Possibly the first successful combination of martial arts and horror, Spooky Encounters (1980) (also known as Encounters of the Spooky Kind) is a cult classic Hong Kong-Chinese language film. It’s part comedy, part kung fu, and part horror but the film has more in common with a movie like Army of Darkness (1992) than Enter the Dragon (1973).
There’s a lot of physical comedy here with tons of sight gags including a zombie mime mirroring the main character’s movements, a kung fu showdown with a reanimated dead body, a fight with an evil mirror, and a ridiculous demon conjuring ceremony. The characters are all overacted and animated as you’d expect for a film like this and everyone seems to be giving 110%, making the film feel like it’s constantly in motion. It helps that there are tons of quick cuts during the action, giving everything a frantic and comical pacing.
The makeup & effects range from passable to the ridiculous but that all just works to make things more funny. The story meanders in places but even when a scene seems to have no point, it’s still fun to watch. This one’s a real classic and it seems like the film has flown under the radar for a lot of people. A great Halloween watch for anyone who hasn’t seen it.