Movies That Hong Kong Forgot: “The Ghost Snatchers” (1986)
In a film industry as prolific and fast-moving as Hong Kong’s, some films are bound to get lost in time and ultimately are forgotten. This series (of sorts) attempts to profile lesser-known or little-remembered titles from Hong Kong’s past, whether they are good in terms of quality or not.
Two years before Poltergeist III came out, Hong Kong made their own film about a haunted skyscraper entitled The Ghost Snatchers. While The Ghost Snatchers was not directed by Wong Jing, the prolific (and often hated) filmmaker wrote the script and stars as one of the principal protagonists; his trademark irreverence is also reflected heavily in the film’s story and narrative structure. And really, I will tell you up front that this is not a quality film. As far as storytelling is concerned, the script falters in the typical Wong Jing way; every character is unashamedly one-dimensional and tangential subplots randomly manifest, disappear, and reappear later in a confusing manner. What this film does have going for it are the special effects. In fact, the story seems to be nothing more than a convenient way to link one effects-laden scene to the next, and while that approach will never qualify as quality filmmaking, it is unabashedly fun to watch. The effects aren’t all crafted well, but they are exceptionally possessive of the fun 80’s kitsch factor (think Ghostbusters) and are very cartoony in an amusing way.
Oh, you want to hear the synopsis? Well, I’ll be honest, I’m not even completely sure what the story is about, but basically Wong Jing and Stanley Fung are security officers who work in a skyscraper that turns out to be tainted by bad feng shui and haunted by the spirits of angry Japanese soldiers. Also, some girl gets possessed, but her subplot doesn’t seem to matter much, since the film devotes little screen time to her and her plight. Anyway, Wong Jing’s girlfriend (Joey Wong) enlists the help of a spiritual medium (Joyce Godenzi) to rid the building of it’s problems. In typical Wong Jing fashion, it seems that every idea that came up during the brainstorming session for the film shows up in the final product. Consequently, the tone continually shifts between low-brow comedy and light horror.
Besides the mix of funny and unfunny jokes, we get a special effects bonanza; haunted TV sets walk, skeletons attack, a giant guillotine cuts a room in half, and a dude even blows up without much warning or reason. Most of it isn’t genuinely scary, but the film makes up for this by providing plenty of “Did that seriously just happen?” moments. All in all, if you can get past the complete lack of a storyline, there are many amusing moments and diversions to be found in The Ghost Snatchers. Of course, for further Wong Jing hijinks in a skyscraper, be sure to check out High Risk with Jet Li and Jackie Cheung, released nine years later in 1995.
