There are many well-known actors in the Hong Kong comedy industry, such as Hui Guanwen and Stephen Chow. However, supporting roles in comedy films are equally acclaimed. They play the role of green leaf in the film and are also loved by the audience due to their excellent performance. For example, Wu Mengda in Stephen Chow's movie, Lou Nanguang in zombie movies, Charlie Cao in Fengyue movies, and so on.
Among many comedians, Chen Baixiang is a relatively special actor. He is a multi-habitat artist, former lead singer of the band, and once formed a band with Alan Tam. Later, he entered the film industry and began to work as a host. With his humble and snobbish appearance, he has made a deep impression in many comedy films.
The supporting roles he played next to the superstars mainly impressed the audience. Many commentators believe that Chen Baixiang's funny skills are very good, except for Wu Mengda, he is one of the few actors who can play against Stephen Chow and can make a noise.
However, at the same time, Chen Baixiang has also played many leading roles, such as typical green leaf actors such as Lou Nanguang and Charlie Cao. Unlike actors such as Wu Junru and Zeng Zhiwei who tried to transform and broaden their theatrical paths, Chen Baixiang has been focusing on the field of comedy for many years.
Although his funny image is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, his comedy skills are far from comparable to comedians such as Xu Guanwen and Stephen Chow. Looking back at the classic movies starring Chen Baixiang, one of the seriously underrated series is the "Ghost" trilogy written and produced by Wang Jing.
This issue of "Forgotten Hong Kong Films" will talk about the 33-year-old movie "A Ghost Lives Next Door". The movie "A Ghost Lives Next Door" was released in 1990 and was produced by Luo Wei's Wanli Pictures.
Luo Wei is known as the "master of following the trend" in the Hong Kong film industry, especially after becoming the boss of the film company, he is flexible to respond to market demand and quickly shoot popular themes. At the end of the 80s of last century, Luo Wei established Wanli Film Company, and its most important partner was Wang Jing.
The company focuses on producing horror thrillers that are not costly, such as the previously recommended "Monster City", which is written by Wang Jing and invested by Luo Wei. The film is directed by Liu Shiyu, who worked as a drama production director on TVB TV for many years, and is best known for his works such as Zhang Weijian's version of "Journey to the West" and Chen Haomin's version of "List of Gods".
Liu Shiyu began making films for Shaw in the mid-80s, but by then the Shaw Company had entered a period of decline, and the martial arts films he directed "The Legend of the Flying Fox" and "Young Hero Su Beggar" received a dismal response after their release. It was not until he joined Wanli Film in 1988 and cooperated with Wang Jing in the movie "Ghost Sex", that his directorial career ushered in an upswing.
Due to the box office success of "Ghost Marriage", Liu Shiyu continued to direct "Ghost Co., Ltd." written by Wang Jing, which reached 7.25 million Hong Kong dollars at the box office after its release. Due to the low production cost, Wanli Pictures decided to shoot a sequel, so there was this "Ghost Lives in the Right Fence".
This film is also known in Taiwan as "Ghosts Live Next Door", like the previous work, Chen Baixiang as the male protagonist, the difference is that "Ghost Co., Ltd." is a group drama, the scenes are scattered, and in "Ghosts Live in the Fence", Chen Baixiang is a veritable male protagonist, and the whole story revolves around him, giving full play to his personal comedy style.
In addition to Chen Baixiang, "Ghosts Live in the Fence" also has another common actor of Wang Jing, Qiu Shuzhen, but at this time, Qiu Shuzhen has not reached the peak of her appearance, acting skills or popularity, and is basically a vase character in the film, and the importance of the scene is not as important as another goddess Zhang Min.
Other supporting roles include familiar faces such as Zhong Fa, Charlie Cao, Mei Xiaohui, Luo Yingjun and Guo Zhenghong. The story of the film combines Tsui Hark's "Qiannu Ghost", girl-chasing comedy and ghost fantasy setting, which is also interspersed with police and bandits, gunfights, ghost love and nonsensical elements, in line with Wang Jing's usual stew style.
The story takes place one night, when two gangsters who have smuggled into Hong Kong intend to rob an old woman who has just returned home with money.
They did not hesitate to kill the old woman after entering her home, however, the old woman's husband was a Daoist priest with a spell and was performing a ritual of sealing evil spirits, trying to seal the four evil spirits in a black and white photograph.
However, the break-in of the bandits led to the failure of the ceremony, the tragic death of the Taoist priest, and one of the bandits, Dahuaming was attracted by the photo and fled the scene with the photo. However, he was in a car accident while fleeing and hit Charlie Cao, who found the haunted photo at the scene of the accident, and was confused by the photo and took home.
Charlie Cao plays a lewd man in the film who lives next door to Chen Bailong's house, and Chen Bailong happens to have two beautiful sisters (played by Qiu Shuzhen and Mei Xiaohui). Charlie Cao always wants to spy on Chen Bailong's two sisters, but no matter what method he uses, he is always caught in their pranks.
Charlie Cao found that in the photo he brought back, there were actually two beautiful women waving to him, and he was quickly attracted by the photo and sucked into the photo. At the same time, Chen Bailong follows his colleagues to a bar to celebrate his success, and his girlfriend is a fierce and domineering female inspector (Ye Zifeng).
In Wang Jing's films, Ye Zifeng is not only a vase showing his figure, but also responsible for playing the role of ugly treasure.
At this time, Chen Bailong's two younger sisters found that the situation next door was wrong and wanted to teach voyeurs a lesson, but when Chen Bailong came to look for it, the family next door became a family of four, and a pair of parents with two beautiful daughters claimed to have just moved in.
The most beautiful daughter is called Xiaoqian (played by Zhang Min), who is obviously imitating Nie Xiaoqian in Wang Zuxian's version of "Qiannu Ghost". Chen Bailong was completely obsessed with Xiaoqian's beauty, but his two younger sisters discovered the strangeness of the family.
The gentle and beautiful Xiaoqian took the initiative to seduce Chen Bailong, and Chen Bailong quickly fell in love and started a sweet date with Xiaoqian.
However, the family living next door are all demons that were previously sealed in the photo, except for Xiao Qian, who is a ghost, everyone else is a demon, and Xiao Qian is forced to seduce men for them to suck blood because her ashes are in the hands of her grandmother.
This plot is basically borrowed from "Qiannu Ghost", the names of the characters have not even changed, and even the demon played by Luo Yingjun is called Grandma.
The next plot is not difficult to guess that Xiao Qian actually had feelings in the process of seducing Chen Bailong, and true love arose between people and ghosts, and Chen Bailong also knew that Xiao Qian's previous harm to people was forced by her grandmother.
Chen Bailong's single-mindedness made Inspector Zeng Bibo jealous, she came to the door to retake her boyfriend, but found that she was not Xiaoqian, an opponent with magical power, but was punished by lustful ghosts, lovers and scolding ghosts. In Wang Jing's film, Ye Zifeng not only shows her figure, but also looks ugly and funny.
Chen Bailong's two younger sisters found that something was wrong with the person next door, so they found the female inspector to cooperate and used Maoshan props to reveal Xiaoqian's true face, but they were both wittily resolved by Xiaoqian.
Everyone couldn't deal with it, so they had to ask Uncle Dog, who was proficient in Maoshan Art, to catch ghosts, but when Uncle Dog arrived, the ghost family had already gone to the party with Chen Bailong, and Uncle Dog hurried to save Chen Bailong, but he was no match for his grandmother. At a critical moment, Xiaoqian rescued Chen Bailong.
Chen Bailong finally realized that there were a group of ghosts living next door to his house, and eventually everyone started a funny and hilarious ghost hunting battle. The ending of the story is almost the same as "Qiannu Ghost", Xiaoqian sacrifices herself at a crisis moment to save Chen Bailong and others. The ending of this story is poignant and mournful, in line with the tradition of human ghost love.
As a horror comedy film written and produced by Wang Jing, "A Ghost Lives Next Door" is basically a popcorn movie that pursues entertainment effects. The whole movie is full of noisy and cheerful rhythm, and although many elements of the same type of movie are incorporated into the story, the overall look and feel is not boring due to the insertion of a large number of funny jokes.
The highlight of this movie is its lively atmosphere, there are beautiful women, there are funny, it can be said that it is a ghost film shot purely for funny, with fewer horror plots and frequent laughs.
However, the problems with Wang Jing's film are that the production is rough, the story is too routine, the overall plot is naïve, and the characters' behavior lacks logic, especially the ghost hunting battle at the end is too child's play. In terms of actors, Zhang Min's beautiful temperament is not suitable for playing a cold female ghost image, so it is a little out of place in this movie.
Another heroine, Qiu Shuzhen, has not yet opened the drama at this time, and the styling and makeup in the film are also relatively reduced. Overall, this is a typical Wang Jing-style horror comedy, which gathers the three goddesses Zhang Min, Qiu Shuzhen and Ye Zifei, which is also one of the biggest highlights of the entire movie.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that some vulgar plots have been removed from the restored version, so it has a certain impact on the look and feel. Looking back at this forgotten Hong Kong film, "A Ghost Lives Next Door" does have its own uniqueness.
Although many classics are borrowed in terms of storyline, the comedy elements and hilarious jokes in the film make it unique. Chen Baixiang's acting skills and comedy style add a lot of jokes to the film, and the existence of Zhang Min, Qiu Shuzhen and Ye Zifeng attracts the attention of the audience.
However, there are also some problems with the film, such as rough production and plot routine. Still, the film is a delightful popcorn movie for everyone to relax and enjoy a laugh. Although the film may be forgotten, it is still worth reviewing and enjoying.
After this review, "A Ghost Lives Next Door" brings us not only joy, but also some thinking. Comedy has always been an important genre for Hong Kong films, and many actors have found success with their comedy works.
However, in addition to superstar-level comedians, green leaf supporting actors also play important roles, and their excellent performances are also worthy of praise. This makes us reflect on whether we should pay more attention to actors who are less noticed, giving them more attention and appreciation.
In addition, for film production, careful script and cooperation of the production team are very important. Although "Ghosts Live in the Fence" borrows from other works in terms of storyline, it creates its own unique style by adding a lot of comedy elements and funny jokes.
This also reminds us that we must be good at borrowing in creation, but we must maintain uniqueness and innovation, and make breakthroughs in angles and methods in order to attract the attention of the audience. Finally, I would like to ask a question, what is your impression of Hong Kong comedy movies? Who is your favorite Hong Kong comedian?
How much do you think the Green Leaf supporting role influenced the success of the film? Please share your thoughts and opinions in the comments.