Monday 17 June 2013

A Chinese Ghost Story (1987)



A Chinese Ghost Story (Hong Kong 1987 - 91 min.)  

Directed by Siu-Tung Ching, written by Gai Chi Yuen




An accident prone young tax collector arrives in a small village and ends up spending the night at the local "haunted" temple. Here he gets the opportunity to prove his belief that love conquers all and is eternal when he falls in love with the ghost of a young woman and joins with a legendary ghost hunter/killer in a battle to save her soul from perpetual damnation.

This is an outstanding example of the "ghost" genre that was enormously popular in Asian cinema during the late eighties, before they succumbed to the joys of wire work and endless gymnastic routines.

It's shot through from beginning to end by a lightness of touch, both in the performances and in the direction that keep the film rattling along.
The casual viewer from the Western hemisphere who enjoys the "Evil Dead" films will find plenty to admire here. The entire film is dripping in the same self-mocking, gentle slapstick style of humour. There's a marvellous scene where our hero destroys an entire cellar's worth of zombie ghosts while remaining totally oblivious to their existence.

There's plenty of action sequences featuring some dazzling swordplay to keep you watching and some great pieces of visual comedy to keep you laughing ( Ning Tsai-Shen attempting to hide in a bathtub to avoid detection by the Mistress Of The Witches)

Great fun, hugely enjoyable and visually beautiful

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