COMMENTS
I didn't know too much about this film aside from it having some cool special effects and such. I figured it wouldn't be anything too special and that's pretty much what it was. It had its moments, but overall it was just another movie with a anti-christ theme to it.

It starts off with this swat team raiding an old building, only to find many dead bodies, which were apparently people in a cult, who killed themselves for one reason or another. They find a pregnant woman on an alter about to give birth. She gives birth, but dies immediately after.

Fast-forward twenty years and the baby is now a woman. It doesn't take long before strange things start to happen. A small group of religious warriors band together to protect her from the evil that is after her.

This is one of the better anti-christ-type films thanks to the asian touch with martial arts and superior special effects. It's enjoyable for the most part, but the story dwindles down as the film goes on. Some of the story somewhat reminded me of the movie Lost Souls, which isn't necessarily a good thing. The acting and directing is pretty decent. No scares or gore. Would have given the movie a lower-rating, but it was interesting and not as bad as a lot of other films I've seen.

OVERALL
Decent watch. Has some good special effects and starts off pretty interesting, but the story starts to die out a bit as it goes on. Predictable, but not as bad as other anti-christ movies.

In the first, Shishedo, a superfan of fictional pop star Beauty Chan, is faced with a dilemna when she becomes a client of their funeral home. Chan was notoriously image conscious during life and her death left her rather disfigured. The result is a rather touching, but also disturbing, vignette wherein Shishedo tries to find a way to make her as beautiful in death as in life. The ghost in this segment is Beauty Chan, who comes to Shishedo asking him to help her be beautiful. This segment is as much a commentary on fandom as anything, and was well done.

The second, and least innovative, segment, begins when three of the workers scam a young woman in performing a ceremony to placate her dead mother's ghost. They do a distinctly subpar ceremony and abscond with her money. The ghost is angered and haunts the three, who apparently live together. This segment, while not original, is fairly funny and entertaining, featuring a few amusing references to The Exorcist.

The third and final segment focuses on Hung, the senior makeup artist at the funeral home, who is jilted by her fiance Daviv (yes, that's how it is spelled) because he finds her work so disturbing. This segment was by far the best of the three, being the most emotionally involving.

Troublesome Night 3 is quite well written, with good dialogue throughout. In fact, it is extremely talky, especially for a ghost story film. Another nice aspect of the writing is that the film flows naturally between the three segments. Though they are obviously separate, there is no break in the film between them. In addition, various elements from each segment are present throughout the film, helping give it continuity. Finally, the characters are well written and developed, particularly the character of Hung, who is featured in the third segment. More than any of the other characters, we come to care about her.

I have heard from others that this is the best of the Troublesome Night series, though I have seen none of the others. I definitely recommend it. It is an interesting change of pace, combining elements of drama, comedy, and romance within a supernatural framework. It is also a demonstration of the fact that Hong Kong scripts can be polished when they want to be, despite their reputation for roughness.