the audience applauded

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

An excellent combination of martial arts, comedy and horror, this outstanding film helped pave the way for the comedy/horror genre that filled Hong Kong production studios in the '80s and '90s. All of the clichés and fun elements of the genre are present and correct in this nicely-budgeted romp, which doesn't let up from the word go. Our guide and hero through the film is the one and only Sammo Hung, here on top form as both star and director. As the star, Hung puts in a great and funny performance, his comedy skills (mostly acting terrified of the dead) matched by his superior martial arts abilities, ably demonstrated in lots of cool fight scenes. As a director, Hung is in his element and delivers a colourful, exciting, never-lets-up comic book style romp.The plot takes in all kinds of bizarre characters and situations, there's even a guy with a huge hairy mole on his cheek which seems to be the stand for every '70s kung fu flick. Intense set-pieces include nights spent in a haunted temple, jailbreaks, plus the rip-roaring climax which involves the classic duel of wizards and tons of non-stop action. The martial arts sequences are fantastic, especially a fight scene in a restaurant where Hung uses a bench to protect him from razor-sharp swords, and the finale, where Hung and his opponents are possessed by gods and perform superhuman techniques (anyone who doesn't chuckle at Hung's "monkey god" style has to be dead, or possessed).As well as the action, ENCOUNTERS OF THE SPOOKY KIND fulfils its horror quota by including lots of bizarre situations and horrific moments. From the opening shots of zombies tearing open Hung's leg to the spectacular duel between the wizards, this is extreme stuff. Ghosts come out of mirrors and kill people and Sammo's own arm is possessed by evil (two ideas later borrowed by Sam Raimi in his EVIL DEAD II). Elsewhere we have bizarre and complex magic rituals complete with on-screen chicken death (shocking) and some hilarious mumbo-jumbo gobbledegook that the evil magician chants. It doesn't make sense but it sounds great. The film features a great slapstick sequence involving a zombie who copies Sammo's every move, and a hopping corpse which is raised from the dead to attack our hero. It's just like KUGN FU ZOMBIE, but with a decent budget.The main strength of the movie is through the sheer dynamism of Hung and his cohorts and the inventiveness of the scenes. Something new and original is happening in every shot, you sit spellbound watching the events play out and it's one of those films you have to sit through in one go, no time for tea breaks or snacks in between. Possession, zombies, magic duels, and even a few voodoo dolls thrown into the mix make this a killer of a film. Check out the final shot, a real adrenaline burst that will make you stand up out of your chair and cheer our hero on. A great slice of Hong Kong escapism and one of the best out there.

Sammo Hung stars in one of his first Hong Kong horror movies, where he plays Bold Cheung, a villager who is on the run from an evil master who wants him dead so he could marry his unfaithful wife and from a corrupted inspector who believes Cheung murdered his wife (he was framed for it). Two dueling Taoist Priests fight over Cheung's fate.There are plenty of nicely choreographed and sword-wielding Kung-Fu action and a freaky-executed Chinese vampire, who was controlled by the evil priest to do Cheung in. These two are the most exciting elements of the film. However, a large part of the movie stretches too long: Towards the beginning of the film, there is a demon who nearly captures Cheung through a portal in a mirror; however, this scene has nothing to do with the plot and it looks as if the demon scene was just thrown in for good measure. It strays from the story in what is a long and dragged out movie. Too much preaching from the characters added unnecessary plot elements and did make this movie boring at times, contributed by an unremarkable music score. The climax was also, I think, a little overkill.If you are a hardcore fan of Kung-Fu movies and wouldn't mind watching a long, dragged out movie, than give this film a try. Otherwise, there are plenty of other horror, ghost and fantasy movies from Hong Kong that are more entertaining.Grade D+

"Spooky Encounters" (aka Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind; 1981) is a seminal work in the hybrid genre of Hong Kong comedy/kung fu/horror films. While this had been done before by the Shaw Brother's "The Spiritual Boxer" (1975), "The Spiritual Boxer Part II" (1979) and Lo Wei's unsuccessful "Spiritual Kung Fu" (1978), "Spooky Encounters" is the film most causal in the formative kyonsi (hopping vampires) craze of the 1980s with "Mr. Vampire" (1985) as the best example of that sub-genre with its plethora of sequels. It was directed by and stars Sammo Hung Kam-Bo ("Warrior's Two" and "The Prodigal Son" who would also produce "Mr. Vampire") during the golden age of Golden Harvest and was the first film under Sammo's Bo Ho Films Company.Sammo stars as Bold Cheung an affable courageous not-so-bright cuckold who works for Mr. Tam (I am not quite sure what Cheung does though). However, Tam is cheating with Cheung's wife and Cheung came awfully close to finding the two together; however, he did find a shoe that was left behind. Since Tam, who is going to run for mayor, does not want any scandal he decides to employ the services of a black-magic Taoist named Chin Hoi to murder Bold Cheung. Luckily his brother-in-witchcraft Tsui (Chung Faat who is also in Sammo's "Prodigal Son" and "Magnificent Butcher") is astonished he will breaks the rules of the sect (the four rules are: must not be greedy, must not kill, must not insult our god and must not behave badly) and goes off to help Cheung.Tsui's first good deed is to help Cheung survive a bet with an employee of Tam (played by the ubiquitous Wu Ma) to spend a night in a haunted place that looks like a giant storage shed. It houses a kyonsi – an undead vampire/zombie that is stiff, has to hop to get around, can suck blood through its long fingernails (does not happen here) and has good kung fu skills for some reason. Cheung being a bit of a dullard gets talked into staying two nights. Obviously this does not work so Mr. Tam ends up framing Cheung for the murder of his wife though no body is found. Now Sammo has the law after him led by the Inspector (Lam Ching-Ying) as well as the supernatural sorcerer.There is not much to complain about in this film. The few annoyances with the movie is the episodic structure the film takes on in the beginning and the underutilization of Lam Ching-Ying ("Mr. Vampire") fighting especially since he is credited as an action director. Also, the very ending is quite unsuspecting (not necessarily for Hong Kong aficionados) and seemed a bit excessive and hard to watch (for those who have not seen it I will not spoil it, it even startled me the second time I watched the movie). You also might not appreciate the film if you like chickens (unless you like exploding ones). There is also some mention of animal killing though nothing is shown (except for the chickens).The strengths of the film are many. Sammo is in the best shape of his life during the early 80s. He does look slightly corpulent but his kung fu and movement appears effortlessly and adroit (a big difference to how he would appear in the late 80s and beyond). I did notice he was doubled in a few scenes like when he was transformed into the Monkey King, he does not do some of the swinging movements, but for most he was not doubled. There are a couple of classic fight scenes with the tea house bit where Cheung loses control of his arm to the evil Taoist and takes on the tavern (I do not think it influenced Evil Dead II though you never know) and the excellent showdown at the Longevity Inn where Cheung is transformed into the Monkey King and has to fight the Dragon Slayer. In those fights Sammo does some great fighting with a bench in the first and a spear in the second. The whole finale I found quite entertaining with the dueling Taoists. Sammo's direction was also strongest in the 80s where he uses hand-held cameras to great use and has nice composition within frames. He does overuse under-cranking in this movie though he tends to do that a lot in his films (as well as most Hong Kong films during that period). His best asset as a director is that he makes everyone else look better and never puts himself in the forefront if he does not have to.The mixture of humor/action/spookiness works well too. The horror aspect is definitely influenced by the Shaw Brother's films like "Black Magic" (1975) but never goes into the grossness (or nudity) of that film. The humor lightens the macabre aspect while kung fu and comedy meld well for some reason. "Spooky Encounters" is not scary or gore-filled by today's standards, but it is still a good spooky film that is a must for those into 1980s Hong Kong martial arts cinema or fans of Sammo Hung.Best advice learned from this film -- when you need more chi stamp the ground and if two opponents are evenly matched the one with the higher alter will win.

I was very impressed with both the letter-boxed version and subtitling that didn't interfere with the active picture. And the film itself is a masterpiece mix of Martial Arts and slapstick comedy. However, I only rated it 8 out of 10 because it was a bit _too_ slapstick for me. During the battle scene between Cheung and his first opponent near the end of the film, I admit to being turned off by dialog between the two that seemed as if it was dubbed in from an "Alvin & the Chipmunks" show (in Cantonese, however). And in the next fight, Cheung's master infused the spirit of the "God Of War" in him ... but this god apparently has a lot in common with Curly of the Three Stooges, mannerisms included. However, speaking as a divorced man, I must admit I loved the ending scene (which I won't give away) and suspect a lot of other divorced men will appreciate its sentiments as well (grin).