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.
American audiences will notice right away the opening scene is similar to "Evil Dead". In fact, there are a number of similarities in theme, tone and cinematography. I almost wonder if it was all a big coincidence, because when this film was made I think "Evil Dead" was still relatively unknown.
We also see shades of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" years before that film was out. I am no expert on Hong Kong films, but I wonder if this was the Shaw Brothers influence? We even have a scene with a character performing a sort of hip hop number. It is all very strange, and all very Asian.
American audiences will notice right away the opening scene is similar to "Evil Dead". In fact, there are a number of similarities in theme, tone and cinematography. I almost wonder if it was all a big coincidence, because when this film was made I think "Evil Dead" was still relatively unknown.
We also see shades of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" years before that film was out. I am no expert on Hong Kong films, but I wonder if this was the Shaw Brothers influence? We even have a scene with a character performing a sort of hip hop number. It is all very strange, and all very Asian.