The Fake Ghost Catchers (1982)

Who you gonna call? Someone else.

Offering up a decidedly offbeat mix of horror, comedy and martial arts, The Fake Ghost Catchers undoubtedly riffs on the success that came about with Sammo Hung's Encounters of the Spooky Kind, although it ends up taking things in a vastly different direction. The horror elements are more playful than frightening, relying on wonderfully colourful lighting, fog-filled sets and practical effects that feel charmingly handmade rather than terrifyingly convincing. That being said, there is still some wonderfully freaky imagery courtesy of prolific choreographer Lau Kar-Wing in the director's chair; the martial arts take a bit of a backseat, though still reflecting the studio-house style of the time: energetic, theatrical and tightly staged. Wong Jing's script is certainly a mess of scenes, but the loose, scrappy nature and drastic shifts in tone are ultimately embraced with exceedingly silly and outlandish performances from its cast; the comedic timing carries the film more than its action does, as the comedy springs from cowardice, overconfidence, and the growing panic as carefully orchestrated illusions collapse. Leaning heavily into slapstick, more structured supernatural lore, gags are often prioritised over narrative flow, but it ultimately doesn't matter when your music is lifted verbatim from one of the best Doctor Who stories, The Invasion, no complaints there. Don Harper's music is incredible. Imperfect or not, I'm quickly realising that I massively prefer the more outlandish Shaw Brothers productions over their traditional wuxia tales because, for as ridiculous as The Fake Ghost Catchers is, it can still be lively, inventive, and often genuinely funny, carrying with it an immense amount of charm that lies less in polish and more in its energetic, anything-goes spirit.

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