The Ghost Snatchers (1986)

directed by Lam Ngai-Choi
Hong Kong
88 minutes
3.5 stars out of 5
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I appreciate that this movie delivers on its title in the very first scene, which features a woman definitely being snatched by ghosts. I'm not sure if the title refers to ghosts who snatch people, or people who snatch ghosts, though. It could really go either way.

It's essentially about some people who end up for one reason or another in a really, really cursed building. There are a lot of different spirits inhabiting it but the most destructive of them is a platoon of angry Japanese soldiers circa WWII who just want to kill a lot of people. There's also a mahjong demon, a ghost coming out of a TV, and some disembodied grabby hands that come out of walls and hallways, as well as a full-fledged portal to hell that opens through a bathroom mirror at some point. If it is ghosts you desire, you won't be disappointed in this.

It's also hilarious in a slapstick, Three Stooges type of way. The more I watch movies from Lam Nai-Choi that are not Riki-oh: Story of Ricky, the more I appreciate him as a director, because while Riki-oh is undoubtedly an amazing film, it's a film that you have to be in a particular mood to watch. But as funny as Ghost Snatchers is, there's a lot of jokes that are annoying- the misogyny is extremely grating, as pretty much every woman in the film is present only so men can ogle her, and there's also a lot of casual body shaming too, but to me the funniest thing about people constantly calling the main character "Fatty" like it was his name was just the fact that so many people were willing to insult this random guy they didn't know.

The best thing about this movie is how dreamlike it becomes due to all the random ghosts popping up out of nowhere and the fluidity of its logic. I think it feels like a dream because even though the characters are surprised by a lot of the stuff that's happening, nothing is ever treated as impossible and everybody just kind of goes with it. I liked Joyce Godenzi's character a lot because even though she deals in spells and other supernatural things, the characters walk into her office and consult her as if she's a mundane businesswoman. I love how she casts spells and bridges the gap between this world and the underworld as casually as somebody making a business transaction. More career sorceresses on film, please.

Hong Kong horror movies like this one are always a treat visually and I'm not usually the type to say that things were better back in the day (especially since "the day" in this case was over a decade before I was born), but they really don't make these like they used to. I would love to see somebody try a remake of this or The Imp or even maybe one of the Mr Vampire movies, but an authentic remake with puppets and rubber prosthetics, not CGI. The spirit of weirdness for weirdness' sake and barrages of handmade ghosts are timeless.