Wu Ma Capsule Reviews

The Dead and the Deadly (1982) — June 2, 2017

Nastier than Winners & Sinners-era Sammo Hung or the Mr. Vampire series, with Wu Ma directing as well as starring, playing a grotesque con artist who gets good guy Sammo to avenge his murder at the hands of his co-conspirators. A great performance from Sammo, shifting from his character’s open, dim-witted directness to a parody of Wu’s amoral sneer for the climactic battle (as he’s possessed by Wu’s ghost). But what comes after the final fight gives the film a kind of greatness: a hitherto unsuspected amount of heart as Cherie Chung tricks and is tormented by demons for the sake of saving Sammo’s soul.