Gambling Ghost, The (1991) Review

“The Gambling Ghost” Poster

Director: Clifton Ko Chi-Sum
Cast: Sammo Hung, Meng Hoi, Nina Li Chi, Teddy Yip, James Wong Jim, Norman Ng, Lam Ching-Ying, Wu Ma, Corey Yuen, Paul Chun, Richard Ng, Stanley Fung, Robert Samuels, James Tien, Billy Chow, Chung Fat
Running Time: 93 min. 

By Z Ravas

This is not your typical Sammo Hung vehicle! By 1991, Sammo Hung’s place in the Hong Kong film industry was firmly established: the actor/director had cemented his status as an icon with blistering action films like 1987’s Eastern Condors and 1989’s Pedicab Driver (arguably his masterwork), not to mention his frequent collaborations with his fellow Three Dragons, Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao. During the early 90’s, Sammo often delivered the action that fans expected of him by playing cop characters as in Skinny Tiger, Fatty Dragon and Pantyhose Hero. All of which serves to make ’91’s The Gambling Ghost feel like an outlier: this is foremost a comedy, with the martial arts put on the backburner, featuring Sammo Hung and Mang Hoi as two slacker valet drivers who can’t seem to catch a break. As such, it more closely resembles a Stephen Chow movie repurposed for Sammo Hung or something that would have come out earlier in Sammo’s career, back when he was doing broader comedy fare like Carry On Pickpocket.

Case in point: the film opens with a parody of the popular God of Gamblers movies and their many imitators, which would have been fresh in viewers’ minds in 1991. Sammo Hung stars as a character named, what else, Fatty, who is perpetually searching for a get rich scheme to no avail. Thanks to the miracle of split screen, Sammo Hung also portrays his character’s father and, in a supernatural twist, the ghost of his grandfather. Yes, Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor wasn’t the only one taking on multiple familial roles in one movie during the 90’s!

The thing is, there’s quite a bit of runtime before Sammo eventually meets his spectral ancestor, and most of it is taken up by Sammo and Mang Hoi’s comedic antics. Mang Hoi was a member of Sammo’s stunt team and often stayed behind the camera during Hong Kong’s action heyday, though you may recognize him from his onscreen appearances in movies like “Yes Madam” and “Lady Reporter.” (I’ll always think of him as Four Eyes from the Brandon Lee flick “Legacy of Rage”). Sammo and Mang Hoi generate solid buddy chemistry, and there are definitely some laughs to be had during the film’s early going, but it is a bit strange to watch a 1991 Sammo Hung movie that almost seems adverse to letting Sammo throw a punch. (It’s probably worth noting that director Clifton Ko was primarily known for his comedies with Michael Hui and rarely, if ever, dabbled in the action genre).

Hang in there, though, and the viewer is eventually rewarded with the martial arts action that they’re expecting from Sammo Hung. Shortly before the third act, there’s a great sequence where Sammo goes to rescue Mang Hoi from some gangsters who are holding him captive at a shipping yard. It’s there that Sammo becomes possessed by the spirit of his grandfather and unloads a supernatural ass-whooping on the bad guys. As expected, the climax of The Gambling Ghost delivers the goods as well. Billy Chow must have had it stipulated in his contract that if Sammo Hung was making a movie, the two of them had to fight each other in it—so after squaring off in past movies like Pedicab Driver and Dragons Forever, the two men come to blows again here and, you know what, it’s always great fun to watch these two skilled performers go at it.

However, I’d argue the real highlight here is Sammo Hung’s bout with American martial artist Robert Samuels, who you might recognize from Yuen Woo-ping’s Red Wolf. (He also had an uncredited role in Police Story III). Samuels has an interesting background if you dig into it, as he is widely recognized as the first African American member of the Hong Kong Stuntman Association. His skills in The Gambling Ghost certainly impress, and you have to imagine it was a career highlight for him to go toe to toe with Sammo Hung.

The Gambling Ghost is currently available to stream on Tubi or rent or purchase in HD from Amazon Video, though I would caution that the HD aspect there seems dubious, as the visual quality felt closer to standard definition—it might be upscaled to 720p from an SD source. The Amazon version also seems to be playing at the wrong frame rate or perhaps sourced from the PAL version. The film is presented dubbed in English, which preserves the script’s many jokes at Mainland China’s expense…yes, apparently The Gambling Ghost has since been censored in Hong Kong and post-2020 releases of the movie have excised the anti-Communist humor. Thus, The Gambling Ghost proves a strange case where the dub might be closer to the complete version! Fortunately, I thought the dub wasn’t bad and didn’t detract from the experience, particularly since much of The Gambling Ghost’s humor is visual or slapstick-based.

The Gambling Ghost remains a curio in Sammo Hung’s body of work: by 1991, you wouldn’t really expect a movie star of Sammo’s stature to release a laid back supernatural comedy that’s so light on action, not when fans were accustomed to epics like Pedicab Driver and Shanghai Shanghai. Nevertheless, Sammo Hung is such a supreme entertainer that even when he’s having a bit of a lark with the ghost of his grandad, his fans are just about guaranteed to have a good time.

Z Ravas’ Rating: 7/10