I'm torn between admiring A Chinese Ghost Story II for its sheer craziness and disliking it for being such an incoherent mess of a sequel to one of my favourite HK movies.
The original A Chinese Ghost Story was the film that showed me there was more to Hong Kong cinema than Jackie Chan, director Siu-Tung Ching brilliantly blending romance, fantasy, comedy and horror; part 2, also directed by Siu-Tung Ching, is non-stop insanity that never achieves the lyrical beauty of its predecessor, but does deliver a giant, toothy monster and a demonic high monk who can transform into a massive golden Buddha and a giant centipede.
Leslie Cheung reprises his role of timid debt collector Ling Choi San, who escapes from jail (having been wrongly arrested as a bandit after escaping from cannibals!); mistakenly stealing the horse of Taoist Chi Chau (Jacky Cheung), the young man seeks shelter in an abandoned villa in the woods. Chi Chau catches up with Ling Choi San, and the pair sort out the misunderstanding. During the night, the men are attacked by rebels posing as ghosts, who mistake Ling Choi San for renowned scholar Elder Chukot Ngo Long (Feng Ku), with whom he shared a cell. Amazingly, one of the rebels, Ching Fung (Joey Wong), is the exact double of ghost Siu Sihn (also Wong) from the first film; Ling Choi San is unsurprisingly smitten and agrees to help rescue her father, who is prisoner of the Imperialists.
Despite the title, there are no real ghosts in this movie, but there's plenty of supernatural silliness as Ling Choi San and his new found friends do battle with evil forces. The film is a smorgasbord of over-the-top special effects filled sequences, most of which make very little sense, but which are undeniably visually impressive. Even the less effective effects - such as the silly demonic monster that continues to menace our heroes despite being cut in half - are entertaining, and there's surely something for everyone to enjoy (I particularly liked the 'sword surfing' scene).
So, not the sequel I was hoping for, but still worth checking out if you like your HK movies to be completely bonkers.
The original A Chinese Ghost Story was the film that showed me there was more to Hong Kong cinema than Jackie Chan, director Siu-Tung Ching brilliantly blending romance, fantasy, comedy and horror; part 2, also directed by Siu-Tung Ching, is non-stop insanity that never achieves the lyrical beauty of its predecessor, but does deliver a giant, toothy monster and a demonic high monk who can transform into a massive golden Buddha and a giant centipede.
Leslie Cheung reprises his role of timid debt collector Ling Choi San, who escapes from jail (having been wrongly arrested as a bandit after escaping from cannibals!); mistakenly stealing the horse of Taoist Chi Chau (Jacky Cheung), the young man seeks shelter in an abandoned villa in the woods. Chi Chau catches up with Ling Choi San, and the pair sort out the misunderstanding. During the night, the men are attacked by rebels posing as ghosts, who mistake Ling Choi San for renowned scholar Elder Chukot Ngo Long (Feng Ku), with whom he shared a cell. Amazingly, one of the rebels, Ching Fung (Joey Wong), is the exact double of ghost Siu Sihn (also Wong) from the first film; Ling Choi San is unsurprisingly smitten and agrees to help rescue her father, who is prisoner of the Imperialists.
Despite the title, there are no real ghosts in this movie, but there's plenty of supernatural silliness as Ling Choi San and his new found friends do battle with evil forces. The film is a smorgasbord of over-the-top special effects filled sequences, most of which make very little sense, but which are undeniably visually impressive. Even the less effective effects - such as the silly demonic monster that continues to menace our heroes despite being cut in half - are entertaining, and there's surely something for everyone to enjoy (I particularly liked the 'sword surfing' scene).
So, not the sequel I was hoping for, but still worth checking out if you like your HK movies to be completely bonkers.