User reviews

First things first, the female lead is too gorgeous to be missed. Now actress Wang Zu Xian, the one who played Xiao Qian in the movie, is 42 years old and well aged. It's always good to review these glorious times when seeing old-school HongKong productions like this.

The movie is one of the most influential titles made in 1980s. The art set decoration and other aesthetic facets are all mesmerizing. More fantastically the movie had a total black humorous undertone in it. It feels like a horror movie but ultimately it's not scaring, but only fun.

I had the experience of translating the second script of "A Chinese Ghotst Story", and I thought that script was a decent write. However when I saw the movie, I firstly was disappointed in seeing the movie different from the script, like in a smaller scale and involving more comic roles. However, it turned out to be better executed in terms of being entertaining.

If you have seen the Lord of the Rings, you will notice the similarities in this movie to LOTR. The climax is like a mirror of Miranda Otto fighting with the Ring Witch. It's definitely a laugh-out-loud. Bravo!

By 1987 Hong Kong had given the world such films as Sammo Hung's `Encounters of the Spooky Kind' Chow Yun Fat in John Woo's iconic `A Better Tomorrow', `Zu Warriors' and the classic `Mr Vampire'. Jackie Chan was having international success on video, but it was with `A Chinese Ghost Story' that HK cinema had its first real crossover theatrical hit in the West for many years.

Western filmgoers had never seen anything like it. It was a film that took various ingredients that HK cinema had used for years (flying swordsman, wildly choreographed martial arts and the supernatural) and blended them to create a film that was unique in its look, feel and execution. Forget the poor and unnecessary sequels it spawned, this is the original and best.

Director Siu-Tung Ching (still best known as an Action Choreographer on such films as Woo's `A Better Tomorrow 2'/'The Killer') has, under the watchful eye of legendary Producer Tsui Hark, created a masterpiece of Fantasy/Horror cinema. And with such an expert crew at his disposal (no less than 6 Martial Arts Coordinators) the chances of the film being anything but wonderful would be unthinkable.

The editing by the amazingly prolific David Wu (who wrote/directed `The Bride With White Hair 2' and edited such classic titles as `A Better Tomorrow 1/2/3', `Hardboiled' and the cult hit `The Club') is quite simply a work of genius. His crafting of the perfectly choreographed high flying, tree climbing sword fights makes them some of the best HK cinema has ever created. Fast moving, outlandish but never confusing they are, even today, the pinnacle of their art.

The crew of cinematographers have also done miracles. This is a film where every shot is an expertly crafted painting. Where wonderful blue tinged night sequences, shrouded in an ever-present ghostly fog, are the breathtaking platform for our story to unfold. It's a film where everything is used to weave a dreamlike beauty. Even the silken robes and dresses worn by Hsiao Tsing become living parts of the movie, whether in romantic sequences or battle scenes the ever present silk flows across the screen. Even a simple scene where Hsiao Tsing changes robes is turned into a thing of fluttering beauty as every skill on the set combines to create a most memorable scene from such a simple act. The sets are also amazing, giving an other worldly sense to the forests, and the temple and harshness to the scorched, flag filled wasteland of hell for the amazing finale. The production design by Zhongwen Xi deserves the highest praise.

Another major factor to the films success is the music by Romeo Diaz and James Wong. Hong Kong films have given us some fantastic music and songs that have added so much to the success of a sequence, but on `A Chinese Ghost Story' the music is, quite simply, vital. From the opening song onwards the music becomes as important as the characters.

The score is a perfect mixture of modern and traditional instruments. Drums, bells and guitars pound away over the action sequences to great effect, but it's in the slower, achingly romantic pieces that it comes into it's own. Here; flutes, strings and female choral effects create what are possibly the finest pieces of music heard in an HK film. Add to this the female vocal, stunningly beautiful song that plays over Tsau-shen's and Hsiao Tsing's love making, (nothing is ever seen, but the effect is wonderful. This is lovingly innocent movie romance) and you have a shining example of the power a film's music can have.

And we of course have the acting talent. Leslie Cheung (`A Better Tomorrow 1 & 2' and a very popular singer) is outstanding as the innocent tax collector. His work in the (thankfully mild) comic sequences is never over the top and his scenes with Joey Wang are played with just the right amount of passion and innocence.

Joey Wang (who would later be mostly relegated to support roles in films like the Chow Yun Fat/Andy Lau classic "God of Gamblers") has never looked more radiant than how she does here. She is the epitome of ethereal beauty. Her portrayal of the tragic Hsiao Tsing is stunning. She shows her characters sadness at what she has become and what she is made to do, but also gives off a subtle eroticism in the scenes where she is luring the men to their gruesome deaths. Veteran actor Wu Ma (`Mr. Vampire', `Swordsman') is great fun as the wise, brave, but ever so grumpy, Yen. He treads a fine line between the eccentric and the annoying with practised ease. And what so easily could have been a character that could have harmed the film is actually wonderfully entertaining and memorable.

But what about the monsters and beasties?, I hear you cry. Well they range from the rather crude but fun stop motion/animatronic zombies that inhabit the temple (resulting in a great running gag with constantly thwarted attempts to munch on the amusingly unsuspecting Tsau-shen), to the rather cheesy but surprisingly effective Lord Black. Complete with an arsenal of vicious flying heads, and quite outstanding wire work. Most of which has, to this day, never been topped.

But the most outstanding effect and creation is the tree spirit's killer tongue. We first encounter this thing with an `Evil Dead' style rushing camera effect as it powers down its victims throats to deliver a lethal French kiss that turns the victims into zombiefied husks. But later it's shown in all its crazy glory. It can grow so big and long that it shoots through the forest after prey, rips apart trees, wraps itself around buildings and coils it's slimy length around people before picking them up and throwing them against tree trunks!! It can even split open to reveal a fang filled mouth! It's an outrageous idea that given the deeply romantic main plot shouldn't work. But it does, to fantastic and unforgettable effect.

So what all this adds up to is a classic example of Hong Kong movie making. A true team effort that has given us a truly ground breaking movie. It's a film packed with wit, invention, action, monsters, martial arts, ghosts, fantastic ideas, lush visuals, beautiful music, and most important to it's enduring charm, one of cinemas most moving romances.

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.

This is cinema how it should be. A great and funny story. Great direction and actors. The fight scenes against the demon were the best choreographed that I've ever seen. Music, photography and editing were top notch but unfortunately this film was overseen at the Academy Award nominations. Unfortunately I've watched this movie only on television. But the film must be seen on the biggest screen you can find in a cinema.

I saw this movie in my childhood. And after 10 years I did not remember anything about this movie but I found out it I also don't know how I was able to find out this movie. Its my life. My all times favorite movie. My words will fall short of true meaning what I have inside for this movie. I follow this movie. It's a brilliant mix of fantasy, comedy, romance, horror, erotic, scary and martial arts. The story about the power of love is pretty touching and warm. It's a masterpiece of Hong Kong Cinema.

Sinnui Yauman, is without a doubt one of the best ghost stories ever made into film. Written by Songling Pu and directed by Siu-Tung Ching, A Chinese Ghost Story has it all. Ling Choi Sin played by Leslie Cheung is a young man down on his luck who goes in search of a monastery for lodging, deep in the woods, a place the villagers seem very afraid to go near. The trek alone is perilous with wolves, and a crazy taoist monk lives at the temple.

Ling Choi Sin meets Tsing, a beautiful and mysterious young girl who also lives nearby in a deserted temple. She is forced to seduce men for her evil mistress, but when she meets innocent Ling Choi Sin they fall in love.

Ling Choi Sin is sort of a bumbling fool but his heart is in the right place, while Tsing tries to protect him from the other spirits in the woods, he tries to protect her from the monk who is trying to kill the spirits in the woods. There's great martial arts, even a monk that breaks out into drunken song as he performs ritual taoist sword forms. The movie does a lot of traditional old martial art films acrobatics, with magic and flying through the air, leaping from tree to tree, with elegant long gowns and scarves, but the movie genuinely flows, and everything is effective.

Tsing is to be married to a evil tree monster, which cant be good, and we feel her plight in her home where we meet her sisters and stepmother who is truly not nice.

In the end they must fight a tree witch with a deadly tongue, and go with Yin deep into the heart of hell to fight a thousand year old evil to save their souls, and bring Ling's ashes back to her home for a proper burial so she may have a chance at reincarnation.

A beautiful story that truly pays attention to details. One is touched in many ways by this movie, you'll laugh, cry, and just have fun with the great martial arts and cinematography. And though at the end, Yin and Ling Choi Sin ride off into the morning sun under a enchanting rainbow, we never know if Tsing was afforded a reincarnation, but we do know her.

This movie, about a debt collector who has no other choice than to spend the night in a haunted temple, is a good fantasy movie!

To point out, the opening scene is probably the most rushed opening scene I have ever seen, which might seem a very negative thing, but once you realize that you don't need to take the movie seriously, it isn't actually that bad. The movie still feels rushed after this scene, but that rush also helps to strengthen the humor. On the the hand, the cinematography gives mixed impressions, the story itself is also rushed, the characters are kind of stupid, and the sound effects are awful, but speaking of how you should look at the movie, its details, like the humor, sceneries, practical effects, choreography, and close-up shots are quite impressive. You can really feel a passion here, and it's more entertaining than boring. I have read that its story have been told through other installments, and no matter if I'm going to watch any of them, I would definitely love a remake with a more serious take on it and at least an hour longer.

Flawed but fun, this movie wins with humor, passion, and impressive details. While a serious remake could hold merit, the original's campy charm and pure entertainment value shouldn't be overlooked. Embrace its silliness and enjoy the ride!

I saw this movie first on the Berlin Film Festival, and I had never seen Hong Kong cinema before. I felt like sitting in a roller coaster: the action was so quick, and there wasn't one boring moment throughout the film. It has martial arts, love, special effects and a fantastic plot. My favorite scene is when the Taoist drinks, sings and fights for himself - one of the many scenes which stress the extraordinary musical component of the movie. This film is a definite must!!

This was a film that I had heard about from an encyclopedia of horror films so I put it on my list of films to see. I came in as blind as I could and I actually got a copy from the library. The official synopsis is after a string of bad luck, a debt collector has no other choice than to spend the night in a haunted temple, where he encounters a ravishing female ghost and later battles to save her soul from control of a wicked tree demon.

We kick off with a man venturing through the land. I immediately noticed that this film was part comedy with some of the things that happen to him. It does well at establishing that Ling Choi San (Leslie Cheung) is a timid man. He has a string of bad luck before arriving in town. It is there that he tries to do his job as a debt collector. Because his book gets wet, the shop owner doesn't believe he owes anything. With no money, Ling is forced to stay in a haunted temple.

At the temple, Ling is caught in a fight between Yin Chek Hsia (Wu Ma), a Taoist monk, and another man. They finally part ways when it comes to a draw and they insult each other. Ling is told by Yin that he can't stay there. Ling goes into a room where we see above him are the bodies of odd looking human like creatures.

We then meet a young woman, Lip Siu Sin (Joey Wang). She is with a man, but she flees when she hears Ling. Something goes into this man's mouth and dries him out. He becomes like the creatures we saw back inside the temple. Lip then meets Ling. They seem to fall for each other. Yin tries to tell Ling when he finds him later at the temple that is too dangerous for him there.

With renewed confidence, Ling goes into town and collects his debt. That night he seeks out Lip, but discovers there is something that is not quite right about her and those that she lives with. One of them of is Siu-Ming Lau, which the truth behind her is quite interesting. Ling won't take no for an answer though and ends up learning the truth from Yin. There is a Tree Devil and ghosts there.

Now I'm not going to come out and act like I completely understood everything that happened in this film. Part of this to be honest is that I don't know enough about Chinese or Hong Kong culture. This film is interesting that it is based off of a novel, so that is one thing. What I did get from this film is that it has a theme of forbidden love. Lip is a ghost, which seems to be more like a demon. She appears as a real person and then has to disappear by dawn. There is an interesting thing that happens with her as the film plays out as well.

Getting back to the forbidden love, the two main characters fall for each other. It also seems to be an allegory, because before she died, Lip came from a good family. Ling on the other hand is poor. They are of different classes and only came together, because of her being a ghost. He falls for her before he knows the truth, so it also has the aspect of true love. Even going from this, the Tree Devil wants to marry off Lip to a powerful evil spirit, which can be seen as an arranged marriage and one that is loveless to create an alliance, which was very popular back in olden times.

This film also has the unique fighting style where things are pretty unrealistic. I'm not the biggest fan of this in films. Anything supernatural that Lip does, I'm on board for as what she is. I did have some issue with Yin, because he is human. I can't hold it against the film too much, as this is popular in their culture. I have come to realize that it just isn't for me.

I do have to say that the editing of the film is well done. It has your normal run time and moves through at a good pace. There were some things that I kind of felt got to be repetitive, but nothing that really hurt the film. I do think this was well done and it has an interesting ending. I thought it was building to something much happier than what we got, which I did like.

The acting for this film is a little bit hard to rate for me. Watching this with subtitles on, I can't always focus on what is going on in front of me. Especially being such a story guy, it made it difficult as well. I do think that Cheung played his role very well. He does come off as a timid guy. His character gets stronger though as his love builds and I thought that was good for the film. Wang was cute and I thought she did well in her role. She is interesting in the things that she has to do for her master, but she finds someone she loves. She tries to protect him while accepting her fate. Ma was good as the warrior Taoist monk. I think that is an interesting aspect in that they have religious type fighters. It is needed for how this film plays out. The rest of the cast I thought was fine. Some of it was a bit over the top, but being part comedy, that makes sense.

Effects for this film were interesting as well. The flying around stuff looks good and I didn't realize they had this mastered back in 1987. There is what looks to be stop motion for the mummified people we see. It doesn't look great, but I actually didn't mind it. I thought it came out better than what CGI would have done. There are some effects that aren't as good with others that were just fine. I do have to say that this film was shot very well. It looked pretty good and I was impressed with that.

The music I wasn't the biggest fan. When they went with the more traditional music, I was on board for it. It helped set the mood for the scenes. There are a few almost musical-esque scenes which I wasn't the biggest fan. Yin has almost a rap that felt out of place. I did like the song that was played at the end a lot. I would say overall the score of the film was decent.

Now with that said, even thought his film isn't for me I think it is pretty solid. I do find the story interesting and would like to learn more about the Chinese/Hong Kong cultural to better understand what is going on. I like the concept of forbidden love and trying to make it work. It is an age-old idea that is seen throughout cultures. I thought the acting and the effects of the film were solid. Not all of it worked, but it didn't ruin it. It moves at a good pace and is shot pretty solid. The music also didn't hit on everything for me. Overall I would say that this film is above average. I do think there is an audience that would really like it and would recommend if this is a type of film you are into to check it out.

This movie is one of my favourites. It is a genre-mixture with ingredients of the Action-/Horror-/Romantic-/Comedygenre. Some of the special effects may seem outdated compared to modern standards. This minor flaw is easily ignored. There is so much to discover in this story. The romantic relation between the two main characters is so beautiful that it hurts. The visuals are beautiful too. The action is great which is no surprise, it is originating from Honkong, birthplace of the world's best action movies. The humour sometimes seems a little bit silly but in a good way. Somehow this movie is being able to balance the different moods and keeps being good. Absolutely recommended.

I had the opportunity to sit down and watch director Siu-Tung Ching's 1987 movie again here in 2023, which makes it the second time for me to watch it. I remember watching this movie when I was younger, but I didn't really enjoy the movie back then. Luckily my taste in movies have grown since then.

The storyline in "Sien Lui Yau Wan", as written by Kai-Chi Yuen, is enjoyable and entertaining. And it definitely was a script that brought me entertainment from start to end.

"Sien Lui Yau Wan" has a good cast ensemble, with the likes of Leslie Cheung and Joey Wang in the leading roles.

The 1987 Hong Kong fantasy movie "Sien Lui Yau Wan" (aka "A Chinese Ghost Story") is definitely a classic in the Hong Kong cinema. If you enjoy the Hong Kong cinema, then you have to sit down and watch this movie, if you haven't already seen it.

There is a lot of things going on in this movie, from action, martial arts, a love romance and supernatural things. So it is safe to say that "Sien Lui Yau Wan" might just actually have a little bit of something for everyone in the audience.

Great cinematography throughout the course of the movie, which makes it feel like the audience is right there alongside Leslie Cheung (playing Ling Choi San) and Wu Ma (playing Yin Chek Ha).

Granted, "Sien Lui Yau Wan" is an aging movie, and it is showing on the special effects; especially on the stop motion sequences with the animated corpses. But it actually plays out well enough, as the cheesy effects just adds some charm to the movie.

My rating of "Sien Lui Yau Wan" lands on a seven out of ten stars.

This film may have been the biggest let-down I've experienced in renting movies based on IMDb reviews. Overall, I simply found this to be a second-rate movie.

Leslie Cheung is certainly passable as the antihero and Ma Wu handles his character with cheerful competence. On the other hand, Ma Wu's makeup (facial hair) is so obviously phony that I simply could not take him seriously. He looked like an overweight teenager dressed up for Halloween, complete with the $4.95 stick-on beard.

The special effects were so-so, though the "undead" in the cellar were pretty good. The tree-tongue looked like something from a bad 1950s monster flick, though the POV shots from the tongue's view more closely resembled Sam Raimi's trademark shots in the more recent "Evil Dead" trilogy. The pyrotechnics were ho-hum and the final battle is about as dull as you can get. (In fact, it most closely reminded me of the "Lost in Space" episode where the Robinsons are caught in a sandstorm and....)

The plot was not particularly original and has been told countless times in the form of European fairy tales. There was no suspense and no plot twists. In fact, you know right away as you are introduced to the characters who is good, who is bad, and who is going to survive.

I just returned this film to Netflix and then I sat down to write this review. The very first thing I did was check the production date. Yep, it says 1987...not the 1967 that I thought it might be. And that pretty much sums it up: The production values and FX are typical of the 1960s. The plot and action seem much older, as Hollywood was actually producing some interesting and challenging films in the 60s.

** out of *****

This movie is a classic of Chinese cinema! It has everything a movie should have-beautiful cinematography, great cast, engrossing storyline and some very good fights. It's funny yet sad at times, and this is somewhat of a rarity in HK cinema in the late 90's: you actually care about what happens with the characters! All credit should be given to the cast, with Leslie Cheung charming as the bumbling tax collector, Joey Wang as one of the most etheral ghosts that have haunted the silver screen and who could forget Wu Ma as the sarcastic Taoist. Also, this film started a whole new chain of imitations (about a thousand) on forbidden love between mortal and ghost. It's very highly recommended.

A Chinese Ghost Story stars the late, great Leslie Cheung as Ling Choi Sin, a penniless tax collector who decides to spend the night at a deserted temple, where he meets and falls for a beautiful woman called Tsing (Joey Wang). When Ling discovers that Tsing is actually a ghost who has been forced to seduce victims for an evil tree spirit who feeds on 'chi' (life force), he decides to try and free the girl by giving her remains a proper burial. Enlisting the help of Swordsman Yin (Wu ma), a crazy Taoist monk, Ling successfully defeats the tree spirit, but must also do battle in hell against the evil Lord Black, to whom Tsing is due to be wed.

The first Hong Kong film that I saw which wasn't purely martial arts action, A Chinese Ghost Story opened my eyes to the incredible world of Asian fantasy horror, a magical realm inhabited by beautiful female ghosts, bumbling innocent heroes, sword wielding Taoist monks, monstrous spirits, and dark lords of the underworld; I instantly fell in love with the film's exuberance, energy, humour, inventiveness and visual excellence.

Two decades later, and this amazing movie still remains one of the finest examples of its genre that I have seen—a sumptuous, breathtaking masterpiece that brilliantly blends horror, comedy, fantasy and romance. With superb direction from Siu-Tung Ching, excellent editing from David Wu, stunning cinematography, and a whole slew of imaginative special effects (including a humongous killer tongue, a many tentacled monster, and multiple flying heads!), A Chinese Ghost Story is a completely unforgettable and thoroughly enjoyable experience from start to finish.

This is the best Chinese movie I have ever seen, and, in my opinion, a lot better than Hero or Chrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The movie is a unique combination of several genres: It's a beautiful love story, action movie, comedy and horror at the same time. And the most amazing thing is that it really succeeds in all of this!

This movie definitely makes it to my top 5, and should be enjoyable to every movie lover. The action sequences do have the traditional unrealistic jumping and even flying, but the way it's shot differs from the style of Hero a lot and the flying always looks great and usually even makes sense (ghosts can fly)

See this movie, you won't regret it. 10/10

A Chinese Ghost Story (1987), shows off Hong Kong's brand of a Toho Studios-type of monster movie story-telling, right down to the creature effects and the music. What this film excels in with the script and acting, is harmed by bad comedy moments and characters singing songs out of the blue. However, the dialogue and script, as well as the acting, primarily that of Joey Wang, acts as a good buffer to some of the loose joints to this film. The visual effects are not bad for a 1987, Hong Kong produced, film. Even though there are some bad creature effects and moments of goofiness, this film is still a fun ride through Chinese film history, during those, way too, rare times, when China attempts a monster film. This is still an enjoyable film to see.

7.3 (C+ MyGrade) = 7 IMDB

This movie is incredible.With great characters,specially the old swordsman that can fly in the shape of fireball and jump across the trees,this film tells a classic story of battle between good and forces of evil.The final showdown is specially breathtaking and the music score is kinda cool.

Very,very recommendable.Not for the smallest children though.This one deserves a 10.

Ok so like the title says I am your standard Canadian born Canadian heritage white dude. A movie such as A Chinese Ghost Story is not usually the kind of movie a guy such as myself you would see going after to watch this movie. Typically, you would think that I would be interested in such a film if I was Chinese or perhaps Canadian with Chinese heritage right? I mean this is an 80's Chinese horror filmed in China, spoken entirely in Chinese with NO English dubbing. Instead the best an English guy such as I was able to find was a copy with sub-par English subtitles. Ok to answer a few questions as to why a man like me went to some deal of trouble to get my hands on this copy of an old Chinese film. I am a lover of cinema and perusing some top ten foreign film lists, I came across a top ten Chinese horror films of all time list. First of all I don't think that I have ever seen or heard of a Chinese horror film, so this list intrigued me. I came across this film as an old horror film written in traditional Chinese lore and it had a very good rating on IMDB. It was listed a fantasy horror film so I decided I was going to find this film and watch it! Just getting your hands on this film is actually easier than you think as I am pretty sure there was an old copy up on YouTube to watch for free if you felt so inclined. It was a poor picture with poor sound and it had small subtitles. It was then I decided to use some backdoor channels to get a copy to watch. It was troublesome, but I did get it in the best possible quality that is currently available for DVD at 1065 DPI. What I was expecting: I was expecting a martial arts showdown type of film, and in some respects that's what it is, but there are also a lot of comedic moments that to me almost makes it part comedy. The martial arts are 'ok' to watch, not really up to the standards of some other Chinese martial art films of the same era. This was a film with a lot of focus on horror elements as well. Compared to modern horror films that could scare my pants off, the horror in this film was undoubtedly creepy using some good old Ray Harryhousen special effects for undead zombies that was well done for the time period. Now for the meat of the film: The story itself is well written, certainly no Hollywood blockbuster of a story, but because it was written with a lot of Chinese cultural aspects into the story, then it could never be a Hollywood blockbuster because so many items of traditional Chinese lore and heritage are just so completely foreign to Americans that a lot of the story just doesn't make sense to the common layman. Lucky for me I had the time to research some of this lore as I went so that I could better understand what the heck was actually happening and what the writer was trying to achieve in each scene. The traditional Chinese festivals, haunted temples, lantern festivals and funeral ceremonies and traditions made a lot more sense to me after some research. The cinematography is great. The acting is like much Chinese acting somewhat over expressed with their emotions and actions, but overall good stuff. The sound and score was all traditional Chinese music that seemed to fit well with the time period of the film which may have been 1000 AD? It's a bit of a fantasy world so the time period is hard to nail down, but it was a time before the white man arrived in China in any numbers. No modern technology, the height of their tech being steel swords. This film has it all: horror, fantasy, comedy, love story and what could have been a big turd of a mess actually comes together quite well. I give this film a solid 7/10. Entertaining, magical and worth your time to watch it. Check it out!

A masterpiece of comedy, a masterpiece of horror, a masterpiece of romance, if there is anything negative to say about A Chinese Ghost Story, it might be that the special effects looked dated in comparison to modern technology. The film has a simple premise: a poor debt collector has to stay in a secluded area while trying to collect a debt. Of course, it happens to be haunted as well.

What I wasn't expecting the first time I saw this film is that it's one of the most touching love stories I've ever seen; that is without losing any of the slapstick comedy that will have you in stitches. Unlike some films of Asian cinema, A Chinese Ghost Story isn't hard to swallow for those that aren't versed in Chinese culture. Indeed, it plays on timeless, cultureless themes of the paranormal and romance.

Think Evil Dead 2, if they had thrown a wonderful love story into the mix. This film is for real, despite being overlooked by many. It's absolutely among the best I've ever seen. It's ability to combine the best aspects of multiple genres, and cross cultural boundaries in order to appeal to humanity everywhere, is nothing short of fantastic. Highly recommended, 10/10.

Director Ching Siu Tung throws everything but his kitchen sink into this epic (and almost indescribable) adventure, creating not only the definitive Hong Kong movie experience but also perhaps the world's first musical-romance-martial arts-action-comedy. Key ingredients include a pack of spectral wolves; some animated rotting corpses, a ghost-busting Zen swordsman, a transvestite vampire with a voracious tongue the length of the Great Wall, a beautiful spirit under a terrible curse, and an all-too human pilgrim whose bumbling innocence is the perfect defense against every supernatural peril. The film is an ideal antidote for the post-summer blockbuster doldrums: it's fast, furious, totally ridiculous and, despite some oddly translated subtitles ('scary' becoming 'scareful', and so forth), one heck of a lot of fun.

Ning Tsai-Shen, a humble tax collector, arrives in a small town to carry out his work. Unsurprisingly, no-one is willing to give him shelter for the night, so he ends up spending the night in the haunted Lan Ro temple.

American audiences will notice right away the opening scene is similar to "Evil Dead". In fact, there are a number of similarities in theme, tone and cinematography. I almost wonder if it was all a big coincidence, because when this film was made I think "Evil Dead" was still relatively unknown.

We also see shades of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" years before that film was out. I am no expert on Hong Kong films, but I wonder if this was the Shaw Brothers influence? We even have a scene with a character performing a sort of hip hop number. It is all very strange, and all very Asian.

This movie is not as good as all think. the actors are lowlevel and the story is very comic-like. I respect fantasy but Lord of the Rings is fantasy...Conan..is fantasy...THIS IS JUST NORMAL HK-LOWPRICE-ENTERTAINMENT...Why did they include this Splatter-tongue, it makes everything worse. The only good thing is the cinematography and the cutter's Job.

This film is without a doubt one of the greatest films to come from Hong Kong and is one which I saw on late night TV during a Chinese film season, so I have fond memories of it. Wu Ma is fab as the rapping Taoist monk, Joey Wong is gorgeous as the ghost (I would be the first in line to be seduced by her) and Leslie Cheung is great as the bumbling tax collector. And who could forget the hilarious looking Lau Siu Ming as the transvestite tree demon. This film is very funny, thrilling, romantic, erotic and scary. Every scene looks great and the main theme song and the haunting love song are unrivalled. This film is a great tribute to the late, great Leslie Cheung who's recent suicide shows the world the acting talent we will miss.

I would rate this film 10 out of 10.