THE SHADOW BOXING is a follow up to THE SPIRITUAL BOXER and sees Wong Yue once again playing the title role, although this time it's a very different unconnected story. Now, I had no idea before watching that Shaw had put out a hopping vampire movie, not least a hopping vampire movie that predates Sammo's ENCOUNTERS OF THE SPOOKY KIND, which I always assumed invented the genre. It comes at little surprise that Shaw got there first, as they did so many times.

The story sees Wong Yue and his master (played by the wily Liu Chia Yung, who I best remember as the Silver Fox in KNOCKABOUT) working as corpse escorts, by which they transport hopping vampires around the countryside and return them to their loved ones. There's some back story about various cruel villains and the like and the manhunt for an escaped criminal who has been wrongfully accused of murder by the baddies. Cecilia Wong plays Wong Yue's friend who becomes caught up in the corpse transportation business.

Although the lack of a big budget is sometimes apparent, THE SHADOW BOXING is a lot of fun and for a sequel, highly imaginative. The only fault I can find with it is a dearth of action, although the impressive finale sees good old Gordon Liu doing what he does best, i.e. stripping to the waist and beating up various nefarious bad guys. Wong Yue is a likable and funny hero in this and every scene involving the hopping vampires is a delight. Liu's role is an unusual one and he runs away with it, giving the best performance of the film. Fans of ghoulish humour will be in their element with this sequel, which is superior to the original in every way.