Beautiful Mrs. Lui (Becky Lok) is married to a wealthy wheelchair-bound man (Hoi-San Kwan) many years her senior, so when 19-year-old Ah Shek (Simon Yam) is appointed as house-boy, it's not long before she is hopping into bed with the new employee. Eventually, Mr. Lui discovers the affair, and tensions rise, leading Ah Shek to murder the old man and bury him in the garden. Soon after, Ah Shek and Mrs. Lui experience frightening visions: is their imagination getting the better of them? Is Mr. Lui tormenting them from beyond the grave? Or is house-keeper Amah (Lap Ban Chan) behind the seemingly supernatural occurrences? Beats me, the film being rather confusing in the final act.
What I can say with conviction is that Yam puts in another unhinged performance (although Ah Shek does appear to be quite normal to begin with), Becky Lok is very attractive and takes off all of her clothes, there are some amusing moments featuring a pair of false teeth, and the film features an incredibly intelligent parrot that is able to say words and phrases that it hasn't been taught. With its well-worn plot and mediocre direction, House of the Lute isn't anything special, but there's enough sexiness and silliness, and just a little spookiness, to make it worth a watch.
