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七號差館 (2001)
Nightmares in Precinct 7


Reviewed by: Sydneyguy
Date: 03/19/2002
Summary: Something Different!!

I was quite suprised by this movie. It was different for sure. Not a horror but more a thriller and it did give you some suspense. But unfortunately the suspense is only near the end of the movie.

Andy Hui, when using that standing frame to help him walk, looked REALLY bad. He not did portray that he needed the standing frame at all. Apart from that bad acting, he does well the rest of the movie. Lam Suet does well as always in his small role.

Though this movie is different and a good direction for hk movie, it still lacks the strong story/plot that it should have.

There wasn't many suspects and i actually guessed who the killer was. The ending may leave some people feeling HOW CAN IT END LIKE THIS!!
But still worth a look.

6.75/10


Reviewed by: resdog781
Date: 03/09/2002

entertaining ripoff of The Sixth Sense, til the last five minutes.

Some cop almost gets killed, then comes back to the land of the living with the power to see dead people. Original. So after he gets back on the job after being shot in the throat (with no scars whatsoever after 2 years of hospitalization) he gets put on the case of a stalker/rapist/killer who goes after nurses. One of his ghost buddies tells him his new girlfriend, the nurse that's been taking care of him for the past two years (how convenient!) might be the killer's next victim.

The movie's ok, not a lot of scariness going on in terms of The Ring or even the Sixth Sense. And that dude that looks like MCA from the Beastie Boys if he was Chinese is in it too. He's like in every ghost story movie.

Fairly entertaining until that twist ending that totally slammed the brakes on the storyline and completely ruined the movie for me.

This gets my thumbs down just for that horrible ending.


Reviewed by: bastardswordsman
Date: 03/06/2002

Having also read the favourable reviews of this low-key number, I decided to give it a whirl. Like the other reviewers here, I rate it as a highly favourable experience. In fact, it was unlucky not to have been included in my year's top ten for this site's Movie Direction Election. To me this is a sign that HK in 2001 had one of its most promising years in film production for some time. However, I seem to be alone in this assertion.

NIP7 does well in that it conveys a level of subtlety also apparent in another commendable 2001 HK ghost feature, HORROR HOTLINE. The film never resorts to shock tactics (well, almost never) or cliched antics to grab the audience's attention, rather it keeps the proceedings at a steady, low-key pace.

Not a great fan of Andy Hui, but his performance is sufficient and those of his co-stars more so, especially Rachel Lee and Simon Loui, who gets another gold star for one of his scripts. With tools like these, a talent like Herman Yau can hardly go wrong.

Yes, I would definately tell my friends about this film. However, I gave up on them years ago. Their loss.



Reviewed by: MrBooth
Date: 02/17/2002
Summary: Not really a horror movie, but a good thriller

Well, since everybody seems to like this movie, I decided I'd brave my Simon-Loui-script phobia and give it a chance. After all, anything with Loletta (sorry, Rachel) Lee can't be all that bad, and I did get it for free. And I have to say I'm in agreement with those who've positively reviewed it before me - a surprisingly good movie, more thriller than horror and with quite a bit of depth and interest.

Any movie where the main character gets shot in the head in the first 10 minutes already has a good start, though in this case it simply results in Andy Hui being in a coma for 2 years. When he eventually wakes up he is surprised to find that a) he can see ghosts and b) Loletta Lee has been giving him bed baths for 2 years. After a speedy recovery he goes back to work, and takes over the investigation of a serial killer who has been raping & murdering attractive nurses. Unsurprisingly, one of his new ghost buddies tells him that Loletta is next, and since they've fallen in love whilst he was comatose he has an added motivation to catch the killer.

OK, when you try looking at it like that, the plot is dumb in a Loui way, but the script itself is good enough to keep you from dwelling on this too much. It all moves along at a good pace and has you caring for the characters - well, who could fail to care for Loletta whatever her plight really. Good performances (with Lam Suet's small part being the best, but Loletta & Andy doing well). Nice cinematography... generally a movie well worth seeing.

Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: danton
Date: 02/08/2002

After trying in vain for a few times to get through Every Dog has his date, I was almost ready to give up on HK cinema for good and revert back to watching Adam Sandler comedies and or some teen action flick starring hunk de jour Vin Diesel or whatever else is coming out of Tinseltown these days. But then I discover this well-crafted, intelligent and touching movie that completely restores my faith and leadeth me away from temptation. And did I mention it stars Loletta Lee, who somehow manages to keep getting cuter and cuter the older she gets?

I thought the story was highly original as a whole, even though the plot elements by themselves are fairly conventional. It's not really a horror film at all, but a character study involving death and loss. In that respect, it has some parallels with last year's Paramount Motel, which was also written by Simon Loui, who is starting to put together an impressive portfolio of intelligent movie scripts on top of his always impressive acting. He's on my radar screen now and I'll have to start seeking out some of his other work.

Anyway, the film is about a detective (played by Andy Hui in a nicely nuanced performance) who gets shot in the line of duty and ends up in a coma for several years. When he finally awakens, he has to deal with the guilt of being responsible for the death of some fellow officers, with the loss of his girlfriend (Fennie Yuen in a small cameo) and more importantly, with the fact that he can now see and communicate with ghosts. On the positive side, he also has to deal with nurse Oscar (Loletta Lee) who took care of him while he was in a coma and who has developed a little crush on him. But she's in danger from a psychopath serial killer who is targetting nurses, and it becomes Andy's job to try and save her.

I found the film compelling, and actually quite thoughtful. Mind you, this is a low budget movie, and perhaps I was a little to eager to like it after that infamous dog movie, but still I'd have to say this was definitely one of the more interesting films to come out of HK in a while. Actually, now that I think about it, most of the recent blockbuster titles coming out of the HKSAR have been somewhat disappointing, whereas there have been a number of satisfying smaller titles, such as Bullets of Love, Sharp Guns, and this one. I think I'll stick with small movies like this for a while (especially if they star Loletta Lee...).


Reviewed by: tinlokbabee
Date: 12/10/2001
Summary: Tinlok

This was a great show .... a very touching story about a police officer (Andy Hui) who suffered from coma after an incident of a police shoot out. Due to that incident, two of his colleagues died and Andy himself went into coma for 2 years and 8 days. At that time, his girlfriend (Fennie Yuen) left him for another man and his mum also passed away. Andy then woke up and had the ability to communicate and see ghost where he then met (cheung tak ming).. and became frenz with him. Tak ming help andy to solve a serial murder case of raping of nurses.. where he was told tat his fren the nurse name oscar was the next victim. Eventually they fell in love and Andy did his best to protect oscar.. and he succeeded as the rapist was arrested! *SPOILER* then tak ming advise andy that his gf oscar was goin to die as her life level had depriciate further.. with that thought in mind.. andy was very worry... and so while walkin in the street with oscar... he told her wat the ghost said. But oscar thought tat it was all nonsense.. and so she jump happily along the street to prove to andy tat she wont die.. but next thing you know ... a large container fell right on top of her... (That was absolutely horrific when i saw that scene... iwas so shocked.. coz i neva expected that to happen).. anyways.. so she died..a and andy was about to sucide just to be with her but she told him not to or she will neva see him again.. and so with that.. andy continue to be a good police officer!

My Comments: well i thought that this show was quite good considering hongkong have not make many good films lately. the ending was totally unexpected .. so i was quite taken back by it.!! Andy did a great job in this movie and he shared quite a good chemistry with the girl who played oscar ( loletta lee) i think thats her name.. and tak ming was very funny as usual! so i give this movie 4 out of 5.

Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: trenty
Date: 10/21/2001
Summary: Old tricks and it didn't work.

"Nightmares in Precinct 7" needs a little bit more sparkles to make it perfect.

Fong Jing (Andy Hui) is a brilliant detective who falls into a coma during a police mission. During his coma period, Oscar (Rachel Lee), a nurse, takes care of him. And when he wakes up, he starts seeing dead people everywhere (ghosts, in other words). Later, he is back upon his job position and receives a case regarding a serial killer. All 6 of the victims were nurses who got raped and slaughtered but only 3 bodies were found. Those bodies were found because Fong's partner (Simon Loui) sees their ghosts appeared in the police station telling him where their bodies were located. With the help of a ghost (Cheung Tat-Ming) who he meets back at the hospital, he realizes that Oscar will be the next victim. Now, Fong has to arrest the serial killer before Oscar gets murdered.

With his successful directing in the Troublesome Night series, Herman Yau did a fine job here to produce another horror movie. However, not much scary moments to be noted since most of these scary moments were seen before. Old tricks, in other words. For example, green faces, computerized ugly ghost faces and a ghost with long hair (whose covered its face) wearing a white long dress (which reminds you of the successful Japanese horror movie, "The Ring"). The great comedian actor, Cheung Tat-Ming, produced some comedic moments during the film. Nevertheless, this film is kind of like a crime movie more than a horror one. The ending of this movie is kind of bizarreness for me. Or is it a surprise? You have to watch it yourself.

As for the performances, Andy Hui has another chance to be a lead actor here. His attempt in this movie was great along with Simon Loui being his sidekick. Rachel Lee was also great in producing a tender and warm feeling with her character. Another notable actor to this movie was Cheung Tat-Ming as mentioned, his funny moments did sparked along the movie.

To conclude, this movie could have been a come back for the horror genre but those old tricks are not as scary as it might seems. As a result, it is just the same ghost movies we watched earlier this year. This movie is still a recommendation for those who likes horror/ghost movies. Not typically a great scary one, but other scenes in the movie will carry you along.