72: A Chinese Ghost Story (a.k.a. Sien Nui Yau Wan – Original Cantonese title)

            When it comes to Hong Kong cinema I tend to appreciate present-day action thrillers much more than period costume fantasies.  As such, I don’t seek out the latter genre and can’t say that I’ve seen an abundance of these films.  This makes it difficult to say with certainty that Siu-Tung Ching’s A Chinese Ghost Story (1987) is the only such movie featuring wire-fu swordplay and claymation corpses and Power Rangers-esque special effects and a giant evil tongue, but I hope that it is.  At least it should be the only one with a slapstick nature that is also set to a synth-pop score.  Still, the fact that this film spawned two sequels means that its uniqueness is no guarantee.  

            The set-up is simple.  A young debt collector travels to a city, but upon arriving finds that his ledger has been destroyed, and that he is without logging or funds.  He is forced to sleep in an abandoned temple in the forest outside of town.  There he encounters both ghosts and a rouge swordsman.  He finds refuge from the ghosts in a house behind the overgrown temple gardens, where he meets and falls for the home’s youngest maiden.  In the morning, the swordsman reveals that the house is abandoned as well, and that all of its inhabitants were murdered over a year ago.  Having fallen in love with the maiden’s ghost, the debt collector convinces the swordsman to accompany him to hell to collect her soul from the evil tree spirit who holds her there.  Before they descend to the underworld, a lengthy fight breaks out in the forest, and the warrior is forced to do battle with the tree spirit’s giant tongue.         

            There are some good shots here within the well-established atmosphere of the film, and some of the second act scenes that build the romantic relationship are effective, but I feel it’s telling that much of the film’s write-up in the 1001 text is concerned with attempts to excuse many of the elements I’ve mentioned here.  While I’m inclined to believe that an audience exists for this type of feature – with the proof in the pudding of multiple sequels – I doubt that Americans 14+ is in fact that particular demographic.  This might be the piece to use if introducing young teens to Southeast Asian cinema, but outside of those specific circumstances this one should be left to only hardcore list-o-philes, and big time Hong Kong film fans.

Language: Cantonese

Runtime: 98 Minutes

Available @Youtube.com

Grade: 1.5 Hats Off