Mortuary Blues (1990)

On a small island off Hong Kong, a police chief (Corey Yuen) suspects that the rich local inhabitants are engaging in narcotics sales. His investigations with several opera performers uncover a stash of treasure buried in an underground and booby-trapped pagoda, along with a vampire.

Mortuary Blues is a screwball horror comedy with the great action director Corey Yuen stepping up for one of his few starring roles. It’s a film that demands a certain appreciation for toilet humor and manic nonsense akin to a Wong Jing movie. Director Jeff Lau is in familiar territory after helming The Haunted Cop Shop (1987) and Operation Pink Squad II (1989). This will sit well with his fans. If however, repeatedly grabbing ghost ass and swinging from vines in an underground lair pantless is not your idea of a good time, you may want to sit this one out.

Villagers on a small island off of Hong Kong are living rich off of a stash of stolen gold buried by their ancestors and they’re willing to kill to keep it a secret. But that’s the least for a visiting opera troupe and a local police chief (Corey Yuen) to worry about. The chief investigates what he believes is a narcotics operation, but with the aid of the opera performers he uncovers the entrance to an underground pagoda filled with lesser vampires. After unwittingly releasing a nasty head vampire while making their escape, they return to retrieve a sacred sword and three coins to battle the vampire with. All they have to do is overcome a series of booby traps and steer clear of more vampires.

I’ll just go right and state it; I couldn’t stand this film. Everything I enjoyed about Jeff Lau’s Chinese Odyssey films is simply annoying and/or tiresome in Mortuary Blues. I can almost see where the film and its fast-paced comedy antics would be hilarious in the right mood, with a few beers, and with an understanding of Cantonese. There are a few brief moments of Three Stooges-worthy insanity. But it just doesn’t gel overall. In other words, if you’re not onboard, this comedy ship will pass you by with little effect. Unfortunately, there is little else to recommend. The horror elements are corny and trumped by the comedy. There’s an elaborate Indiana Jones scenario that has its moments, but drags on for too long. Although Corey Yuen is in attendance, the action is nothing to get excited about. Most of it appears at the end when Yuen and his comedy costars face off against the vampire on an opera stage. A scene reminiscent of Mr. Vampire IV plays out as the crew dress up as famous characters to fool the spook. They eventually get wired up to do battle. This scene is interesting only because the wires are intentionally left visible.

Mortuary Blues is only a “good” movie if you get the humor and I’m willing to bet that most Western viewers won’t. The fast pace that Jeff Lau sets makes the film slightly more palatable and it is interesting to see Yuen in a lead role. He’s done quite a bit of acting over the years and isn’t half bad. But this isn’t the kind of film I want to see one of the greatest action directors to come out of Hong Kong star in. There is a fine line to walk when dealing with base slapstick. Step off ever so slightly and it just gets moronic and that’s how it translates in this case.