Thou Shalt Not Swear (1993)



	Thou Shalt Not Swear		Return to Review Archive - T
	Year:	1993	Lau Ching-Wan and Michael Chow
	Director:	Wellson Chin Sing-Wai
	Cast:	Lau Ching-Wan, Michael Chow Man-Kin, Jennifer Chan Ming-Chun, Lai Yin-San, Michael Tao Dai-Yu, Law Lan, Ronald Wong Ban, Cha Chuen-Yee, Yip Sun, Tats Lau Yi-Tat, Lui Si-Man, Chung Kai-Cheung, Wong Siu-Ling, Si Ma Wah Lung, Yuen King-Tan, Cheung Kwok-Keung, Leung Piu-Wu
	The Skinny:	Amusing first in Wellson Chin's horror-comedy series.
	Review by Kozo:	This seminal horror comedy launched an entire series based on the “day of horror” concept. Directed by Wellson Chin, it manages to be both funny and scary, but in unequal does. Lau Ching-Wan is the wacky cop with a special nose for the supernatural. His partner is strait-laced Michael Chow, who can’t believe he’s been saddled with such an incredibly screwy partner. They initially investigate a strange murder, but it leads them to a group of “sisters.” These sisters (two of which are men) were all childhood friends, and one day in their idyllic childhood they swore to always meet on July 14th. Sadly, that’s also the day when the gate of hell opens. Their group promise has horrific repercussions, hence the appropriate title. This film is a reasonably good watch but it takes a while getting there. Despite being nominated for Best Actor for this role, Lau Ching-Wan is entirely too annoying at times. However, his pairing with Michael Chow is a good one. They would later reteam in the sequel, The Third Full Moon, which refers to the 15th day of the first lunar month. The rest of the “date” sequels: The Day that Doesn’t Exist (February 30th), July 13th, and Tamagotchi (April 4th). 24 hr. Ghost Story also qualifies as a date film only because it features a central day of horror and Dayo Wong reprises a character from The Day that Doesn’t Exist. It just doesn’t have a date in the Chinese title. Taken as a body of work, these films are actually kind of fun. (Kozo 1997)
		image courtesy of Universe Laser and Video Co., Ltd.
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