In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

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!

Infamous classic from producer Tsui Hark and once again, a blue print for many copycat and spoof films, A Chinese Ghost Story stills stands tall as one of the best - even more so than its 2011 remake that seemed to switch charm for more CGI.Brilliantly directed by fight master Ching Sui Tung, with superb effects, great performances from all, and great action pieces including the fantastic Wu Ma as a sword wielding priest defending Leslie Cheung against the beautiful Joey Wong, an army of undead, demons and the world's largest, killer tongue.Plenty to see, plenty to love – A Chinese Ghost Story is a fantastic piece of Hong Kong cinema and well worth a place in any movie fan's collection.

Director Ching Siu Tung throws everything but his kitchen sink into this epic (and almost indescribable) adventure, creating not only the definitive Hong Kong movie experience but also perhaps the world's first musical-romance-martial arts-action-comedy. Key ingredients include a pack of spectral wolves; some animated rotting corpses, a ghost-busting Zen swordsman, a transvestite vampire with a voracious tongue the length of the Great Wall, a beautiful spirit under a terrible curse, and an all-too human pilgrim whose bumbling innocence is the perfect defense against every supernatural peril. The film is an ideal antidote for the post-summer blockbuster doldrums: it's fast, furious, totally ridiculous and, despite some oddly translated subtitles ('scary' becoming 'scareful', and so forth), one heck of a lot of fun.

First things first, the female lead is too gorgeous to be missed. Now actress Wang Zu Xian, the one who played Xiao Qian in the movie, is 42 years old and well aged. It's always good to review these glorious times when seeing old-school HongKong productions like this.The movie is one of the most influential titles made in 1980s. The art set decoration and other aesthetic facets are all mesmerizing. More fantastically the movie had a total black humorous undertone in it. It feels like a horror movie but ultimately it's not scaring, but only fun.I had the experience of translating the second script of "A Chinese Ghotst Story", and I thought that script was a decent write. However when I saw the movie, I firstly was disappointed in seeing the movie different from the script, like in a smaller scale and involving more comic roles. However, it turned out to be better executed in terms of being entertaining.If you have seen the Lord of the Rings, you will notice the similarities in this movie to LOTR. The climax is like a mirror of Miranda Otto fighting with the Ring Witch. It's definitely a laugh-out-loud. Bravo!