| A modern update of the Green Snake/White Snake folktale that was beautifully captured in 1993's Green Snake, directed by Tsui Hark. Hands on director Hsien Yueh (who wrote, produced and art directed the film also) takes cues from Tsui's vision and tries to give this low budget fantasy-thriller the same alluring, erotic atmosphere. Surprisingly, Phantom Of Snake doesn't do bad in this regard and the angle this story takes is not about obtaining humanity but straying far away from it. A murder mystery at heart also, Hsien does get lost in the often immersing atmosphere (lensed by veteran cinematographer Joe Chan), its sound and fails to fill in a few plot points. The experience is tasty enough to forget shortcomings strangely enough. Cecilia Yip and Jade Leung also manage to cast aside any feelings of laughable B-movie charm and deliver eroticism through their twirling performances. The highlight coming in the street scene where the ladies are being the snakes that they are amongst the Hong Kong populous. It's a wild and bizarre scene that says a lot about the film in a short amount of time. Also with Jimmy Wong and Michael Tong. |
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