While visiting Nepal with his girlfriend Ida (Kit Ying Lam),commercial artist Joe (Chow Yun Fat) is unwittingly appointed leader of a Himalayan tribe and entrusted by pretty villager Sheila (Emily Chu) with the protection of a magical pair of fossilised testicles* sought after by an evil panther man (Dick Wei). As Joe comes to terms with his situation, and masters special powers given to him by Sheila, he falls for the Himalayan cutie, which naturally upsets ballet teacher Ida.

Witch From Nepal is a hot mess of fantasy, romance and action that rarely makes sense, but which still manages to be very enjoyable thanks to its sheer craziness (and the presence of two Asian hotties in Kit Ying Lam and Emily Chu). Directed by Siu-Tung Ching, who would go on to make the far more cohesive classic A Chinese Ghost Story, the film features numerous scenes that are so silly that they couldn't fail to entertain - if you've ever wanted to see Chow Yun-Fat battling to protect ballerinas from zombies in a creepy graveyard, then this is the film for you.

Other satisfyingly silly scenes include Joe being carried away by a stampeding elephant, Sheila launching the poor guy off a high balcony in a wheelchair, Sheila imbuing Joe with magical powers by summoning a spirit from cigarette smoke and power sockets, the artist adding sugar lumps to his tea using his mind, the panther man tearing a guard dog in half, Sheila setting herself on fire before causing Joe's house to explode (followed by a sex scene in the rain),Joe driving through a wall, somersaulting his jeep, and being transported by his glowing set of gonads to Nepal to claim a magical knife, an elevator that goes haywire, and a climactic battle that sees panther man going out in spectacular fashion: Joe, knife in hand, harnesses the power of steam to launch himself at the bad guy, causing his foe's teeth to fall out, eyes to erupt, and face to come off!

6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for the atmospheric Fulci-esque zombie sequence, which ends with panther man launching metal fence spikes like spears into Joe's car.

*At least that's what they look like to me.

Joe and his girlfriend Ida are on safari in Nepal, and he comes across the beautiful stranger Sheila. Unknowingly to him, his been chosen to take over the possession of a very important necklace and ancient knife that was held by mystical chief, which if the former item gets in hands of evil could be disastrous. After a bad accident and returning to Honk Kong, he encounters Sheila again and through her he miraculously recovers. Also he has gained some supernatural powers, and Sheila happens to be there for him. They fall in love and Joe harmlessly dabbles in his new abilities, until the actual demon comes looking for him and a battle eventuates for those powerful belongings.

Director Ching Siu Tung (from the beautifully erotic "A Chinese Ghost Story" series) loves to demonstrate a dream-like, supernatural-fantasy filled with mythical magic and rampantly high-flying stunts. The Honk Kong feature "Witch From Nepal" mostly provides on that quality. Arresting visuals amongst a thickly misty atmosphere is captured by fluently inventive photography, vividly penetrating lighting and a lingering score of adaptable moodiness. The flashy stunt work is over-the-top and fanatic, but staged with skilled rigour by Ching Siu Tung and the same can be said about the intense martial arts sequences (like the final thunderous showdown). Accompanying the no gravity bound leaps, are plenty of swoosh sounds. Some things did get laughable, because of the very serious nature placed upon something very silly and slight in detail. However they're one or two impressively creepy sequences involving a dog out-of-its-league and definitely the murky graveyard ambush. Covering the screen are many stylish images that rattle along, which are well-organised and illustrated handsomely. These aspects help a lot, but want makes this one a very ordinary offering, is that it's pretty slow to get to the business end. The premise idea (which maybe looked better on paper) is sidetracked by uninteresting filler and succumbs to a meandering pace. It takes a good hour or so, to break out of that pattern. The plot is hazy and extremely convenient in stretches, but really hurting it is a real lack of urgency and very little concentration on the offbeat developments. FX is cheap and dated, but looks able enough and it's worked into the feature with decent restraint. The always-formidable Chow Yun-Fat is in what you call a star vehicle does a fine job. The delightful Kit Ying Lam and stunning Emily Chu supply reasonable support. Dick Wei's does the action well and his wild appearance (albeit with the hokey cat screaming/roaring that became grating) is sound enough as the demon warrior.

The film richly looks the part with its mystical awe and swiftly frenetic stunts, but fiddly uneven story telling brings it down a couple of notches. Undemanding fantasy-action fodder.

I have the feeling that some viewers go into this one with unfair expectations. If you think it's going to be an action flick just because Chow Yun Fat is the star, or think it's going to be horrific just because it has the word "witch" in the title, you're probably going to be disappointed.

One problem western viewers may have with Witch from Nepal is its inconsistency of mode. The beginning and end are action and horror oriented, while most of the middle portion has the leisurely pace of a romantic drama. Once the viewer adjusts to the unfamiliar genre hybrid nature of the proceedings, however, there's more than enough cuteness, action, and spooky stuff to keep an open-minded audience pleasantly occupied.