The Dead And The Deadly is a horror comedy directed by and starring the legendary Hong Kong stalwart Wu Ma. Alongside martial arts heroes Sammo Hung (Dragons Forever, Eastern Condors) and Lam Ching-Ying (Mr Vampire, Magic Cop) Ma stars as a man who fakes his own death in order to steal his family’s funeral treasure. When the treasure is instead bequeathed to Ma’s unborn son, his co-conspirators decide to cut him out of the deal and kill him for real. His vengeful spirit seeks out the help of his friend (played by Sammo) and together they seek revenge on his murderers.
The Dead And The Deadly stands as one of the best in a long line of Chinese ghost stories like Spooky Encounters and Zu Warriors From The Magic Mountain. With a stellar cast, many of which are icons of Hong Kong cinema, the film goes from impressive fight choreography/wirework to slapstick comedy. The film also boasts a colourful array of ghosts and ghouls, whether they are flying around a room causing mischief or getting drunk on wine. All manner of supernatural occurrences are portrayed with vibrant visual & practical effects which only add more charm to an already gloriously enjoyable movie.
If you love a big dose of fun, fun fights and a light-hearted horror movie you’d be hard-pressed to find a better mix than this movie.
Sammo Hung plays the put-upon Wah Li (or Fat Boy/Dumb Boy to his friends and family), who takes up the task of finding just what happened to his friend Ma Lun Chio. Through many comedic scenes, Wah tries all manner of ways to rule out foul play. Knives, strip searches and needles are all subjected to the very much alive Ma. Even the appearance of Ma pretending to be a ghost to tell him not to keep messing with his body isn’t enough to deter Wah from uncovering the truth.
The plot only gets thicker from there as Ma is killed (for realsies this time) by his cohorts eager to cash in on his death, with the promise of his estranged wife and his son inheriting the bounty at his funeral. As his ghost rises from the grave, Ma convinces Wah to aid him in his quest for vengeance roping Second Uncle Yee (Lam Ching-Ying) along to give Ma the power to possess Wah’s body to fight his murderers. Unfortunately, the selfish spectre leaves Wah’s body to die and the fight is now on to bring Fat Boy back from Hell. Through chicken weddings, catching beetles and fighting egg-loving demon bodyguards, Wah’s new wife stops at nothing to bring back her beloved from the clutches of evil.
I loved The Dead And The Deadly as I take every opportunity to see Sammo Hung in action. His movies were some of my first gateways into martial arts cinema and he is on top form in this slice of comedic horror. His usual butt-kicking is reserved here for the possession portion of the movie which gives him some breathing space to concentrate on slapstick and comic timing. Praise also has to go to Wu Ma as Lun Chio and Lam Ching Ying as grumpy priest Uncle Yee. The latter gives a very fun performance in some very ropey old man make up which only makes his performance more memorable frankly.
I can’t recommend The Dead And The Deadly enough. If you love a big dose of fun, fun fights and a light-hearted horror movie you’d be hard-pressed to find a better mix than this movie.
The Dead And The Deadly is out on 2K restored Blu Ray from Eureka
