Wordiezett So much average

ActuallyGlimmer The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Jill Hu After going through some reviews, I feel the need to differentiate Liao Zhai from Wuxia and (Western and Japanese)Fantasy. The awareness of Liao Zhai among audiences is far, far from enough, which partly explains why this film doesn't meet expectation from some people. This film is loosely based on a short story from Liao Zhai, which is a collection of nearly 500 strange tales dated back to 17th century, serving to implicitly criticize human society. Unlike many ghost stories, Liao Zhai portrays most ghosts as likable and humane females, and has underdog scholars(author's class stand), ridiculous government officials as well as feudal principles as recurring themes. Although the story line has been changed, this film hasn't depart from the core of Liao Zhai, mocking brain scattered officials, revealing heartless stall-keepers and crowds. Its attitude is fully exposed through lines of the Taoist:"I hate dealing with people, so I hid in this temple." "Ridiculous. I don't want to be a man, but Hsiao Tsing wants reincarnation. I don't understand all this nonsense!" "In these times, an unlucky man may fare worse than a ghost. " Those who thought it was Wuxia may find the supernatural elements corny; those who thought it was a fantasy may find it structurally and cinematically timid. With all that said, Liao Zhai as a film genre might never become phenomenal, mostly due to its own limitation. In the nihilist moment of depression and quiet anger, scholars like the author of Liao Zhai had never detected the crux of the problems nor come up with effective solutions, just like the last feudalism of China itself.Hopefully, a brief look into Liao Zhai betters your understanding!

Knighthawk701 I did see this movie on German TV, which aired a lot of HK movies, including the part II of this movie. I went to get this movie on VHS and later on on DVD. It is still as impressive as back then. First I must say the effects look cheesy compared to what is possible today, but then again this movie is 25 years old now and on a tight budget compared to Hollywood. As mentioned by some one else, yes there is a cheap beard sticked to Wu Ma (the taoist monk). Yet this is a more of comedy reference to the older HK movies (this movie is a remake of a Shaw Brothers movie from the 60's named The Enchanting Shadow).This is one of the best Wuxia movies out there, tons of swordplay and magic. Thrown in is a tale of romance, some horror, taoism and Buddhism, comedy and the main character Ning Choi-san (played by Cheung) sings a song too. The story tells of a young tax-collector who can't get his job done. Thrown in the violent reality of rural China, he seeks a free sleeping place. He is told of an old temple but what he does not know is that it is haunted. When he arrives a sword fight is taking place between an old taoist monk and a younger swordsman that wants to prove himself. The monk tells Ning Choi-san to go somewhere else to sleep. Ning Choi-san decides to stay at the temple and he meets up with a young woman (Nip Siu-sin) while the younger swordsman, who lost the sword fight, meets up with a demon after being tempted by Nip Siu-sin. Ning Choi-san falls in love with Nip Siu-sin but he finds out she is not alive anymore, but a ghost. Nip Siu-sin and her sister died and now are slaves of a demon that is using the Nip Siu-sin to lure men so they can be devoured by the demon. Ning Choi-san wants to free her and asks the monk for his help.He is were a lot of people fail to read between the lines and see this movie as something told in western tales a 1000 times before. Thing is western tales always have a happy ending. Guy battles demons, rescues girl, girl is no longer a ghost and they live happily ever after. Not here. This is HK cinema.The main character is facing a dilemma. He can be with Siu-sin at night and live out their romance, during the day she needs to return to her urn. Or he can save her soul and she will reincarnate (yes this is about Buddhism) but they will never meet again. Will he choose for love or her freedom?But before the can think about what to do he first needs to rescue Siu- sin from the Dark Lord. The monk decides to help him and they go on to battle the demons that stand in their way.For the fans, there is a 2011 version now. It was re-released (digitaly remastered) after Leslie Cheung died. Also there is a 2011 remake but it seems nowhere as good as this one (I did not see it yet).

Alise_shenle this is a great movie. i like it where ning climbs down to get his ink, and the skeletons chase him, but luckily he dodged them, opened the window, and didn't even notice them. xiao qian is very pretty too. & when he stuck the needle up ma Wu's butt, its hysterical. and when he is saying love is the greatest thing on earth while standing between two swords is great too. then also the part where he eats his buns while watching thew guy kill many people. then you see him chanting poems as he ran to escape the wolves. the love scenes are romantic, xiao qian and ning look cute together. add the comic timing, the giant tongue, and u have horror, romance, comedy, all at once. not to mention superb special effects for the 90s.

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.