particularly outstanding moment in Hong Kong cinema.

The movie does have a good cast ensemble, with Stephen Chow and Karen Mok carrying the movie quite well in the leading roles. But the movie also have other familiar faces on the cast list, such as Yat-Fei Wong and even Suet Lam in a very short cameo.

While "Wui Wan Yeh" is watchable and semi-entertaining, it wasn't a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time. The comedy was just too mundane and weak in this movie from writer and director Jeffrey Lau.

My rating of "Wui Wan Yeh" lands on a bland five out of ten stars.