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Midnight Caller
Terror in the Night
Hong Kong 1995
produced by
Raymond Wong for Mandarin Films
directed by Raymond Wong
starring Diana Pang, Michael Wong, Joyce Ngai, Cheung Chi-Gwong, Donna Chu, Charlie Ng, Kam Hing-Yin, Thomas Lam, Shut Mei-Yee, Leung Kai-Chi, Liu Fan, Hau Woon-Ling, Yu Ngai-Ho, Gary Mak, Raymond Wong, Lily Chung, So Wai-Naam, Leung Hung
written by Raymond Wong, music by Chung Chi-Wing, Henry Lai
review by
Mike Haberfelner
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Dancer and radio host Mei-Si (Diana Pang) hosts a radio talk show - and
of late she has troubling calls from a psychopath called Hungry Wolf who
tells her he'll blow up hospitals or kindergartens - which he really does,
too. Via her best friend, cop Siu-Yau (Joyce Ngai), she tries to get in
touch with the investigating officer Wong (Michael Wong), but he proves to
be a pervert (he's merely misunderstood it eventually turns out) who
couldn't care less about the clues she has assembled ... until his
superior gets wind of the whole thing of course and orders him to work
together with Mei-Si - something both of them feel uncomfortable with at
the beginning. It doesn't help at all that at the beginning, Wong and
Siu-Yau totally bungle up the investigations. Then though it gets personal
when a) Hungry Wolf threatens to kill Mei-Si, and b) Wong falls in love
with her - unrequited of course. Wong is to guard Mei-Si 24/7, but since
she doesn't feel at all at ease in his presence, she time and again slips
his watchful eye, and there are a few close calls ... The big showdown
takes place during a dance performance, when Hungry Wolf (Charlie Ng) -
who of course is the least suspicious man whom Wong and Siu-Yau have
investigated - poses as a dancer and tries to kill Mei-Si live on stage. Well,
it all ends happily, and in the end, Wong gets Mei-Si, too ... it's just,
have they gotten hold of the real Hungry Wolf? Apart from the
rather imaginative finale during a dance performance, Midnight Caller
is pretty much your routine thriller, with a bit of comedy mixed in just
for good measure - and that's where the problem lies with this film: The
comedy and the thriller parts don't gel. The comedy is just too puerile
and also too repetitive, and it takes the tension out of the suspense
scenes. Add to that a thriller plot that actually only makes half as much
sense as it's supposed to, and in the end you're left with - well, not an
awful movie, just routine genre entertainment you'll have forgotten in a
day or two ...
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