Encounter of the Spooky Kind (1981)

After an official is nearly caught sleeping with a woman by her husband, he hires a greedy sorcerer to do away with the not-so-courageous man. Corpses hop, kung fu fighters are possessed, and all manner of spooky, supernatural action occurs.

Sammo Hung stars in his definitive homage to the tales of horror that he enjoyed in his youth. Encounter of the Spooky Kind is a cult classic filled with terrific kung fu action, vampires, zombies, sorcerer duels of magic, and one of the most memorable endings in kung fu genre history.

Sammo is Courageous Cheung, a pedicab driver in a rural community who is known around town as the man who fears nothing. Well, this is proven false before the opening credits finish when he endures a particularly frightening nightmare of flesh-eating zombies. But, that’s just the beginning of his run-ins with the supernatural. His friends decide to pull a scary prank on him that results in a ghastly ghost joining in on the fun. The plot finally kicks in when Cheung comes home early one day to find his wife in bed with another man. It turns out to be Master Tam, a prominent citizen who is also a regular client of Cheung. He escapes before Cheung can identify him and decides Cheung must die to keep this activity a secret. Tam hires a greedy master of witchcraft named Chin Hoi (Peter Chan) to kill Cheung without arising suspicions. Chin Hoi’s accomplice (Wu Ma) bets Cheung to stay locked in a broken down temple for one night where a corpse resides. With advice from Lau (Chang Ti Chiang), Chin Hoi’s brother, Cheung survives two fierce nights in the temple. Later, a plot by Master Tam to frame Cheung for murder fails to succeed after he escapes by hiding out in a funeral home. Even an attempt to take control of Cheung’s body using voodoo is foiled by Lau. Finally, both Master Tam and Cheung become pawns in a vicious battle of the sorcerers as the two brothers square off in a final, fiery confrontation.

Sammo is one of few Hong Kong filmmakers to emerge from the ’70’s kung fu boom who continued to raise the quality of the genre and produce increasingly better films (at least until the mid-eighties). At the very peak of this success he put out Encounter of a Spooky Kind, which at the time was a revolutionary mergence of horror and kung fu genres. This film paved the way for New Wave classics such as the Mr. Vampire (1985) series and fostered a fascination with Chinese vampires that has not diminished. No doubt, it was Lam Ching Ying’s close relationship with Sammo and his presence in this film that led him to become Hong Kong cinema’s most beloved vampire hunter in numerous films before his untimely death. Another associate of Sammo was Wu Ma who likewise became synonymous as a supporting actor in and director of kung fu-horror films in the ’80’s and early ’90’s.

The film is pure, populist entertainment that aims and succeeds at providing equal parts humor, action and chills. Sammo knows how to mix genres well and the combination of all three elements is irresistible. The fright effects are low budget, but done with charm and a sense of humor. Even so, they look better than anything else coming out of Asian production houses at the time. Sammo plays a variation of the simpleton he perfected in films like The Victim (1980) and Filthy Guy (1980). He has a way of making himself look the fool, but coming out looking spectacular nevertheless. Case in point is the final scene in the film. This is one of the best and most unique ending battles ever and featured both sorcerers on raised platforms, reciting incantations as they battled each other. Although a kung fu expert, Sammo is no match for black magic so he’s covered in Chinese runes and becomes the vessel for none other than the famed Monkey King! He then puts on an impressive show of monkey fist kung fu as he fights Wong Ha. Not one to hog the limelight, Sammo gives in to his pyrotechnic fantasies and lets the magicians have the last word as they blast each other with massive arcs of flame.

Genre regular, Peter Chan (The Buddhist Fist) gets the most memorable role as the evil magician Chin Hoi and he is a delight. Lam Ching Ying has a painfully small role, but it is nice to see him included in front of the camera as well as behind where he contributes to the action choreography along with Yuen Biao.

Encounter of the Spooky Kind is definitely no one trick pony. The variety of well-choreographed fights, undead hijinks and actor performances makes for a near perfect experience. Don’t miss it!