Hua zhong xian

PICTURE OF A NYMPH is a 1988 romantic fantasy and a clone of Tsui Hark's A CHINESE GHOST STORY from the previous year. It features two of the stars of that film, Wu Ma, who played the taoist priest, and Joey Wang, who plays the beautiful ghost in both films (she also played the part in two CHINESE GHOST STORY sequels). Wu Ma also handled the directorial reins on this film.

The hero character from the earlier film is split into two characters here: the priest's adopted son, an aspiring ghost-chaser played by kung fu star Yuen Biao; and a hapless young scholar who becomes the ghost's lover, played by Lawrence Ng. There is an interesting plot twist in which Joey Wong's ghost has to hide from the grasping and possessive `King Ghost,' played by Elizabeth Lee, by magically entering an ink painting of herself done by the scholar. At one point she leaves the painting to tidy up and decorate the scholar's room in an abandoned mansion.

This film is charming and pretty, but lacks the intensity and heart-wrenching melancholy of its predecessor. Its action scenes are well handled, but are few and far between and not as frenzied as in the earlier film. Lawrence Ng plays too comical a character in contrast to Leslie Cheung's vulnerable, lovestruck scholar in the earlier film. Overall, it's a much gentler film and more family-friendly. If that's your cup of tea, you'll be pleasantly surprised. But if you're looking for monsters and supernatural battles, stick with the original CGS series. The DVD transfer is beautiful and showcases the film's lovely cinematography to great effect.

Picture of a nymph is a average ghost story with the same premise of A Chinese Ghost Story.It predicable but well made enough to worth a watch if you into this kind of stuff.The biggest mistake the movie made is not focus on Biao Yuen character but instead a whiny scholar guy with a very punchable face.The guy seriously ruin every scene in the movie by having his face on the set

This movie was released in Hong Kong less than a year after the iconic and fabulous A Chinese Ghost Story. A similar film, this story deals with Taoist monk disciple Shih Erh (Biao Yuen), who takes in a scholar named Tsui Hung-Chuen (Lawrence Ng) and protects him from the demons and spirits that lurk in the woods. However, Tsui encounters and falls in love with a benevolent female ghost named Mo Chiu (Joey Wang), who is confined to the hands of the wicked King Ghost (Elizabeth Lee). Therefore, Tsui hides the ghost in a painting he drew of her.

While it is nice seeing the martial arts action and Joey Wang portraying another beautiful spirit, this is not one of the more exciting ghost/fantasy films I've seen come out of Hong Kong. The plot is very slow and focuses too much on the subplots between Shih Erh being at odds with his master (Ma Wu) and Tsui trying to make ends meet. The ghost scenes play second fiddle in the movie, popping up in and there, and are not emphasized enough, especially the plot device about the ghost hiding in the painting. There is no chemistry between the Tsui and Mo Chiu characters, not much suspense, and a non-captivating villain.

I thought this movie tried too hard to be similar to A Chinese Ghost Story; that film was a masterpiece with attention-grabbing scenes, heartfelt drama and romance, spectacular martial art fights and special effects, and memorable characters. This movie could have had potential as a well assembled case was there, the setting was good, the plot device of the ghost in the painting sounded intriguing and the visuals were breathtaking. However, everything from the acting to the script-writing were just executed half-heartedly and, as a result, what we got was a below average ghost movie.

Grade D+