A Chinese Ghost Story

Siu-Tung Ching has taken Raimi’s energy and enthusiasm and heavily branded it with Chinese aesthetics and this is AMAZING. Plenty of FOG, plenty of spooky establishing shots, creepy ghouls, gruesome tongue demons, wild camera movements… I can go on and on. Decapitations, tentacles, blood, songs, fog, laughs, campy 80s effects done well, seduction, allure, love, imagination — what more could you want? It’ absurd. It’s amazing. It should be seen by way more people.

A Chinese Ghost Story can quickly be summed up as a whimsical fantasy romance, and you can do the math on what that looks like when the origin is Hong Kong and the decade is the 1980s. On paper, this seemed like something bizarre enough for me to enjoy on an ironic level, but instead I just felt like my brain was being assaulted.

I agree, it does resemble Evil Dead in a weird way. Loved it!

I'll admit to a personal bias against the broader strokes of 80s fantasy horror, as well as the overly emotive performance styles of Asian cinema, both of which leave me cold and are the bread-and-butter of this film; that being said, the ghosts and monsters are imaginatively conceived, Leslie Cheung is a likably "nebbish" lead and folk-lore of the ghosts themselves is interesting enough. Probably better suited for genre hounds.

Pretty fun mix of martial arts, horror and romance that doesn't wear out its welcome.

Leslie Cheung is really annoying here. Besides that, it's a lot of fun.

While a love story at heart, this kinetic tale also incorporates subversive humor, copious swordplay, horrific FX, and even scattered musical interludes, as when swordsman Wu performs what amounts to a Taoist version of "My Way".

Supremely watchable fantasy/horror/kung-fu/romantic comedy/musical that is a must see for Evil Dead 2 fans, or anyone in general.

Exciting, weird, romantic, funny. Definitely worth time and a bit of trouble

A film with all the hallmarks of the ever-hot 80s Hong Kong horror comedy genre, with more polish (and budget) than most, and a sweet little romantic core that proves a sturdy enough frame to build everything around.

Good fantasy martial arts horror comedy romance.

80.000

An utter beautiful and delirious film, folk legends blurring with the best of the 1980s aesthetic of Hong Kong cinema to create a standout of that era of the region's film output. That it manages to feel like the Evil Dead 2 and then outdo it in its unadulterated energy is a cherry on top.

Insane.

"Blending every genre under the sun into a film that feels like a permanent sugar rush, this action horror classic was perfecting wire-fu long before Western audiences knew what it was. Not every Hong Kong movie is like this; that's a shame."

strange, fun, but not likely to leave a lasting impression

78.500

This is a ghost story with lots of cheesy special effects, but you can't help but love the telling of it. A good hearted, almost inept public official goes to a village to help with their desperate water shortage. Little does he know there is a nest of demon ghosts. His good heart leads him, along with a few spirit masters, to save them. This is a love story, with big pot holes, but it has enough outrageous nonsense, pretty girls and sappy love story elements to keep you interested to the end.

Ghost stories can be even romantic. This action backed movie has everything. Beside the love story fighting with monsters is here the next best thing. Someway my favorite movie from 1980's.

Cute.