Jackson Booth-Millard The title made it obvious where the movie was from, this Catonese language film is one I found listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I was glad to read positive reviews by critics, so I was looking forward to it. Basically Ling Choi San (Leslie Cheung) is a timid debt collector, his job requires him to travel to rural areas, he arrives in a town, but his inability to collect a debt as planned. He is forced to seek shelter in a deserted temple in the middle of the forest, and that night Ling meets and falls in love with beautiful and alluring young maiden Lip Siu Sin (Joey Wang). However Ling becomes fearful and superstitious, as a Taoist mystic told him there are ghosts, and when he returns to the temple, his suspicions of Lip being a spirit are confirmed. Lip tells her story, she is eternally bound to the servitude of a sinister Tree Devil (Siu-Ming Lau), she is forever enslaved, as her buried remains are at the foot of the tree. Ling attempts to free her, he seeks help from powerful Taoist priest and master swordsman Yin Chek Hsia (Wu Ma), Yin battles with the Tree Demoness, but fails to free Lip, her soul is taken to the underworld for betraying her master. Ling is determined not to give up and insists that Yin help him, Yin opens a temporary portal to the Underworld, they enter and attempt to free Lip's soul from suffering. In the midst of thousands of other spirits they are unable to find Lip, eventually she and Ling see each other as dawn is breaking, but Lip cannot be exposed to sunlight or her soul will disintegrate. Ling holds on to a curtain to shield the urn, containing Lip's cremated remains, from the sunlight, she tells him that the only way to save her is to place the urn in a more auspicious burial site. Ling follows Lip's instructions and Yin's advice, he buries the remains on the crest of a hill, with Yin watching, a lights an incense stick and prays for her soul. Also starring Wai Lam as Hsia-hou, Zhilun Xue as Ching and Jing Wong as Judge. I assumed from the title is was just going to a bog-standard ghost drama, in fact it was more than I expected, it combined fast-paced fight sequences with some massive monsters and weird sorcery, it was both exciting and darkly funny, an interesting and likable martial arts comedy horror. Very good!

honorhorror 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!

mcphil2 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.

jmbwithcats 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