OUT OF THE DARK is a typically slapdash and knockabout comedy from star Stephen Chow, here directed by Jeffrey Lau who also wrote the script. The story is in part a throwback to the 1980s comedy horror genre and sees Chow playing a lunatic who decides to help a disparate bunch of characters in their efforts to exorcise a haunted apartment building.
The whole thing is an excuse for lots of ludicrous and low brow comedy in which all kinds of things kick off. There are references to THE EVIL DEAD throughout and scenes of characters being chased around by chainsaw psychos. Chow's character is inspired by Jean Reno in LEON and he even carries a pot plant around while Karen Mok wears Natalie Portman's outfit from that movie. There are criminals, gangsters, murderers, gore, and severed head spirits, and a super-fast pace that means things never become boring. It's not one of Chow's best movies, but it does the job well enough.
The whole thing is an excuse for lots of ludicrous and low brow comedy in which all kinds of things kick off. There are references to THE EVIL DEAD throughout and scenes of characters being chased around by chainsaw psychos. Chow's character is inspired by Jean Reno in LEON and he even carries a pot plant around while Karen Mok wears Natalie Portman's outfit from that movie. There are criminals, gangsters, murderers, gore, and severed head spirits, and a super-fast pace that means things never become boring. It's not one of Chow's best movies, but it does the job well enough.