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I have OCD really bad, I think. I mean, why else would you write about forty horror anthology films in one week? Here's where it really kicks in: there are twenty Troublesome Night movies and I will never rest until I see every one of them. I will be a ghost, like in these films, forever blundering around the world until I see the final films in the series. And then, they will reboot it.

In the third Troublesome Night, a mortuary connects the stories. In the first, a mortician (Allen Ting, who was in the first two movies in this series) is ruined by the death of his favorite singer, so he takes her place in the coffin when her face is too damaged to allow for an open casket. Then he disappears because Hong Kong horror is weird.

The second tale revolves around a mother (Law Lan, who started acting in 1939 and is still performing) who has killed herself and the mortuary workers who keep getting more money out of her daughter (Christine Ng, Crime Story) for her funeral. Of course, they must pay the price.

Finally, the last story gets as dark as I've seen this series go, as a mortician commits suicide when her boyfriend leaves her because her job upsets him. Her ghost haunts him right into death.

Now my ectoplasmic form must depart to seek out Troublesome Night 4.

The first episode of "Troublesome Night" (1997) uses a movie insider as a character, which has a kind of self-deprecating taste. Among them, the episode of encountering a ghost in the theater is the most interesting. In the third episode "Troublesome Night 3" (1998), various characters who work in the funeral parlor are used as roles, which is one of the most successful hits on the theme of "Troublesome Night" in the three episodes. They deal with the problem of the dead every day, have a certain experience.

Ricky Lau Koon-Wai's masterpiece "Mr. Vampire" (1985) also featured a Taoist priest Master Gau played by Lam Ching-Ying, who superseded the dead as the protagonist to clean up the dead zombies. "Troublesome Night 3" is about a group of characters who face the dead every day, and how to deal with the aftermath when they encounter their idol and lover who die. In fact, death is not scary, it's the most uncomfortable thing to die with the person you like. Shishedo, played by Allen Ting Chi-Chun, was buried with his idol, and the infatuation was extremely sad. The death of Sister Hung, played by Fennie Yuen Kit-Ying, made her friend Lik (played by Louis Koo Tin-Lok) very sad. The Taoist Dai-Cheung Tsui played by Simon Lui Yue-Yeung evokes her soul for a period of time, which is very moving. I believe that the most fun part of the whole film is the second segment where Law Lan plays Gigi's mother, and her ghost linger on Dai-Cheung Tsui, Trump (played by Emotion Cheung Kam-Ching) and Sun-Kwai (played byFrankie Ng Chi-Hung), playing with the ghost upper body. This part is wonderful.

This time Herman Yau Lai-To's very carefully in shooting this film, which is indeed a bit surprising. Especially in the script, the connection between several paragraphs is very smooth, and these spaces can be used to describe the characters of each character. This may be the result of producer Nam Yin (eldest brother of director Ringo Lam Ling-Tung) and Herman Yau reached the realm after three episodes of cooperation. Also, the protagonists of three consecutive episodes, Louis Koo and Simon Lui, both performed well, especially the former's performance in this film, which is rarely touching.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)

This article was published in "1998 Hong Kong Film Review" by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society.

#Film #HongKongCinema #TroublesomeNight3 #FuneralParlor #TaoistPriest #FennieYuenKitYing #LouisKooTinLok #SimonLuiYueYeung #HermanYauLaiTo #NamYin.