A Chinese Ghost Story (1987)

After going through some reviews, I feel the need to differentiate Liao Zhai from Wuxia and (Western and Japanese)Fantasy. The awareness of Liao Zhai among audiences is far, far from enough, which partly explains why this film doesn't meet expectation from some people. This film is loosely based on a short story from Liao Zhai, which is a collection of nearly 500 strange tales dated back to 17th century, serving to implicitly criticize human society. Unlike many ghost stories, Liao Zhai portrays most ghosts as likable and humane females, and has underdog scholars(author's class stand), ridiculous government officials as well as feudal principles as recurring themes. Although the story line has been changed, this film hasn't depart from the core of Liao Zhai, mocking brain scattered officials, revealing heartless stall-keepers and crowds. Its attitude is fully exposed through lines of the Taoist:"I hate dealing with people, so I hid in this temple." "Ridiculous. I don't want to be a man, but Hsiao Tsing wants reincarnation. I don't understand all this nonsense!" "In these times, an unlucky man may fare worse than a ghost. " Those who thought it was Wuxia may find the supernatural elements corny; those who thought it was a fantasy may find it structurally and cinematically timid. With all that said, Liao Zhai as a film genre might never become phenomenal, mostly due to its own limitation. In the nihilist moment of depression and quiet anger, scholars like the author of Liao Zhai had never detected the crux of the problems nor come up with effective solutions, just like the last feudalism of China itself.Hopefully, a brief look into Liao Zhai betters your understanding!

This is a fantastic Hong Kong film in which a poor scholar meets a female ghost after taking refuge in an old, abandoned temple. The ghost is forced to seduce men and trap them for her master, an evil tree devil, to feed upon.Set in ancient China, this movie is fast-paced and full of action scenes and surprises, which does not drag on the plot. There is a good bit of drama and romance (between the scholar and ghost), mixed in with some comedy and horror scenes (from the tree devil). To top it off, the film has a beautiful music score composed by James Wong and features two songs sung by Sally Yeh and the film's leading protagonist, Leslie Cheung. Mu Wa plays the daring swordsman and Joey Wang plays the beautiful and tragic ghost. My only issues (very minor) are that the movie seems too fast-paced at times, especially in some of the action sequences. And, it appears that some bits of comedy are forced into certain scenes to lighten up what is supposed to be a dramatic story. Other than that, this movie is an outstanding source of entertainment (with all the magic spells, enchanting spirits, creepy demons, enthralling heroic action and unending journeys) and is one of the more popular movies made in Hong Kong, bringing you back to the nostalgia of the movies in the 1980s, which is, in my opinion, the best decade of films made in HK.Grade A

I did see this movie on German TV, which aired a lot of HK movies, including the part II of this movie. I went to get this movie on VHS and later on on DVD. It is still as impressive as back then. First I must say the effects look cheesy compared to what is possible today, but then again this movie is 25 years old now and on a tight budget compared to Hollywood. As mentioned by some one else, yes there is a cheap beard sticked to Wu Ma (the taoist monk). Yet this is a more of comedy reference to the older HK movies (this movie is a remake of a Shaw Brothers movie from the 60's named The Enchanting Shadow).This is one of the best Wuxia movies out there, tons of swordplay and magic. Thrown in is a tale of romance, some horror, taoism and Buddhism, comedy and the main character Ning Choi-san (played by Cheung) sings a song too. The story tells of a young tax-collector who can't get his job done. Thrown in the violent reality of rural China, he seeks a free sleeping place. He is told of an old temple but what he does not know is that it is haunted. When he arrives a sword fight is taking place between an old taoist monk and a younger swordsman that wants to prove himself. The monk tells Ning Choi-san to go somewhere else to sleep. Ning Choi-san decides to stay at the temple and he meets up with a young woman (Nip Siu-sin) while the younger swordsman, who lost the sword fight, meets up with a demon after being tempted by Nip Siu-sin. Ning Choi-san falls in love with Nip Siu-sin but he finds out she is not alive anymore, but a ghost. Nip Siu-sin and her sister died and now are slaves of a demon that is using the Nip Siu-sin to lure men so they can be devoured by the demon. Ning Choi-san wants to free her and asks the monk for his help.He is were a lot of people fail to read between the lines and see this movie as something told in western tales a 1000 times before. Thing is western tales always have a happy ending. Guy battles demons, rescues girl, girl is no longer a ghost and they live happily ever after. Not here. This is HK cinema.The main character is facing a dilemma. He can be with Siu-sin at night and live out their romance, during the day she needs to return to her urn. Or he can save her soul and she will reincarnate (yes this is about Buddhism) but they will never meet again. Will he choose for love or her freedom?But before the can think about what to do he first needs to rescue Siu- sin from the Dark Lord. The monk decides to help him and they go on to battle the demons that stand in their way.For the fans, there is a 2011 version now. It was re-released (digitaly remastered) after Leslie Cheung died. Also there is a 2011 remake but it seems nowhere as good as this one (I did not see it yet).

I first saw this film when it was transmitted around 1988 by the BBC when I was working on UK's 2000AD. My pal Steve Parkhouse recorded it on VHS and sent it to me. Up till this point, I'd really only seen the Shaw Bros kung fu movies, with their harsh lighting (so audience could see the moves clearly), so it was a revelation to me to see something that looked like it had been lit by Ridley Scott coming out of Hong Kong. This was also my first exposure to the movies of Tsui Hark (pronounced, apparently, "Choy Huk").Yet for all the smoky, back-lit exteriors and ambitious special effects (Stop-motion? In a Hong Kong Movie?) at the heart of Chinese GHOST STORY lies a simple and moving love story, made all the more real by the outstanding acting talent of Leslie Cheung (what a tragic, tragic waste of a life!) and the beauty and elegance of Joey Wong. Granted Joey is gorgeous, but it's her balletic hand gestures that give her character an unattainable eroticism that's hard to analyse. And though Joey is now almost 20 years older (gawd, which of us isn't?) this will always be the enduring image of that actress.Some reviewers here have said that the film is simplistic and lacks any surprises, but they're missing the fact that this movie was based on a famous Chinese story written by Pu Songling around 1700! That's a bit like complaining that Romeo and Juliet has a predictable ending and just copies WEST SIDE STORY. For me, Chinese GHOST STORY is the quintessential romantic tale. It has high tragedy, because we know that Chio Sin and Sin Seen can never be together. It's about becoming mature, for none of us can mature until we've experienced great loss. It's about sacrifice, for sacrifice is an essential component of True Love. And the comedy stylings of Wu Ma don't hurt a bit, either.Enjoy Chinese GHOST STORY by trying not to view it through a filter of Western culture and you'll get on with it just fine.