| 80s/up till mid 90s Hong Kong cinema is like a box of chocolates... you most definitely don't know what you're going to get. While magical in some respect this disregard for audiences need for rhyme, reason and logic, Scared Stiff takes a long while to warm up to even if you're into this abuse Hong Kong filmmakers put one through. Starting very strangely with Halley (Eric Tsang) as the object of desire for women due to him trying to keep his virginity or being chaste in general, best friend Miao (Miu Kiu-Wai) doesn't mind stepping in when Halley won't perform. It seems that way anyway because I'm not sure what is reality sometimes in the earlier stages of the film. But best friends they definitely are as Halley even dresses up as a house robot so Miao can impress his date. Then slowly darkness creeps in as the car the two are in gets overtaken by robbers and Miao is injured in the subsequent car crash. The doctors notices his brain waves are unusually strong and possibly ESP is being heightened in Miao. Doctors (played by Wu Fung and Emily Chu) take Miao on an experimental journey where he's forced to enter the dreams of madmen in order to further the study of what makes madmen. Being reluctant over and over again, Miao hangs on so that he can score with Emily Chu's character and then Chow Yun-Fat turns up as a knife wielding killer who is also a cop...
The identify of the murder is secret for about 5 minutes (and we figure it out 5 minutes earlier) and up till this energetic, insane turning point, Scared Stiff doesn't have any spark. Neither broad or contrasting elements reach out of the dull pit they're in and unfortunately Eric Tsang is in his annoying stage as a broad, comic actor. When matters turn downright slasher movie-like in nature where anyone in the way of Chow Yun-Fat is bound to be horribly hurt (including lead actors), director Lau Kar-Wing shows he's more comfortable doing this kind of excess. Having done well in the horror-comedy Till Death Do We Scare before, at least certain parts of Scared Stiff amuses in its exaggeration. Especially in the finale amidst cars slated for demolition where Chow's team of killer cops (Phillip Ko and Yuen Wah) take on Miao and Halley and structurally Lau Kar-Wing remembers to pay off the ESP angle. The more amusingly evil Chow Yun-Fat becomes, the more reason there is to follow through on the film. A long trek but 3-4 quotable moments seems rather enough. Also featuring brief appearances from Wu Ma and Anita Mui. Produced by Sammo Hung. |
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