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Happy Ghost 4
Hong Kong 1989
produced by Clifton Ko, Raymond Wong (executive) for Ko Chi Sum Films, Pak Ming Films
directed by Clifton Ko
starring Raymond Wong, Pauline Yeong, Beyond (= Wong Goon Chung, Wong Ka Kui, Wong Kar-Keung Yip Sai-Wing), Lau Shun, Wong Kwong Leung, Charlie Cho, Woo Fung, James Wong, Fennie Yuen, Loletta Lee, May Lo Mei-Mei, Charine Chan, Chui Miu Lin, Clifton Ko
screenplay by Joe Ma, Ng Man Fai, Cheng Chung Tai, songs by Beyond, visual effects by John Ting, Jackie Tang, special makeup effects by Ho Chim Sum, animation effects by Tsui Hark/Cinefex Workshop, action choreography by Tony Leung Siu Hung
Happy Ghost
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Kwai (Raymong Wong) is kept busy these days, keeping his girlfriend
Annie (Pauline Yeong) out of the clutches of her rich cousin Chiu (Charlie
Cho), and his past self/guardian angel, the Happy Ghost (also Raymond Wong) isn't too much help either,
playing all sorts of crazy pranks on Chiu that often backfire and
eventually cause Chiu to hire a killer, Crazy Bill (Wong Kwong Leung) to
get rid of Kwai (not that Crazy Bill would ever come close to succeeding
though).
In the meantime, four of Kwai's students (played by the popband Beyond)
find some ancient armor in a secret cave and take it back to their dorm -
not knowing of course that the evil spirit of Crazy Kwan Leung (Lau Shun)
lives in the armor and only waits for an opportunity to come back into the
real world to kill the descendant of the woman who caused his death ...
who is of course Annie.
In his efforts to defend Annie, Kwai is even killed, but his body is
possessed by the happy ghost, who, aided by the four students who brought
the armor to the dorm in the first place, does
everything to ward off the evil spirit and keep Kwai's body from decay
until Kwai's spirit is able to return into it. And after a big showdown
that also involves a (well animated) tiger and returned-from-the-dead
Kwai, our heroes are able to capture the evil spirit in a drawing.
Mostly made up from lame jokes, many of them of the invisible man-variety,
this fourth installment of the Happy Ghost-series is
nevertheless not a total failure, there are actually quite a few funny
sequences in it - like Crazy Bill's frequent unsuccessful attempts to kill
Kwai - and the finale including the animated tiger does really pack a
punch. That said, the film is of course no masterpiece, but it's not the
worst entry into the series either.
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