Pretty Ghost		Return to Review Archive - P
	AKA:	Alien Wife	Spooky stuff from Pretty Ghost
	Year:	1992
	Director:	Teddy Chan Tak-Sum
	Producer:	Chua Lam
	Writer:	Chan Hing-Kai, John Chan Kin-Chung, Yuen Gai-Chi
	Cast:	Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Rosamund Kwan Chi-Lam, Ellen Chan Ar-Lun, Peter Lai Bei-Tak, Mooi Siu-Wai, Michael Chow Man-Kin, Wu Feng, Alfred Cheung Kin-Ting, Lawrence Cheng Tan-Shui, Yiu Yau-Hung
	The Skinny:	Amusing throwaway fluff. Some of the jokes are tired and unfunny, but Tony Leung Ka-Fai is amusing, and the eye candy (Rosamund Kwan, Ellen Chan) should make some happy.
	Review by Kozo:	In retrospect, much of early nineties Hong Kong Cinema could easily be considered throwaway crap. Pretty Ghost is a great example of that. Tony Leung Ka-Fai is Tony, a mousy architect who's long been in love with the "beauty of the office", Ellen (Ellen Chan). Sadly, he has no chance with her. Not only is he a dork, but she has a buffed boyfriend (Michael Chow). Tony's luck changes when he's attacked by an evil ghost. A kind ghost named Kaka (Rosamund Kwan) saves him, but he inadverdantly breathes some of his life into her. This causes the two to share an emotional connection, meaning she feels what he feels and vice-versa. After dispensing with the expected shtick (Tony feels a nature call, but it's actually Kaka who has to go! Gut-busting, isn't it?), Kaka sets about trying to help Tony win Ellen's affections. Kaka also develops her own feelings for Tony, which is a plot development that should surprise only first-time moviegoers. Hijinks ensue.      Teddy Chan directed this flick, which isn't especially inspired. The gags can be unfunny, and the side plot involving Tony's colleague Peter (Peter Lai Bei-Tak) is painful to a fault. However, when compared to a movie like Fantasy Romance (another ghost-human romance), Pretty Ghost comes off looking like some sort of filmmaking achievement. Despite lacking any sort of real urgency, coherence or just plain reason for existence, Pretty Ghost manages some share of fluffy fun. Tony Leung Ka-Fai turns in a decent comic performance, and Rosamund Kwan is both charming and easy on the eyes. Ellen Chan provides alternate eye candy for the Rosamund-impaired, and manages to not be annoying or unlikable as was her specialty in later films. There's also a gag stolen from Tim Burton's Beetlejuice, and some standard physical comedy which may amuse or annoy you. Originality is not a factor here; parts of this film seem lifted from about thirty other sources. Then again, for what it is (early nineties throwaway crap), Pretty Ghost can sometimes be fun. (Kozo 2003)
	Availability:	DVD (Hong Kong) Region 0 NTSC Fortune Star / Deltamac Widescreen Cantonese and Mandarin Language Tracks Dolby Digital 2.0 Removable English and Chinese Subtitles
		image courtesy of Deltamac Co., Ltd.
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