Film Review: Troublesome Night 2 陰陽路II之我在你左右 (1997) - Hong Kong
Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critic Circle of Australia)
I rated it 6/10
Rating: ★ ★ ★
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There is something endearingly chaotic about Hong Kong horror-comedy from the late 1990s. These films don’t chase prestige; they chase the midnight audience with a mix of ghost stories, slapstick, and moral lectures delivered at full volume. “Troublesome Night 2” (1997), the second installment in what would become a ridiculously long-running series, is a classic example of the form: uneven, sometimes crude, occasionally inspired, and never boring for very long.
The movie unfolds as three loosely connected segments hosted by a pair of late-night radio DJs (Louis Koo and Simon Lui, both quite adequate here). One story involves a heartbroken woman who takes suicidal advice from a flippant DJ far too literally. Another follows a boat trip gone wrong when a mysterious woman is rescued at sea. The third ties up loose ends with street racers, regret, and restless spirits. The structure is pure anthology: some segments work better than others, but they all share the same giddy willingness to swing from cheap scares to broad comedy without warning.
What I like about these films is their complete lack of pretension. Herman Yau directs with the energy of someone who knows the budget is modest and the schedule is tight. The special effects are proudly low-tech—floating heads, sudden ghostly appearances, and practical gore that looks like it was achieved with corn syrup and food coloring. Yet there’s a genuine eerie atmosphere in the night scenes, especially the maritime segment, which has a nice sense of isolation and mounting dread before it descends into the usual frantic shouting and running.
The cast is adequate. Louis Koo brings a certain roguish charm to the radio booth, and the supporting players throw themselves into the slapstick with the commitment of seasoned Hong Kong pros. The humor is very much of its time and place—mo lei tau absurdity mixed with sudden sincerity about karma and the afterlife. When it works, it’s fun. When it doesn’t, you can almost hear the filmmakers shrugging and moving on to the next ghost.
At its best, “Troublesome Night 2” captures the giddy spirit of Hong Kong genre filmmaking: fast, cheap, and cheerfully unafraid to be silly. At its weakest, the stories feel rushed and the jokes land with a thud. The segments vary in quality, and the film as a whole never quite reaches the heights of the very best entries in the series (or the original “Troublesome Night”).
Still, for fans of Asian horror-comedy, there’s enough here to justify a late-night viewing. It’s not great cinema, but it’s alive in a way many polished modern horrors aren’t. Perfectly serviceable midnight entertainment that knows exactly what it is and makes no apologies for it. (Neo, 2026)