Movie Review: Thunder Cops/Operation Pink Squad II/猛鬼大廈 (1989)

Aiyahhh!I decided to review an older movie; it’s part of my new venture, and I not only need content, but really wanted to be able to spotlight older films that I think are deserving of attention.

That said, I will make sure they are still available on disc.

PLEASE DO NOT DOWNLOAD MOVIES. It stinks.

So welcome to the inaugural review for ‘Flashback Friday.’

Look at that @sshole. Nice t-shirt, though.

Let’s set the wayback machine (!) for 1989 and Jeff Lau’s Thunder Cops, also known as Operation Pink Squad 2.

As you may have noticed, the DVD box has one name, and the actual movie has another.

At least in English.

The Chinese title doesn’t change.

Operation Pink Squad II/猛鬼大廈 is the further adventures of the so-called Pink Squad, a quartet of (variably) attractive female cops.

Sandra Ng, Suki Kwan and Ann Bridgewater (?) return, but Elsie Chan has been replaced by Sharla Cheung.

I’m not complaining.

In this movie, they’re assigned to help snare a criminal (played by Shing Fui On)

“What did I say?”

in an empty housing estate where a Taoist monk is in the middle of an exorcism that goes (predictably) wrong.

I’m sorry, miss, that’s not what I meant.

And that, as weird as it sounds, is as much sense as this movie ever makes.

Soon enough the Pink Squad and some of their colleagues, aided by the monk (and some technology) are fighting for their life against hordes of ghosts and a severed head.

Eww.

Operation Pink Squad II/猛鬼大廈 is a classic example of 1980s Hong Kong horror movies: frantically paced, manically acted, and looking like it took only a few days to make.

She’d only take a fewminutes …

But it is also and example of one of the things I appreciate most about a lot of my favorite Hong Kong films; even with more rough edges than an alligator with eczema, Operation Pink Squad II/猛鬼大廈 manages to overcome its limitations and be an exciting, entertaining film in the best populist tradition.

Teach by example; works every time.

Superstition, sex jokes, super-saturated colors, and Sandra Ng.

Super.

The budget for this film is remarkably (and obviously) low, but I don’t really mind.

The movie goes by so fast that you never get a chance to dwell on it’s admittedly numerous) shortcomings.

The parody/homage to A Better Tomorrow certainly doesn’t hurt, either.

Trying to ‘sell’ a severed in the days before CGI required a lot of ingenuity (and fast editing).

She’s finally got the basic idea…

But I think the movie does a pretty good job, certainly when you take into account what must have been significant restrictions, both financial and technical.

And luckily, the movie distracts you so often and so constantly that you can’t really get mad.

****

Ghosts can perform several types of ventriloquism.

It’s 90 minutes of mayhem, and it’s a hell of a lot of fun.

I’m a sucker for the whole Taoist priest schtick, and Yuen Cheung Yan does a fantastic job with the yellow robes, the devout (if incomplete) spiritualism, and the fast hands.

She likes his fast hands too.

The DVD is full screen, but I assure you that there is no significant loss; there’s not any kind of dramatic use of widescreen getting chopped off.

Only ghosts’ heads get chopped off in this movie.