Golden Swallow

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Year of release: 1987

Genre: wuxia

Director: O Sing-Pui

Action directors: Yuen Bun, Phillip Kwok

Producer: Eric Tsang

Writer: Alan & Eric Screenwriting Team

Cinematography: Arthur Wong, Joe Chan, Horace Wong, Gray Hoh

Editing: Cheung Kwok-Kuen

Music: Law Wing-Fai

Stars: Cherie Chung, Anthony Wong Yiu-Ming, Ivy Ling Po, Eric Tsang, Richard Ng, Norman Chu

Rated IIA for mild violence

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Golden Swallow  Golden Swallow

Golden Swallow  Golden Swallow

After the runaway success of A Chinese Ghost Story, it was perhaps inevitable (especially in the fast-moving world of Hong Kong film-making) that there would be an avalanche of imitators. Though a few of these releases were successful in their own right, most of them were on the level of Golden Swallow -- bland by-the-numbers productions that offer nothing much to the viewer except perhaps a sense of deja vu and vague boredom.

Golden Swallow's story follows the well-worn path of the relationship between a human and a being from "the other side". In this case, the human is Chau (Anthony Wong Yiu-Ming) and the otherworldly participant is named Suet (Cherie Chung), who would be a great catch if she wasn't a demon whose purpose is to eat men's souls. But the power of love prevails, and the two seem destined to live a happy life together, that is, at least until Suet's master shows up to spoil the party for everyone involved.

There are some positives to be found here. Director O Sing-Pui has a background in cinematography, and that shows up in how nice the film looks despite it obviously not having much of a budget to work with. And though there's not too many of them, the action sequences, which were helmed by Yuen Bun and Phillip Kwok, are generally well-made and fun to watch.

But the rest of the movie fails to make par. Most of the actors seem to be sleepwalking through their roles, except for the comedic relief duo of Eric Tsang and Richard Ng, who go the opposite way, overacting and chewing up the scenery, displaying the traits that make many foreigners scratch their heads when it comes to Hong Kong comedy. Combined with a story that is extremely pedestrian and a lackadaisical pace, Golden Swallow isn't exactly a movie that's worth making any sort of effort to track down.

RATING: 4