A Chinese Ghost Story

A masterful homage to the pioneering cinematic techniques of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead, expertly integrated into a Hong Kong martial arts comedy with simultaneously well acted supernatural romance story holding it all together. Absolute classic, truly unique, and unlike anything else I've ever seen.

One of Tsui Hark's finest productions, A Chinese Ghost Story features many of Hong Kong cinema's most celebrated hallmarks, including over-the-top action, a wild mix of genres, and overwrought emotions that prove surprisingly compelling; nowadays, the film may seem slapdash and overeager to please, but even now it remains a piece of dark, fast-paced, goofy, sultry supernatural wuxia brilliance. While the film clearly owes a great debt to Sam Raimi, it's primo eighties Hong Kong cinema, which means a complete disregard for any attempt at realism. Everything here is so hyper-realistic and over-the-top that it makes Hollywood musicals look like the very model of restraint. There are plenty of spectacular special effects, exceptionally well-choreographed and elegantly staged action, a chilling atmosphere and a classic love story forming the backbone of the film's emotional core; the film is made all the better by Tony Ching Siu-Tung's absolutely gorgeous direction, captivating performances, the wonderful photography and utterly joyous musical score. A Chinese Ghost Story is a beautifully enchanting film and an undisputed classic for a reason, with a sheer cinematic energy that cannot be understated.

A true classic and masterpiece of asian cinema. This is the best version of the class liao zai story

1001 movies to see before you die. This was weird. Cheese and at the same time martial arts and horror. I don't know where to start. I think the demon lady's tongue says enough to have it be chasing people around the house oozing juices all over their faces. Fantastic visuals, but a poorly told lame story. It was on Amazon.

A unique blending of comedy, horror, action, and romance that feels like an offbeat parody of Mizoguchi's Ugetsu, A Chinese Ghost Story is a film bizarrely structured enough to get away with just about anything as its runtime progresses, alternating between unlikely love story, folklore-ish horror flick, and situational screwball film; you'll randomly get established Hong Kong regular Wu Ma giving a lively song-and-dance number in an abandoned temple, or a glimpse into a laughably corrupt local magistrate's court, but the film is designed to allow that sort of fluidity. No moment is sacred or free from ridicule, but at the same time it's not purely a comedy. A cult film and a surprisingly influential piece of Hong Kong cinema, this is a necessity for lovers of the comedy-horror and meta-horror genres even if it doesn't narrowly fit into either box neatly. (3.5/5)

If this too-slow Evil Dead 2.5 is "Exciting outrageous Hong Kong cinema at its best!", at least i don't have to see the rest.

What genre is this!?! Wonderfully unpredictable.

If I remember correctly,I wasn't wild about this when I first saw this when it came out, and, viewing it 30 years later, it's still not all that great. The love story is interesting, with the ghost and the human falling in love, but the action sequences are sometimes nonsensical, mixed in with references to Chinese symbolism or whatever. It still gets a bit of a meh from me.

The best of the best when its about classic chinese fantasy movies. This old school Tsui Hark produced pearl is also one of my favourite great movie love story of all time.

I was honestly a bit bored throughout this one. There were some cool animated zombie creatures living in this house, but they never amounted to much. It felt like a random plot without much direction or weight to anything.