In the 1980s, seemingly endless numbers of movies dealing with black magic and the undead were streaming out of Hong Kong. They pretty much all fell into two categories: gross-out black magic gorefests (BOXER'S OMEN, BLACK MAGIC) and goofy supernatural kung-fu comedies (MR. VAMPIRE, ENCOUNTERS OF THE SPOOKY KIND). MY MASTER'S NECKLACE II (a quasi-sequel to the just-as-forgotten EXCUSE ME, PLEASE), falls into the latter category and, while vaguely entertaining, does nothing to distance itself from the conventions of its genre.
A rich man is killed by his wife and a black magician, only to be accidentally revived by a graveyard worker. With the help of the graveyard worker's policeman brother, the ghost attempts revenge on those who wronged him. Various kung-fu spirits and other spooky goings-on plague our heroes, but between a lack of plot explanation and typo-littered, barely comprehensible English subtitles, I can't really tell you why.
Most of the film is more-or-less a D-grade MR. VAMPIRE, except with blue-faced ghosts instead of hopping vampires. It's gore-free and less unhinged than some of its contemporaries, though it has its head-scratching moments. Its most promising idea is when the film switches gears to a supernatural buddy cop movie, a device that brings a couple of laughs and some entertainment before the filmmakers bring back the rather uninspired kung-fu sequences.
It's definitely not a lost classic, but all Hong Kong genre films from this era have a fun, madcap rhythm that does a pretty good job of escaping viewer lethargy. Its nonchalant view of the supernatural (possessions and door gods must've just been a part of everyday life in '90s H.K.) is entertaining, and there's a sick Casio score. It's not really worth searching out (and it seems to be a pretty rare one!), but I've seen worse. 4 out of 10.
A rich man is killed by his wife and a black magician, only to be accidentally revived by a graveyard worker. With the help of the graveyard worker's policeman brother, the ghost attempts revenge on those who wronged him. Various kung-fu spirits and other spooky goings-on plague our heroes, but between a lack of plot explanation and typo-littered, barely comprehensible English subtitles, I can't really tell you why.
Most of the film is more-or-less a D-grade MR. VAMPIRE, except with blue-faced ghosts instead of hopping vampires. It's gore-free and less unhinged than some of its contemporaries, though it has its head-scratching moments. Its most promising idea is when the film switches gears to a supernatural buddy cop movie, a device that brings a couple of laughs and some entertainment before the filmmakers bring back the rather uninspired kung-fu sequences.
It's definitely not a lost classic, but all Hong Kong genre films from this era have a fun, madcap rhythm that does a pretty good job of escaping viewer lethargy. Its nonchalant view of the supernatural (possessions and door gods must've just been a part of everyday life in '90s H.K.) is entertaining, and there's a sick Casio score. It's not really worth searching out (and it seems to be a pretty rare one!), but I've seen worse. 4 out of 10.
