A Chinese Ghost Story

A big hit in Hong Kong, credited to a young director of mildly innovative martial arts films, but showing all the signs of having been gazumped by producer Tsui Hark, director of cult hits The Butterfly Murders and Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain. Many of the ideas and visuals are swiped from recent horror movies like The Evil Dead. The storyline is a Ming Dynasty chestnut about a wandering scholar who falls in love with a glamorous female ghost, only to find the hordes of hell on his tail. Low points include the scenes in town, with market stallholders endlessly rhubarbing warnings about not going near the old house on the lake. High points include the special effects and a rap version of the opening words of ' Tzu's Tao Te Ching by a Taoist priest (Wu Ma, himself a director of some talent).