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Happy Ghost 3
Hong Kong 1986
produced by
Raymond Wong for Cinema City
directed by Johnnie To
starring Raymond Wong, Maggie Cheung, Danny Poon, Fennie Yuen, Jeane Kanai, Charine Chan, Sabrina Ho, Lam Wing, Wong Ching, Tsui Hark, Charlie Cho, Chan Man-no, Fung Ging Man, Koo Ka-Fai, Liang Shang, Cheng Kwan-Min, Law Ho Kai, David Wu
written by Raymond Wong, music by Joseph Koo, special effects by Cinefex Workshop
Happy Ghost
review by
Mike Haberfelner
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Tsui Pan-Han (Maggie Cheung) wants to be reborn as a musician since she
failed to make it as a pop singer in her past life, but when teacher Kwai
(Raymong Wong) spoils her reincarnation attempts twice, she, presently a
ghost, decides to
have her revenge on him, playing all kinds of tricks of him, and despite
his supernatural abilities and the help from the Happy Ghost (Raymond
Wong) - see previous films of the series -, he proves to be no match for
her, and before you know it, he has lost his job and his girlfriend. It's
only when Kwai has lost everything that he realizes that if he can't fight
Tsui Pan-Han, he has to try to win her over. So he helps making the pop
record of her former life a hit, and he starts dating her - so much so
actually that she really falls for him, and when his girlfriend comes by
to make up, she makes sure they break up for good ... upon which Kwai
throws Tsui Pan-Han out, to realize only then he has fallen in love with
her as well. His attempts to win her back are stopped short however when
he learns one of his students (Fennie Yuen) has been kidnapped by a pimp
(Wong Ching), whom she has humiliated earlier being possessed by Tsui
Pan-Han. Kwai rushes to the rescue, but ultimately, it's Tsui Pan-Han who
saves the day teaching the pimp a lesson he'll never forget. However,
during the encounter, she loses all her supernatural powers, and now her
reincarnation is only a few minutes away, and if she's not at the hospital
on time, she'll vanish forever - and now it's up to Kwai (and the Happy
Ghost) to save her ... and of course, the film has a happy end. Wouldn't
you know it, Happy Ghost 3 is a vast improvement over the previous
entries into the series, saved by a bag of better gags, a fresh and
sparkling performance by Maggie Cheung, and an inspired directorial effort
by Johnnie To (even if this film is still miles away from his masterpieces
from later decades). That all said, Happy Ghost 3 is by no means a
great film, it's a silly, mindless comedy with supernatural elements - but
concerning that, you could be much worse off.
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