Storia di fantasmi cinesi

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.

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 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.

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.

Well now, this is one fun movie! It is basically one of those interesting romantic-horror crossovers which, I must say, works quite well, although there are a few gripes.

Some of the ideas in this film are very interesting, and the way that it was filmed and put together made me think "live action anime". The acting is good, the female lead is gorgeous, the action scenes are typically frenetic and yet possess a clarity not often seen in mainstream Western films. To be honest I wasn't expecting any action scenes at all before I started watching, not that I'm complaining. The film was also quite funny in places, as well as romantic, but not necessarily scary (at least by today's standards).

Something I should say is that the film is fairly fast paced yet we manage to keep track of the story, but it moves so fast that we don't really get the chance to feel for the characters and they don't really have the chance to develop. The pacing itself was often uneven, but now I'm merely splitting hairs.

Worth a watch.