Rating: **
Alternate Title: Chase From Beyond
Review Date: 4/30/12
Cast: Jacky Cheung, Joey Wang, Gloria Yip, Hou Hsiao
Joey Wang and Gloria Yip are two fairies who are fighting the Thousand Year Evil Girl. When Yun Yu Yi (Joey Wang) manages to steal the Hell Bead, she escapes to the future with Evil Girl in hot pursuit. In modern day Hong Kong, she happens to run into a cop named Mambo (Jacky Cheung) who has a birth mark that can repel Evil Girl. Taking advantage of this, Yun decides to shack up with Mambo for protection, while coyishly leading him on. Naturally, he completely falls for her charms. Meanwhile, a band of thugs are trying to kill Mambo for arresting their boss, a Taoist priest (Hou Hsiao) is bent on exorcising Yun, and Evil Girl manipulates a jealous co-worker to remove Mambo's birth mark. It's all rather silly and plays out like a cute supernatural romantic comedy until the very end, when things become very grim. Sadly, there can be no love between humans and fairies, and the final battle against Evil Girl takes a heavy toll on the entire cast.
Joey Wang is tragically lovely, with effortless charm. Unlike most of her sad ghost roles, she actually gets a chance to smile in this film, which really brings her to life. Jacky Cheung does a fine job with his cocky and arrogant role, but it's definitely not a stretch for him. Gloria Yip is adorable, but only shows up at the beginning and the end of the movie. There's also a tough female police officer who's pretty hot and serves as the butt for a lot of lesbian and transvestite jokes, but I couldn't identify her in the credits. The ghost effects are pretty good and there are some very impressive wire stunts. There's also a silly animation of the King Of Hell, which Hou Hsiao calls on for advice. There isn't a lot of kung fu, but people get thrown around a lot, and it's nice to see Joey Wang and Gloria Yip swinging swords around. It's certainly not the best that the genre has to offer, but it's not a bad time waster, either. The film looks great, and if nothing else it reminds you of when Hong Kong cinema was at the top of its game.