Hsiu Yu (Yukari Oshima) is preparing to participate in Hong Kong's 'International Gambling Competition', following in the footsteps of her legendary, deceased grandfather, the 'Gambling Master' (Wu Ma). Unfortunately, she is a lousy gambler and certainly no match for proclaimed 'King of Gambler' (Ku Feng) who she's been selected to go up against in a high stakes poker tournament. To prevent the Chow family name from being tarnished, the Gambling Master escapes from hell and inhabits the body of Mark Cheng's simple cousin Pai Pai (Daniel Lo) who is killed in a car accident. Chow reanimates and uses Pai Pai as a vessel to communicate with his grand-daughter in the hope of teaching her some of his unrivalled card skills. After a few scrapes with King of Gambler and his gang, Hsiu Yu, Chan Chi Ming (Mark Cheng) and Pai Pai head to the tournament for a showdown to prove who is the best gambler of all.
Gambling Ghost Are Ready is an unashamed Taiwanese rehash of God of Gamblers, 1989 - complete with supernatural shenanigans and a number of knowing nods to Hollywood films like Ghost and The Terminator (e.g. Wu Ma's ghost arrives on earth naked as Schwarzenegger did). It is cheap and messy nonsense but it's not without its charms and is certainly entertaining in places.
Having said that, considering the combined talents of Yukari Oshima and Alexander Lo Rei (who was also the action director) the fight choreography is not as slick as one would expect, but the 4-5 fight scenes (Yukari is in all of them) are still solid enough and help to keep things moving along when some of the comedy drags (The Hell's Guards who pursue Wu Ma is quite an inventive concept but they get annoying after a while!)
The main tournament, although lacking any action, is still good fun. The mighty Ku Feng hams it up to great effect and some of his facial expressions during the final match are priceless!
For Yukari Oshima fans, Gambling Ghost Are Ready is definitely recommended. She has a sizeable lead role, looks good throughout and gets plenty of screen time. Lo Hei, the Gweilo lead from Yellow Rain, 1991 also appears as a croupier in the finale.
2.5 out of 5
Review source: Network Kingdom Audio & Video, Laserdisc (USA) (Mandarin language with English subtitles)
Gambling Ghost Are Ready is an unashamed Taiwanese rehash of God of Gamblers, 1989 - complete with supernatural shenanigans and a number of knowing nods to Hollywood films like Ghost and The Terminator (e.g. Wu Ma's ghost arrives on earth naked as Schwarzenegger did). It is cheap and messy nonsense but it's not without its charms and is certainly entertaining in places.
Having said that, considering the combined talents of Yukari Oshima and Alexander Lo Rei (who was also the action director) the fight choreography is not as slick as one would expect, but the 4-5 fight scenes (Yukari is in all of them) are still solid enough and help to keep things moving along when some of the comedy drags (The Hell's Guards who pursue Wu Ma is quite an inventive concept but they get annoying after a while!)
The main tournament, although lacking any action, is still good fun. The mighty Ku Feng hams it up to great effect and some of his facial expressions during the final match are priceless!
For Yukari Oshima fans, Gambling Ghost Are Ready is definitely recommended. She has a sizeable lead role, looks good throughout and gets plenty of screen time. Lo Hei, the Gweilo lead from Yellow Rain, 1991 also appears as a croupier in the finale.
2.5 out of 5
Review source: Network Kingdom Audio & Video, Laserdisc (USA) (Mandarin language with English subtitles)
