Review: Mortuary Blues is a screwball horror comedy with the great action director Corey Yuen stepping up for one of his few starring roles. It's a film that demands a certain appreciation for toilet humor and manic nonsense akin to a Wong Jing movie. Director Jeff Lau is in familiar territory after helming The Haunted Cop Shop (1987) and Operation Pink Squad II (1989). This will sit well with his fans. If however, repeatedly grabbing ghost ass and swinging from vines in an underground lair pantless is not your idea of a good time, you may want to sit this one out.

Villagers on a small island off of Hong Kong are living rich off of a stash of stolen gold buried by their ancestors and they're willing to kill to keep it a secret. But that's the least for a visiting opera troupe and a local police chief (Corey Yuen) to worry about. The chief investigates what he believes is a narcotics operation, but with the aid of the opera performers he uncovers the entrance to an underground pagoda filled with lesser vampires. After unwittingly releasing a nasty head vampire while making their escape, they return to retrieve a sacred sword and three coins to battle the vampire with. All they have to do is overcome a series of booby traps and steer clear of more vampires.

I'll just go right and state it; I couldn't stand this film. Everything I enjoyed about Jeff Lau's Chinese Odyssey films is simply annoying and/or tiresome in Mortuary Blues. I can almost see where the film and its fast-paced comedy antics would be hilarious in the right mood, with a few beers, and with an understanding of Cantonese. There are a few brief moments of Three Stooges-worthy insanity. But it just doesn't gel overall. In other words, if you're not onboard, this comedy ship will pass you by with little effect. Unfortunately, there is little else to recommend. The horror elements are corny and trumped by the comedy. There's an elaborate Indiana Jones scenario that has its moments, but drags on for too long. Although Corey Yuen is in attendance, the action is nothing to get excited about. Most of it appears at the end when Yuen and his comedy costars face off against the vampire on an opera stage. A scene reminiscent of Mr. Vampire IV plays out as the crew dress up as famous characters to fool the spook. They eventually get wired up to do battle. This scene is interesting only because the wires are intentionally left visible.

Mortuary Blues is only a "good" movie if you get the humor and I'm willing to bet that most Western viewers won't. The fast pace that Jeff Lau sets makes the film slightly more palatable and it is interesting to see Yuen in a lead role. He's done quite a bit of acting over the years and isn't half bad. But this isn't the kind of film I want to see one of the greatest action directors to come out of Hong Kong star in. There is a fine line to walk when dealing with base slapstick. Step off ever so slightly and it just gets moronic and that's how it translates in this case.

A couple of actors from a chinese opera troupe gets their hands on, what looks like a treasure map. In trying to get inside the pagoda structure that's supposed to hold the treasure, they set loose an dormant vampire and it's companions. Now, lead by police chief (played by famed choreographer and director Corey Yuen) this group of mismatched people must find the only thing capable of destroying the vampire, a magical sword hidden deep in the pagoda...

It doesn't really matter what the movie is about, who the character are or how the actors performs. Mortuary Blues is far from classy and the first 30 minutes is not the smoothest put on film. Haunted Cop Shop had a better structure but here the first act consists of lots (and I mean lots) of feces, drugs and verbal humour, which must have pleased the Hong Kong cinema audiences (amazingly there's no Wong Jing listed in the credits). I don't particular care for this type of content and Mortuary Blues only have one real merit (and it's not just an ordinary 'only'), it's frenetic energy.

Jeff Lau has not crafted good comedy but does deserve credit for directing highly energetic set pieces involving ghost bashing and other horror-esque elements. It's up to each viewer but I'm hugely entertained by this stuff! It's absolutely insane, only Hong Kong cinema can provide you with that, and seeing Taoist priests or other persons battling the supernatural is just a blast at the movies for me. Here the low budget nature of Hong Kong cinema helps as well. Back in 1990 there was no computerized special effects used in Hong Kong movies so animation was relied upon instead, something that works in these kinds of films. If there had been a more serious tone to Mortuary Blues I think the effects would've unintentionally made the proceedings comedic though. As seen in previous films, Jeff chooses a few moments to create tension and again he manages to find that correct tone. Jeff Lau may be strictly a comedic director but the attempts at horror I've seen have all been honorable ones. Those of you familiar with his work or this genre of movies will notice scenes, lifted and reinterpreted, from Haunted Cop Shop 2 and Hocus Pocus.

Adding to the success Mortuary Blues has is the action design team consisting of Corey Yuen and Yuen Mo. Corey also is in front of the camera and we see him ham it up but all in all, it's a bit of seriousness to his performance (hard to take much serious in this film though). I've always been a fan of his work behind the camera but it's always fun when he turns up in supporting and, with this movie, starring roles. In the action department, Corey and his partner switches everything into high gear and it generates wonderful entertainment throughout, in particular the long and inventive finale. The quote from Stefan Hammond's book Sex & Zen and A Bullet In The Head sure is applicable here: Hong Kong movies kick ass! The rest of the cast screams and acts silly for 90 minutes. It's mostly tiring but when scenes are fast and furious, their over the top acting does help.

I have a feeling most fans are familiar with Jeff Lau through his Chinese Odyssey movies and while I haven't seen signs of a complete horror/comedy filmmaker, there's no denying the skill that is there. That I think Mortuary Blues is a damn entertaining film says a lot about Jeff Lau.