In 1982, a young man named Lin Lingdong sat in the position of director and quickly made a name with a fantasy film called "Yin and Yang Mistake".
In the mid-1980s, Lin Lingdong was active in the Hong Kong film market. However, he has neither won the box office championship nor the "best director", and has always been regarded by investors as a "third-rate director", unable to get big investment and no good script.
In 1987, in order to prove his film talent, Lin Lingdong cooperated with his brother NanYan to shoot three classic works: "Dragon and Tiger Storm", "Prison Storm" and "School Storm".
As a result, "Dragon and Tiger Storm" allowed Lin Lingdong to successfully win a "Best Director" trophy. And "Prison Storm" also made Lin Lingdong experience the happiness of "box office hit".
Like many Hong Kong film directors, Lin Lingdong, who became famous after his achievements, also embarked on the development path of "independent entrepreneurship and independent production".
In 1990, Lin Lingdong established his own "Silver Award Production Co., Ltd." and began to develop his own film business independently. It was also in this year that "Silver Award Productions" launched the action film "Brave the World".
This "Brave the World" was a huge investment, but because the film was too stylized, the box office was dismal.
It's good to have style, but style is also based on box office. In order to stabilize the box office market, Lin Lingdong in 1991 found Hong Jinbao, hoping that this "former brother of action Hong Kong films" could bring some market heat to the "Silver Award".)
In 1991, Lin Lingdong and Hong Jinbao joined hands to cooperate in the police film "Hair-trigger". This "Hair-trigger" suffered a box office setback again after its release because of its too serious style.
"Comedy" has always been a good medicine above the box office market. After the box office setback of "One Touch", Hong Jinbao suggested that Lin Lingdong shoot a comedy work with a relaxed atmosphere to stabilize the company's market base.
So in 1991, "Silver Award Productions" cooperated with Hong Jinbao in a comedy work "Fierce Ghosts Invade the Underworld".
This "Fierce Ghost Invasion underworld" is handled very well, both in terms of plot structure and bridge design. The actors' performances in the film are also remarkable. However, due to the factors of the times, the film was submerged in the long history of Hong Kong films. In this issue, we will talk about this "Fierce Ghost Invasion of the Underworld" starring Hong Jinbao.
As the old rule goes, let's talk about the story of the movie first.
At the beginning of the movie, the gangster "Kun Brother" played by Hong Jinbao leads the younger brothers to fight with another gang. During the fight, Kun Ge was shot and killed.
At this time, the bull's head and horse noodles appeared to take Kun Ge to the mansion to report, and a lone ghost also found a jewel from Kun Ge's "corpse", and then left excitedly.
Seeing this scene, Kun Ge was very puzzled. The bull head explained that in everyone's flesh, there is a "reincarnation bead", which is a "passport" to live in the human world. If a lone ghost wants to reincarnate, he must obtain a "reincarnation bead."
Kun Ge was stunned, his "reincarnation beads" were taken away, how should he reincarnate?
Ma Mian said that whenever a person "dies", the prefectural government will arrange a "lone ghost" to take away the reincarnation beads of that person and reincarnate. If the "Lone Soul Wild Ghost" wants to reincarnate, he must first register at the prefectural government, and then queue up and shake the number. When it is your turn, it will naturally arrange a "reincarnation bead" for you to reincarnate.
After listening to the explanation of the minotaur, Kun Ge also understood the reincarnation process of the difu, so he followed the two ghosts and went to the difu to register.
Coming to the service hall of the prefectural government, Kun Ge saw his brothers. It turned out that in the middle of the fight, all his little brothers were killed. Seeing that the brothers were "dead and miserable", Kun Ge also regretted leading everyone to the road of no return of the "gangster".
Just as Kun Ge sighed, a familiar voice came from the sky. In the haze, Kun Ge rubbed his eyes, and it turned out that everything was a dream.
Although it was a dream, Kun Ge realized the cruelty of gangster life in the dream. He decided to lead his brothers to reform and return to the right path.
However, reality and reason are always in conflict. The boss calls and asks Kun Ge to find a girl named "Ah Shan" (played by Yuan Jieying) to collect a debt. In desperation, Ah Kun decided to finish this vote, wash his hands and quit the jianghu.
In fact, the things kunge dreamed of were all true. In the service hall of the prefectural government, there was really a group of "lonely ghosts" queuing up to register, waiting for the call for reincarnation.
"Lone Soul Wild Ghost" Xiao Xiao brother (played by Zhang Yaoyang), who was a gangster before his death. After his death, he also set up a community organization in the prefectural government and collected wealth everywhere.
Brother Xiao has been pursuing the "female ghost" Xiaohong (played by Yu Li). Xiaohong wants to help her son "pull the boy" to reincarnate, but she has not been able to rank up. Therefore, Xiao Xiaoge bribed the "reincarnation king" (played by Cheng Kui'an) to help LaZai get a reincarnation quota.
His Holiness told Xiaohong that at eight o'clock in the evening, there was a girl named "Ashan" who would commit suicide by jumping off a building because of debt collection. At that time, Razai will take away Ah Shan's "reincarnation bead" and can reincarnate.
The flowers bloom in two, one on each side. In the human world, Kun Ge gave the task of debt collection to his subordinate "Ah Chao" (played by Huo Ruihua). And Ah Chao also came to the girl Ah Shan's residence to collect debts.
Ah Chao always said that he had yin and yang eyes and could see "ghosts", but friends thought that Ah Chao was joking. At Ah Shan's residence, Ah Chao saw Xiao Hong and LaZai who had come to get the "reincarnation beads".
At this time, Ah Shan was depressed and planned to jump off the building to commit suicide. Ah Chao thought that Ah Shan was controlled by the "ghost" and lost his mind, so he rescued Ah Shan and brought Ah Shan back to Kun Ge for disposal.
Because of the appearance of Ah Chao, Ah Shan did not jump off the building, and La Zai also lost the reincarnation quota.
Xiaohong blames everything on Ah Chao, and also plans to kill Ah Chao and let La Zai use Ah Chao's "reincarnation beads" to reincarnate.
Ah Chao was attacked by Xiao Hong and La Zai and became strange in behavior. Kun Ge found that Ah Chao was wrong, went to check, and met the "female ghost" Xiaohong.
Xiaohong realized that Kun Ge was the reincarnation of her husband. It turned out that Xiaohong was abandoned by her husband before she died, and then accidentally "died tragically". Now that she has met the "reincarnation of her husband", Xiaohong has also decided to take revenge on her past life.
Xiaohong attacks Brother Kun, who accidentally overturns the statue of Guan Gong on the incense case. At this time, Second Master Guan suddenly appeared and repelled Xiaohong and Lazai.
After Xiaohong and Lazai left, Ah Chao told Kun Ge about his "encounter with ghosts". In order to level Xiaohong and Pull Tsai, Kun Ge found his own good buddy "Fa Brother" (played by Huang Guangliang).
Fa Ge "learned both Chinese and Western", not only proficient in "Chinese Taoism", but also learned "Western Exorcism Secret Arts". After knowing what had happened, Brother Fa opened the altar and invited XiaoHong and Lazai, hoping to be a peacemaker, laying down the "peace head wine", and letting the two sides turn dry into jade.
However, Xiaohong did not accept reconciliation. Seeing that Xiaohong did not give face, Fa Ge decided to use force. However, Fa Ge Dao is not high, and he is not Xiao Hong's opponent. At the critical moment, the reincarnated Dharma King suddenly appeared and took Xiaohong away.
His Holiness told XiaoHong that if he hastily attacked humans and destroyed the "balance of life and death" in the underground government, he would definitely alarm "Lord Yama". When the time comes, Brother Xiao will pay bribes and help Lazai buy quotas, and there will also be incidents, and everyone will have to follow the bad luck.
Listening to the words of the King, Xiaohong decided to let Goku go for the time being, so as not to cause trouble and affect the reincarnation of Lazai. However, in order to let her son Lazai, Xiaohong insisted on killing Ah Chao and let La Tsai use Ah Chao's "reincarnation beads" to reincarnate.
His Holiness said that Ah Chao Yang's life expectancy was coming to an end, and his "reincarnation beads" had already been booked. If you rush to kill Ah Chao and snatch the reincarnation beads, the "booker" can't get the reincarnation beads and report them to the King of Yama, which will also lead to big trouble.
At this time, Brother Xiao suddenly appeared and said that as long as he spent money and bought this reservation quota, it would be all right. His Holiness inquired about the information of the person who made the reservation, and found that Ah Chao's "reincarnation bead" had been reserved for Brother Xiao.
For the sake of love, Brother Xiao decided to give up this reincarnation opportunity to Lazai.
In addition to gratitude, Xiaohong told Brother Xiaoshi about her experience in the human world.
Brother Xiao learned that Brother Kun was Xiaohong's "ex-husband", so he decided to vent for Xiaohong. At night, Brother Xiao led his men to KunGe's yard to make trouble, scaring away all the guests.
The little bastard came to make trouble, and Brother Kun saw more. The "ghost" came to smash the field, Kun Ge was still seeing it for the first time, and he didn't know how to solve it for a while.
Kun Ge was busy dealing with the "ghosts" of Xiao Xiao Brother's gang, so he handed over Ah Shan's debts to Ah Chao to deal with.
Ah Chao learns that Ah Shan's boyfriend borrowed a debt and let Ah Shan act as a guarantor. Afterwards, the boyfriend disappeared and Ah Shan became a scapegoat.
Ah Chao found Ah Shan's boyfriend and lectured him. And Ah Shan also developed a good feeling for Ah Chao because of this.
In order to help Lazai reincarnate, Xiaohong came to Find Ah Chao again, and she decided to kill Ah Chao and let La Zai get the "Reincarnation Bead". Fortunately, Fa Ge arrived in time, helped each other, saved Ah Chao, and also captured Lazai.
Brother Fa knew that the "ghosts" who were making trouble in the scene were all the way with Xiaohong and Lazai, so he suggested that Brother Kun, with Lazai as a hostage, negotiate with Xiaohong and Xiaoxiao.
Brother Kun and Brother Xiao have been mixing on the road for many years, and in the face of negotiation, both of them are also experienced. The two sides pulled away and did not give in to each other. During the negotiation, Xiaohong talked about her past marriage with Kun Ge.
It turned out that Kun Ge and Xiao Hong fell in love in the past life, but they were opposed by their families, and the two eloped together. However, at the agreed place and time, Kun Ge did not appear, and Xiaohong was also caught by the clan and soaked in the pig cage. At that time, Xiaohong was pregnant, and the child was Lazai.
Kun Ge said he didn't know anything about it. Therefore, Brother Xiao and Xiaohong joined forces to open up KunGe's past life memory.
As a result, Xiaohong found that Kun Ge in the past life did not miss the appointment, but was late on the day of elopement. After learning that Xiaohong was immersed in a pig cage, Kun Ge in his previous life also chose to commit suicide.
After knowing the truth, Xiaohong untied the knot, reconciled with Kun Ge, and decided to let Ah Chao go and let La Zai find another chance to reincarnate.
After experiencing these twists and turns, Kun Ge also realized that the gangster road was not easy to walk, and he wanted to lead his brothers to quit the jianghu together. At this time, Kun Ge learned the news that Ah Chao and Ah Shan were in love, so he decided to help these two people clear their backgrounds and go on the right path.
In the face of such an ending, Xiao Xiao brother was very unhappy in his heart. After being busy for such a long time, Xiaohong did not catch up, and the appointment for reincarnation was gone.
The mentally unbalanced brother found his holiness and asked for his reincarnation appointment. The king told Brother Xiao that Ah Chao's life expectancy was near, and Brother Xiao would soon be able to reincarnate.
Everything is as His Holiness said. Ah Shan's ex-boyfriend, back to take revenge on Ah Chao. During the fight, Ah Chao was accidentally shot and dying. Fa Ge told Kun Ge that as long as he stopped the bull head and the horse from coming to seduce the soul, he could save Ah Chao.
In order to rescue his brother, Kun Ge decided to do the last vote of business as a "jianghu person" - hanging up the bull's head and horse noodles to save Ah Chao's soul.
Under Fa Ge's spell, Kun Ge's soul went out of his mind, and he fought with the bull head and the horse noodles, and saved Ah Chao's soul. However, Brother Xiao suddenly appeared and snatched Ah Chao's "reincarnation beads".
In order to regain the "Reincarnation Pearl", Kun Ge caught up with Xiao Xiao Brother on the Huangquan Road. The two men were fair and single-handed in accordance with the rules of the jianghu. Xiaohong did not want Brother Kun and Brother Xiao to hurt each other, so she intervened to stop it.
And the king also told Kun Ge that the cycle of life and death and reincarnation is not endless, and if Brother Xiao Xiao does not get the "reincarnation bead" rebirth, then the order of life and death between heaven and earth will be disrupted, and the consequences will be unimaginable.
In order to rescue Ah Chao, Kun Ge decided to exchange his "reincarnation beads" for Ah Chao's "reincarnation beads".
At the end of the story, Ah Chao takes back the "reincarnation bead" and comes back to life, and also marries Ah Shan. And Kun Ge, because of the loss of the reincarnation bead, the soul can not return to the body, remained in the mansion, but his reunion with Xiaohong and Lazai's family is also a good ending.
A year later, Ah Shan gave birth to a son for Ah Chao. And this son is the reincarnated brother.
The film style of director Lin Lingdong has always been known for its realism and seriousness. This style is really not suitable for comedy.
Therefore, Lin Lingdong did not participate in the filming of this "Fierce Ghost Invasion of the Underworld", and the film's supervising and screenwriting work fell into the hands of Lin Lingdong's brother Nan Yan, and the director's work was completed by Ke Xingpei.
I have to say that Nan Yan's screenwriting skills are really powerful. In the film, there are details everywhere, and everywhere is foreshadowing.
At the beginning of the movie, when the bull head and the horse noodles appeared, they each held an umbrella, and at the end, the role of this umbrella was also expressed. In the early stages, the reincarnation king told Xiaohong that Ah Chao Yang's life expectancy would end, and at the end, Ah Chao's life and death also became the foreshadowing of changing the fate of everyone. In the early stage, Kun Ge persuaded Fa Ge to heal his eyes, and by the end, Kun Ge also became the key to healing Fa Ge's eyes.
Every plot in the early stages of the film has an echo in the second half, and the overall story can be said to be interlocked and orderly, without a little superfluous part.
The story of "Fierce Ghost Invasion of the Underworld" is not only compact in structure and performance of comedy, but also very interesting.
The film breaks the consistent costume art style of the spiritual works, under the modern social background, the bull's head and horse face are also suits and leather shoes, and the prefectural government has also begun to implement modern office, and the reincarnation also has to queue up and shake the number.
The "modern Daoist" played by Huang Guangliang also subverted the previous Image of the Daoist Leader, holding a lightsaber as a method, and the demon descended by relying on "negotiation", "speaking numbers", "pendulum and head wine", in order to meet customer requirements, but also to learn Buddhism, exorcise magic, and strive to achieve "learning through Chinese and Western".
These postmodern cinematic elements create a very strong comedic atmosphere for the film.
At the same time as the story is brilliant, the wonderful performances of the actors in the film have also added many highlights to the overall perception of the film.
For the shooting of "psychic action movies", Hong Jinbao can be described as a master. In this "Fierce Ghost Invasion Underworld", Hong Jinbao maintained his consistent level, and his funny character building skills and excellent fighting performances have also become the main selling points of the film.
Of course, hong jinbao is not the only one who is brilliant in the film, but also the performances of Zhang Yaoyang, Yuan Jieying, Huang Guangliang, Huo Ruihua, Yu Li and others.
It is worth mentioning that in 1988, Zhang Yaoyang, Yuan Jieying and Huo Ruihua jointly cooperated in "School Storm". In this "Fierce Ghost Invasion of the Underworld", screenwriter Nan Yan also paid tribute to his early works. "Dashing Brother" is still the "Dashing Brother", and "Scar" and "Zhu Wanfang" are also in love again.
By the way, Yu Li, who played "Little Red" in the film, is also a powerful faction with good looks and acting skills. In the 1990s, Yu Li collaborated with Chow Yun-fat, Jiang Wen, Andy Lau, Li Xiuxian and others in many good films such as "Prison Storm 2", "Heroes of the Narrow Road", "Sword Laugh", "Seize the House" and so on.
Unfortunately, in the mid-to-late 1990s, the Hong Kong film market declined, and Yu Li's acting career also entered a trough.
This "Fierce Ghost Invasion of the Underworld", whether it is the plot design or the actor's performance, is very brilliant, but unfortunately, because of the inopportune time, it suffered a major setback at the box office.
In the early 1990s, the box office competition in the Hong Kong film market entered a white-hot stage. The dominance of stars over the box office market is becoming more and more obvious.
Under the impact of the box office torrent of "Double Monday", many Hong Kong film works have been reduced to market cannon fodder.
Although this "Fierce Ghost Invasion of the Underworld" invited Hong Jinbao to sit, Hong Jinbao at that time was in the trough of his career, and the box office glory was long gone.
In the face of the surging market torrent, this "Fierce Ghost Invasion underworld" only won more than 5.8 million box office results, becoming a "lost pearl" of Hong Kong films buried by the times.