Encounters of the Spooky Kind (Chinese: 鬼打鬼) is a 1980 Hong Kong martial arts comedy horror film written and directed by Sammo Hung, who also starred in the lead role. The film was produced by Hung's production company Bo Ho Film Company.[1] It was released as Spooky Encounters in the US. It is sometimes listed asClose Encounters of the Spooky Kind,[2] more blatantly mimicking the title of the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). The film was the progenitor of thejiangshi film genre and one of Hong Kong's first kung fu horror comedies.[3]
There is one other stand-alone sequel starring Hung and Lam Ching-ying Encounters of the Spooky Kind II (aka Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind 2) which has no relation to Encounters of the Spooky Kind.[4] The Chinese name for the movie literally translates as ghost fights ghost.
Contents[]
Plot[edit][]
The film starts with Bold Cheung having a nightmare about ghosts.
Bold Cheung is challenged to spend the night in an abandoned house where he must peel an apple in front of a mirror. If he breaks the skin then something bad will happen. Upholding his mantle as the boldest he accepts. However, that night whilst peeling the apple his friends trick him. Whilst scolding his friend for the prank a real ghost appears and snatches Cheung's friend away. The ghost reaches for Cheung but he cuts its hand off and then quickly shattering the mirror, causing the house to collapse.
The next day Cheung overhears a story about a promiscuous wife from a sweet tofu seller (Who admits that something similar happen to him and his wife); he goes to his home to check on his wife and finds two peeping toms outside his door. He scolds them, causing his wife and employer, Master Tam, to hear. Tam escapes but leaves his shoe which Cheung finds and confronts his wife with. His wife pulls a tantrum and makes Cheung feel guilty.
Master Tam is worried Cheung will find out about the affair so he hires a witch, Chin Hoi, to get rid of him. When Chin mentions this to his partner Priest Tsui, Tsui gets angry. Cheung is tricked into spending the night in a temple, but he encounters Tsui who tells him that he must sleep on the roof. Cheung does so. A coffin in the temple opens and a jiangshi, a hopping corpse, begins looking for him but he is safe. Chin gives up when he cannot find Cheung (he is controlling the jiangshi) just as Cheung falls down. Chin and the cadaver look for Cheung again. He hides under the coffin but is found, the two fight and Cheung kicks the corpse back into the coffin and seals the lid.
Cheung is tricked into spending another night in the temple. Again he meets Tsui who tells him to collect fifty chicken eggs to throw into the coffin. If he runs out of eggs he must throw dog's blood over the jiangshi. However, the egg seller puts in ten duck eggs. That night Cheung throws in eggs when the coffin begins to open and it works. However when he throws a duck egg inside, the corpse escapes so Cheung throws the dog's blood onto it which sends Chin flying into Tam's roof severing his control of the jiangshi.
Cheung goes back to town but an Inspector arrests him for murdering his wife even though it is a set-up. Cheung is thrown in prison but escapes by pretending to be sick, he beats up the guards and runs into a forest where he trips over a coffin exposing the corpse within. As Cheung sleeps it comes to life and begins chasing him. Whilst on the run from the corpse Cheung bumps into the Inspector and his men. The jiangshi collapses onto the Inspector giving Cheung time to escape.
Cheung meets up with Tsui who wants to take Cheung as his disciple. As they stop to eat, the Inspector shows up and sends his men after Cheung. Chin is also there and manipulates Cheung's right arm to beat up the people around him and himself however Tsui stops him in a sword fight and Chin escapes. To help Cheung, Tsui uses his magic to manipulate the Inspector's men to fight the Inspector whilst he and Cheung escape. That night Chin sends a vampire after Tsui and Cheung but they defeat it. Tsui draws markings on Cheung's body to protect him from Chin's magic. They go to Tam's house to challenge Chin. Both sorcerers use magic to instill spirits into their disciples. Cheung is possessed by a monkey god. The two possessed apprentices fight with Cheung winning. Chin then possesses Master Tam with the spirit of the sword god but Cheung kills him. Then the two sorcerers unleash their magic on each other. Just as it looks like Chin will win Cheung cuts the legs off his altar which causes Chin to lose balance giving Tsui a chance to hit him with magical fire, Chin is set ablaze and falls off his altar to burn to death. However, Tsui is badly hurt by Chin's magic and he too falls off his altar dead. Cheung's wife steps forward in all the madness and tries to convince Cheung that Tam was about to rape her. However, Cheung is not deceived and he punches her over and over again, then throws her.
Cast[edit][]
- Sammo Hung - Bold Cheung [5]
- Chung Fat - Priest Tsui [5]
- Lam Ching-ying - Inspector[5]
- Chan Lung - Priest Chin Hoi[5]
- To Siu-ming - Ah To / Ah dooh / Cocky[5]
- Huang Ha - Master Tam (as Wong Ha)[5]
- Dick Wei - Master Lok[5]
- Cheung Ging-boh - Uncle Fok[5]
- Tai Bo - Adviser Lau[5]
- Yuen Miu - Ah To's friend / Prison Guard (2 roles)[5]
- Pang Yun-cheung - Ah To's friend[5]
- Wellson Chin - Police officer[5]
- Ng Min-kan - Police officer[5]
- Leung Suet-mei - Cheung's wife[5]
- Billy Chan - Cheung's friend[5]
- Fung Ging-man - Peeping Tom[5]
- Ho Pak-kwong - Peeping Tom[5]
- Yuen Biao - Vampire[5]
- Lau Chau-sang - Guard[5]
- Wu Ma - Ah Chiu Fa Kau[5]
- Billy Chan - Driver[5]
Box office[edit][]
Encounters of the Spooky Kind grossed $5,675,626.00 HKD at the Hong Kong box office.[6] Encounters of the Spooky Kind ran in Hong Kong theaters from 24 December 1980 to 8 January 1981.[7]
Home media[edit][]
VHS[edit][]
| Release date | Country | Classifaction | Publisher | Format | Language | Subtitles | Notes | REF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 1998 | France | Unknown | HK Video | PAL | Cantonese | French | [8] | |
| 12 October 1999 | United States | R | Tai Seng Entertainment | NTSC | Cantonese | English | [9] | |
| 24 January 2000 | United Kingdom | 15 | Hong Kong Legends | PAL | Cantonese | English | [10] | |
| 12 November 2001 | United Kingdom | 15 | Hong Kong Legends | PAL | English (Dubbed) | None | [11] |
VCD[edit][]
| Release date | Country | Classifaction | Publisher | Format | Language | Subtitles | Notes | REF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 April 2000 | Hong Kong | N/A | Mega Star (HK) | NTSC | Cantonese | English, Traditional Chinese | [12] | |
| 6 March 2009 | Hong Kong | N/A | Joy Sales (HK) | NTSC | Cantonese | English, Traditional Chinese | Digitally Remastered Edition, 2VCDs | [12] |
DVD[edit][]
| Release date | Country | Classifaction | Publisher | Format | Region | Language | Sound | Subtitles | Notes | REF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 September 2000 | Kong Kong | N/A | Deltamac (HK) | NTSC | 3 & 6 | Cantonese, Mandarin | Unknown | English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese | Name on box Spooky Encounters. | [13] |
| 14 November 2000 | United States | Not Rated | Tai Seng Video | NTSC | 1 | Cantonese, English | Unknown | English | [14] | |
| 12 November 2001 | United Kingdom | 15 | Hong Kong Legends | PAL | 2 | Cantonese,
English (Dubbed) |
Dolby Digital 2.0 | English | Digitally Remastered Edition | [15] |
| 3 February 2005 | France | Unknown | HK Video | PAL | 2 | Cantonese | Unknown | French | Box set includes Spooky Encounters 1 & 2 under the name Chinese Exorcist 1 & 2. | [16] |
| 25 February 2005 | Korea | N/A | Spectrum DVD | NTSC | 3 | Cantonese | Unknown | English, Korean | Name on box Spooky Encounters. | [17] |
| 5 April 2005 | United States | R | 20th Century Fox | NTSC | 1 | Cantonese, English | Dolby Digital 5.1 & DTS | English | Name on box Spooky Encounters. | [18] |
| 25 May 2006 | Japan | N/A | Universal Pictures Japan | NTSC | 2 | Cantonese | Unknown | Japanese | Name on box Spooky Encounters, Digitally Remastered Edition | [19] |
| 7 May 2008 | Australia/
New Zealand |
M | Magna Pacific | PAL | 4 | Cantonese,
English (Dubbed) |
Dolby Digital 2.0 | English | Digitally Re-mastered | [20] |
| 2 December 2009 | Hong Kong | N/A | Joy Sales (HK) | NTSC | ALL | Cantonese, Mandarin | Dolby Digital 2.0 | English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese | Name on box Spooky Encounters, Digitally Re-mastered | [21] |
| 25 December 2012 | United Kingdom | N/A | Cine-Asia | PAL | 2 | Cantonese, English (Dubbed) | Dolby Digital 2.0 | English | Special Collectors Edition, Digitally Re-mastered | [22] |
Blu-ray[edit][]
| Release date | Country | Classifaction | Publisher | Format | Region | Language | Sound | Subtitles | Notes | REF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 November 2012 | Hong Kong | N/A | Kam & Ronson Enterprises Co Ltd | NTSC | A | Cantonese, Mandarin | 6.1, 7.1, DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital EX(TM) / THX Surround EX(TM) | English, Traditional Chinese | [23] |