This film pays homage to films like "Ghostbusters" and "Poltergeist" except it is far beyond weirder. Not better than "Ghostbusters", but better than "Poltergeist", and besides, "Poltergeist" is overrated and stupid. The highlight of this film's greatness is the special effects. The effects are a bit silly but very impressive overall, with scenes like the hands coming out of walls and ripping a woman's clothes off, or a TV monitor with hands and legs coming out of it and attacking some fat guy. It appears Nam Na Choi has a fetish for puppetry because yes this film has a Chinese Muppet character called the Mahjong Ghost. Kind of cute but a bit retarded. Also there is a puppet skeleton in this film which has been used before in another Nam Na Choi epic, "The Seventh Curse".

This also contains one of my favorite scenes of all time. This is where some gang leader confronts a ghost and he keeps threatening to kill it. Then the ghost looks at him and says "Are you yearning to kill me? I'll die in your presence." Then the ghost peels off his flesh and my God it looked so freakin' great. Then the ghost says to him "I'll give you my heart." And then the ghost pulls out his heart in gory-like fashion. Then the gang leader dies from fear. It was great. I loved it!

There are flaws to consider for a film like this, and yes it is a horror/comedy and I know how some hate Chinese comedies. The comedy factor in this film is a little annoying with cock-eyed characters and other stupid shit that seems to be repeated throughout Chinese cinema, but it's not at all exasperating. But if you hate Chinese comedies then chances are you might want to deviate from this film.

Overall, "Ghost Snatchers" was excellent. Another Nam Na Choi classic that goes right up there with "The Seventh Curse" and "Story of Ricky", although not quite as good. Its black magic conception and story and the comedy will more than likely turn off some people because it's too commonplace in Chinese cinema, but its violence, special effects, direction and some of the hottest women ever is what did it for me, thus my 4-star rating.

I've seen a few of these movies now and think this one comes up short when compared to them ("Mortuary Blues", "Ghostly Vixen"). It isn't as though this movie doesn't have a lot of comedy, I just don't think it was all that funny. It's weird because the movie goes "beyond" its ratings in some regards (brief nudity of a woman's breasts), then holds back in terms of comedy. I kind of expected something lewd and "whacked out". Yet, a lot of the gags are tame. There's an entire scene involving a mischievious mahjong ghost, that looks like a crappy crack addict Alf, which adds nothing to the story and results in some brief puppet violence. Perhaps the only highlight for me involved a fight with a puppeteered skeleton. It reminded me of "Army of Darkness". The scene started with a lively fight between two guys and the afore mentioned skeleton, but it eventually evolved into them kicking each other in the crotch. I can honestly say that had me laughing my ass off. It was a cheap effect but it really looked hilarious.

Overall, it's a so-so kind of movie. There's some "interesting" things to see, but probably not consistent enough with the humor. Some laughs here or there but there are better films.