Mang gwai oi ching goo si

It's true- as the movie's poster states, there hasn't been a horror movie from Hong Kong in a while. Nonetheless, this dual effort from directors Wong Jing and Patrick Kong to revitalise the genre is only a half-hearted one- and we mean that literally, as this anthology of two horror stories 'Travel' and 'Classroom' from Kong and Wong respectively is only half-good.

The better half is surprisingly Patrick Kong's 'Travel', the story of four friends and their encounter with their recently deceased travel companion Bobo's (Chrissie Chau) lover Karl (Him Law) at her funeral. The storytelling is notably Kong's, and those familiar with his frequent musings on love in 'L for Love, L for Lies', 'Marriage with a Liar' and 'Love is the Only Answer' will certainly recognise his oft-used techniques of perspective and flashbacks.

The latter is used recurrently to cut between their fawning over Karl at Bobo's funeral and their nature of their acquaintance with Bobo during a trip to Thailand. Kong's scriptwriting here is sharp and satirical, taking frequent jabs at recent Hong Kong celebrity gossip (mostly around TVB actor Raymond Lam) as well as the perennial rivalry between local television stations ATV and TVB. Understandably, these jokes will be lost on those unfamiliar with the local entertainment scene in Hong Kong, but they are witty and entertaining for the initiated.

Kong is also well-served by an energetic quartet in Charmaine Fong, Jacqeuline Chong, Harriet Yeung and Rose Chan, all of whom play Bobo's travel buddies. Their outright flirtings with a handsome cop Jack (Timmy Hung) on the same tour, as well as their quick and spirited delivery of Kong's dialogue, are hilarious. They also share great chemistry with one another, especially when bouncing lines off each other. Next to them however, Kong regulars Chrissie and Him pale in comparison, partly also because the nature of their roles afford less room for mirth.

Keeping with genre conventions, Kong injects a twist at the end, which plays deftly with his favourite practice of having multiple perspectives. Here, the story told from Bobo's point of view reveals much more, and wraps up the mystery nicely. As for the horror, well there is admittedly little that is scary, and what passes for it is merely a nice sense of intrigue. Still, Kong is forgiven for creating a well-paced and unexpectedly entertaining piece of cinema.

The same however cannot be said of Wong Jing's own 'Classroom'. Working off a threadbare story of a substitute teacher Miss Yip (Jennifer Tse) whose class of unruly students may or may not be ghosts, Jing seems to be genuinely uninspired to deliver a compelling story or any solid thrills. Instead, his short lurches unevenly between various unconvincing characters such as an abusive ex-boyfriend Chung (Pakho Chow), a quiet loner Don-Don (Kimmy Tong) and (lo-and-behold) a Christian minister who tells Yip to 'put her faith in God'.

Assembled in slipdash fashion, the sloppiness shouldn't be a surprise to those who have followed Wong Jing's numerous works through the years- but while this may not be his worst, there is practically nothing redeeming about it. His feeble attempts at horror consists of bad makeup, moving toilet doors, and flying exhaust blades- none of which passes for anything other than cheesy. Even the twist at the end comes off perfunctory, and horror aficionados should have no problem guessing it from a mile away.

Given the disparity in quality between the two, it probably would have been better for Wong Jing to have just left the film up to Patrick Kong, instead of personally taking a stab at a genre that he has little flair for. It also stands to reason that the inspired prologue that sees a bunch of paper dolls coming to life in a funeral parlour and slating the opening of either story probably came from Kong.

So like we said at the start, this latest stab at breathing life into a now-dormant genre in Hong Kong cinema is only half-successful. Watch it only if you're nostalgic for the campy horror films of yesteryear- otherwise, those looking for any real chills will probably find the air- conditioning in the cinema hall more expedient.

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If this is indeed the state of affairs of Hong Kong horror films, then let the alarm bells start to sound. While the crime thriller genre had seen a revival in recent years through a number of filmmakers like Dante Lam rising through to join the veteran ranks of luminaries such as Johnnie To, the horror film had seen a dearth of output if not for the Pang Brothers, which in all honesty is hit-and-mostly-miss. Wong Jing and Patrick Kong helm a medium length film each put together to form this offering, but in essence offer nothing much other than to have a bevy of good looking female leads star in each of their respective filmlets.

In Classroom, Wong Jing provides the story and direction about a teacher Miss Yip (Jennifer Tse) providing relief services in a high school, and naturally given the most notorious cohort to manage. From minor teenage misdemeanour issues to that involving the flesh trade highlighting the trade off high school students engage in without batting an eyelid for money and material goods, the film gets off to a steady start, before a series of clichés start to do it in. As a subplot we learn that Ms Yip is an abused woman in a violent relationship and had recently left her abusive boyfriend (Pakho Chau) who has been harassing her of late seeking forgiveness, and builds up a mystery involving Ms Yip realizing that the class she's actually teaching, does not exist anymore.

While Wong Jing had largely steered clear of his trademark bawdy jokes here, although he still cannot give up the opportunity to put young starlets in PT attire with micro shorts and skirts, the story is in fact nothing new, and horror junkies will guess how everything will get played out by the mid-way mark. If it's any consolation to make this film trip worthwhile, it'll be Jennifer Tse starring in her very first role in a Hong Kong film, and from what's been seen so far, I suppose she has what it takes from her acting dynasty family to further a career in show-business. Nothing quite horrific done by Wong Jing here, except for some gory makeup and instances where it veered toward gory territory.

Similarly, Patrick Kong's Travel also doesn't boast anything that will make you jump at your seat. Starring Chrissy Chau as a character whose opening shot is a photograph of her during her funeral, the film flits back and forth through flashbacks to build the story of how Bobo (Chau) meets a group of four friends during their tour to Thailand (and modest production budget means Hong Kong doubling up as Thailand, and seen in rather slip-shoddy ways in which the same landscape gets used twice to pass off as different countries, tsk), all horny women out for some sexual escapade. Soon we learn that there's more than meets the eye to Bobo as she bickers with her boyfriend Karl (Him Law) over the phone, and slowly but surely everything will be revealed that Bobo may not be as innocent or icy cool as she looked.

This filmlet plays off more like a murder mystery, where the souls of those who are wronged, and filled with unfinished business, fail to leave our world, lingering around for justice to be done. The first few minutes provided plenty of loose ends which the narrative will plug as it goes along, and frankly Patrick's story served to engage a little bit more than Wong's film does, although it does rely plenty of conveniences in the plot in the way the mystery unravels itself. The ensemble cast here doesn't offer much in terms of acting or scares, and Chau herself was kept under wraps almost all of the time, wanting to be taken seriously as an actress I suppose, but definitely not in a film like this one that offered nothing in her character that she could have used as a showcase of acting chops.

The two films will hardly elicit a squeal from what had been put in the film, with the filmmakers conspicuously trying their best to not dip into the usual bag of tricks to rely on jump cut edits or lingering shots to provide that instant release of pent up fear, nor did it do much to build any anticipation prior to delivery its payload. This is probably one of the tamest horror film, if one can label it as that, and the only horrific element here, is how a project like this is able to take off and claiming to be definitive in its representation of Hong Kong horror films through its English title, while doing everything wrong in with its crystal clear absence of notable chills and thrills.

This is a difficult film to review, as when I say it is a film of two parts, it really is. The first part directed by Wong Jing is borderline crap, while Patrick Kong improves on this and delivers a worthy addition to 2011 Hong Kong cinema. Such is the fall of Wong Jing, but at least he makes Kong looks like a genius at work. The problem of the first film is that it tries hard to build suspense, but the result is far too unbelievable to have an impact on the audience. Apart from the cliché toilet scene, the film is rather stale, the scares are far and between and Jenifer Tse is not ready for acting. Adding all these negative elements and using tried and used principles of haunted classrooms and students; we can all but confirm that Mr. Jing is out of ideas and probably out of his mind.

Moving on the better segment comes, "Travel" from everyone's favourite cynical director on modern romance, Mr. Patrick Kong. Kong have ventured into the ghost/horror genre before in Forgive and Forget (2008), but that was not particular any indication of success. Understanding this is not his forte, Kong goes smarter by presenting a horror comedy rather than an outright suspenseful thriller. The effect is sound and familiar as he uses his muse (Stephy Tang in a scene stealing tiny role), his ball player in Chrissie Chau and the muscles of Him Law. In many ways, Kong works better in a 45 minute segment than a full movie, as he does not have time to waste some space with silly music video or even prolonged flashbacks. The result is a fun 2nd segment that pokes fun at HK entertainment circle, TVB, ATV and numerous other gags. One thing I do not understand is why do everyone depose of dead bodies in a water drain of their own home? One, they will probably end up dying from drinking from infected water or two, they will be discovered anyway.

All in all, Kong redeems Wong in this Ghostly encounter and probably wins heads on by a quick mile. It is disappointing to see Jing continues to fall, but then again it is a pleasant surprise to see Kong do well. Still, despite the uneven start, Hong Kong Ghost Stories scores with the audience in the second segment and as the cliché goes – it ends better than it starts…

Neo rates it 6.5/10