Writer: Tammy Ang

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Watch this if you liked: “4bia”, “Where Got Ghost?”

After "Where Got Ghost?" (2009) co-directed by Jack Neo and Boris Boo, comes another Singaporean hor-medy which depicts the same anthology concept of a few short stories in one flick.

The first story entitled "The Day Off" is directed by Boris Boo about two army reservist Ah Nan (John Cheng) and Ah Lei (Wang Lei) who are on their In-Camp Training trying to cheat their way for medical exemption to excuse from the rigorous training, but their Platoon Commander (Chua En Lai) does not buy their idea and chases them away. While they are putting up a prank as revenge to the Platoon Commander, a series of strange things happen.

"The Day Off" is somewhat like an extension from one of the tale "Forest Got Ghost" in "Where Got Ghost?". It is well directed by Boris Boo with non-stop gags and not forgetting some horrific moments too. Apart from the great chemistry between John Cheng and Wang Lei who plays the same character as army bunkmates, special credit should also be given to David Bala (security guard Muthu in "Just Follow Law"). If you haven't had enough of him in the last movie, you will see more of his hilarious antics in here with his famous Tamil chattering, playing Sergeant Major Muthu. Chua En Lai also delivers an outstanding performance, as he had to speak (or should I say shout) some of the lines in Hokkien despite the fact that he could not understand or speak much in the dialect. The only lacking element is the CGI effects namely the car crash scene, which is exaggerated and poorly done. Nevertheless it will give you a good laugh if you set aside your rational mindset.

The second story "Ghost Bride" marks the directorial debut of Mark Lee, which revolves around the story of Ah Hui (Henry Thia) who is unfortunate in his love life. He then meets a stranger, Ah Hai (Mark Lee) who promises him fortune and blessings if he "borrows some luck" from the underworld. When he fails to return the blessings, he has to marry a ghost bride which leads him down to a point of no return.

In comparison to Boris Boo, Mark Lee is clearly inexperienced in directing movies. His style is similar to Jack Neo which attempts at moralising the story. "Ghost Bride"'s storyline is draggy at times and the funny elements are all over the place, failing to establish a consistent comic tone. It's interesting to see Mark experiment with various lighting methods to create the horrific ambient at the peranakan house, using green filter and stage light in a dark ambience. The revelation of the ghost bride's identity is a good twist to the story and kudos to Mark for his efforts in trying to explore the rare Chinese custom - ghost marriage. If only he had gone deeper into the custom than putting up a series of nonsensical jokes, it might have turned out to be a pretty good story.

Mark's message - "If you make deals with the devil, be prepared to pay a hefty price" - is good, but the execution sure did not convey the moral to the story effectively.

Overall, Boris Boo and Mark Lee are quite influenced by Jack Neo's style of directing so if you are up for some good, Singaporean humour, "The Ghost Must Be Crazy" is a good catch.

Cinema Online, 27 December 2010