Reviewed by: MilesC Date: 04/19/2000 Summary: More junk. The only thing this movie has going for it is the last five minutes; that's about the only time the story actually does anything. In the time leading up to that, you'll be treated to hilarious English dialogue, truly pointless editing "experiments," and a whole lot of nothingness. The budget for this film looks to have been almost zero, but even an extremely low-budget film can be entertaining with a good script or performances. Unfortunately, this movie has neither. Skip it.

Reviewed by: ryan Date: 03/10/2000 Summary: Another failed ghost story After a break for the Chinese New Year, another bunch of ghost stories are coming to theatres. This week there are two. One is "Black Blood" which has been produced by Simon LEUNG's "Times Production" that gave us "A Wicked Ghost" (1999). Most of the cast appeared in some of last year's ghost films. Will having actors experienced in this genre help "Black Blood"? Solo is a mechanic working at a repair company that has kept itself out of bankruptcy by borrowing lots of money from loan sharks. With his sixth feeling, he kidnaps officer Manfus' girlfriend, Celene, and hides her in an abandoned school. He demands $ 0.5 million from Celene's father as ransom. During the kidnapping, Solo feels that he is suffering from delusions. In the meantime, Manfus and Celene's father do not report the case to the authorities. Instead, Manfus and his partner, Kau Chai, try to make a deal with Solo. During the process, Manfus feels that he can mentally receive a message from Celene to let him know the place where she is trapped. Manfus prepares the ransom for Solo, but the transaction is blown during the arrest of a thief by a cop who is unaware of the plan. Solo then demands $5 million. However, the longer Solo stays in the school, the more usual things he experiences. He doesn't know whether these things are delusions or there are really ghosts in the school . . . The running time of "Black Blood" is only 79 minutes, a shorter span than a normal movie. However, do not expect that the pace of the movie will be fast. In fact, no one can guess where the story is headed even after you have seen the first quarter of the film. What we get is a series of unnecessary scenes, such as shots of a clock from time to time that have no meaning. Sadly, every time one of these moments occur, they seem to last forever. The next 30 minutes involves the events and tricks that make the audience wonder whether Solo is suffering from schizophrenia. This portion is obviously lifted from Ringo LAM's "Victim" (1999) while the ending is an adaptation of the conclusion of Kenneth LAU's "X-Imp" (1999). One of the ideas of the movie concerns illusion and ghosts. These notions are presented through the characters of Solo and Manfus. However, the approach of the presentation is so monotonous that the bored audience is left shaking their heads. One would expect there might be some differentiation between the sensations or illusions experienced by these two men according to the magnitude of their feelings. The movie tries to present that the kidnapping of Celene by Solo would not have been expected by anyone and that it has only occurred as a result of Solo's feelings. However, the use of flashbacks is not enough to substantiate that Celene is Solo's target. There should be more hints to make Solo's intentions much clearer. In addition, It is also very strange to see the way in which Manfus and Kau-chai deal with Solo. They do nothing! This makes their whole "investigation" seem very odd. At least they should look into Solo's telephone use as well as try to think about the connections between Celene and Manfus. "Black Blood" is another failed ghost story from this production company. The movie copies several other films while the plot lacks elaboration to make the proceedings convincing. Written by Ryan Law, from Hong Kong Movie DataBase, on 10 March, 2000.

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