A throw back to the days of Shaw Brothers grisly shockers, Gong Tau has fun with its B movie trappings and gross out effects, but is far more unsubstantial than the average than the average Herman Yau film. A cop (Mark Cheng) and his family are cursed by a criminal that uses Chinese black magic so he and his partner Lam Suet needs to find him as soon as possible otherwise wife Maggie Siu is going quickly mad. Gong Tau get plenty of negative comparisons to Yau’s famous CAT III classics Untold Story and Ebola Syndrome, but seems after something else. Instead of play up its aggressiveness like those films, Gong Tau wants to undercut it at every opportunity. Yau careful eye for detail anchors the absurdities of the script very well and Cheng and Suet are dedicated to make every ridiculous line they get the most serious ans consumed reading possible. Indeed, most of the humor in Gong Tau comes from hoe the film is decide to deadpan itself into oblivion. All the more careful understated elements contrast radically with the film out there elements like the effects from the Gong Tau attacks and Maggie Siu’s over the top performance. It ‘s an unusual mixture that don’t seem to go anywhere.
