As I stumbled upon the 1987 fantasy comedy "Biao Ge Dao" (aka "My Cousin, The Ghost") here in 2022, I had never heard about the movie, so I didn't know what I was in for. But that hardly mattered, as I love the Hong Kong cinema, so of course this movie from writers Lai Ling Cheung and Cheuk-Hon Szeto was given a chance.

The storyline in the movie is pretty straight forward, if not actually on the generic and somewhat monotonous and dull side of the aspect. The movie pretty quickly fell into a monotonous slump of a pace, from which it never recovered, and the movie suffered from that.

The acting in the movie was adequate, despite the fact of the script being somewhat bland and generic. It was nice to see Richard Ng and Kenny Bee on the screen here.

All in all, then "Biao Ge Dao" was not a particularly outstanding movie, and nor is it a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time. It wasn't a memorable movie, so I hadn't been missing out on a gem in Hong Kong cinema.

My rating of director Wu Ma's 1987 movie "Biao Ge Dao" lands on a four out of ten stars.

This movie isn't one of deep thought and ideas, but it is incredibly funny. It is about a man who was an illegal alien in London and after having a fight with his cousin, is caught and sent back to Hong Kong where is moves in with his other cousins. His cousins don't work yet they live in a huge house (though we never see the outside) and they are quite a funny group of people. One of them is constantly opening his mouth at the wrong time and is a subtle as a brick.

The twist in this movie comes when the cousin in London decides to shut up shop and return to Hong Kong. The problem is that the first cousin hasn't forgiven him and the second problem is that the woman renting the room out hasn't been in for a long time, so they decide to kick the woman out and give the room to their cousin. The other guy they set up as a thief and force him to leave.

Then one wonders what has this got to do with a ghost. The extra twist is that there is not one ghost but three. The cousin from London fell in the Thames and died, but he doesn't realise that he is a ghost. The cousins are told that if he finds out it could be disastrous so they go and try to remove all evidence that could prove to their cousin that he is a ghost. Then there are the two women who died in a car accident. One of them is quite benign and the other is quite malign. When the women died, one of them was on her way to her wedding while the other was her bridesmaid. The bride must marry before the bridesmaid and is jealous that the bridesmaid is going to get the other ghost.

This is a great little movie, and incredibly funny and goes to show that not all good movies come from Hollywood.

I grew up watching Hong Kong movies, most in the comedy and ghost genre, and this film features a good dose of both.

Richard Ng plays a ghost who visits his cousins and is unaware that he has died in a drowning accident days before. The other cousins want to inherit his wealth, but are soon suspicious of Ng's character and the suspense built up as the movie goes on. Added in the story are two female ghosts who are dueling each other for a groom.

Great comedy that flows naturally, and not childish/slapstick and overdone. The characters are delightful and entertaining, making you laugh your hearts out. And, there are enough supernatural and mysterious scenes that does not make you forget you are watching a ghost movie. A must-see for any fans of movies made in Hong Kong.

Grade A