Hong Kong Cinema Classics: A Chinese Ghost Story (1987) 4K Restoration
Director: Tony Ching Siu-Tung Run Time: 96 min. Rating: NR Release Year: 1987
Starring: David Lam Wai, Joey Wong, Lau Siu-Ming, Leslie Cheung, Wu Ma
Country: Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese with English subtitles
Screening as part of Hong Kong Cinema Classics, eleven rarely-screened, action-packed films from The Golden Princess Catalog. Only at Gateway Film Center in Columbus, Ohio this September 2025.
About the film:
Ning Tsai-Shen, a humble tax collector, arrives in a small town to carry out his work. Unsurprisingly, no one is willing to give him shelter for the night, so he ends up spending the night in the haunted Lan Ro temple. There, he meets Taoist Swordsman Yen Che-Hsia, who warns him to stay out of trouble, and the beautiful Nieh Hsiao-Tsing, with whom he falls in love. Unfortunately, Hsiao-Tsing is a ghost, bound for all eternity by a hideous tree spirit with an incredibly long tongue that wraps itself round its victims and sucks out their life essence (or ‘yang element’)…
About the filmmaker:
Siu-Tung Ching is a director and choreographer best known for his stylized martial arts direction and fantasy-infused visuals. He gained widespread recognition for directing the A Chinese Ghost Story trilogy and for his groundbreaking action choreography in both Hong Kong and international films. His work is noted for its dreamlike quality, wire-fu action, and elegant fusion of horror, romance, and myth.
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