A Chinese Ghost Story Trilogy (19871991)

Seeking to revitalise the ailing Chinese fantasy genre, legendary producer Tsui Hark assembled the crack team of A Better Tomorrow II action director Ching Siu-Tung, Peking Opera Blues scriptwriter Yuen Kai-Chi and superstars Leslie Cheung, Joey Wong and Wu Ma for the action-comedy classic A Chinese Ghost Story. The film conquered the 1987 Hong Kong box office, begat two sequels and cemented Tsui’s reputation as Hong Kong’s most respected producer.The timid yet earnest Ling Choi-San (Cheung) takes shelter for the night in an abandoned temple, where he meets and soon falls in love with the beautiful Nip Siu-Sihn (Wong). But when he realises that she’s a ghost forced to lead men astray by an evil tree demon, Ling must enlist the help of rambunctious Taoist warrior Yin Chik-Ha (Wu) to free her from its grasp. In A Chinese Ghost Story II, Ling Choi-San is drafted to help a group of rebels battle otherworldly forces and rescue their captured leader, aided once again by Yin Chik-Ha as well as the formidable and slightly mad swordsman Jihau (Jacky Cheung, Bullet in the Head). Set 100 years after the events its predecessor, the final instalment introduces Fong (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Hard Boiled), a bumbling monk apprentice tasked with transporting a golden statue of Buddha to the neighbouring county, only to stumble into the lair of the first film’s tree demon and its ghostly underlings.The Chinese Ghost Story Trilogy represents the height of Hong Kong cinema’s inventiveness, deploying an array of spectacular special effects, jaw-dropping fight choreography and luscious cinematography to deliver its singular blend of otherworldly scares, thrilling action and poignant love story.