Rating: 4.5/5
Oh My Horror 2025 | 7/52 | Love and Horror
Sometimes, men are more harmful than ghosts.
The wind scatters leaves across the ground toward a door. The torn paper of the sliding doors reveals a light behind them. Inside, a man reads poetry, only to have his eyes distracted by Nip-Siu-sin dancing. His lamp tumbles over as he reaches up to her. She places his hand inside her shirt. The storm grows more intense as she sits atop him. Something rushes in from the storm and kills the man.
Ning Choi-san is a debt collector traveling in the pouring rain. He comes across thieves running from Hsia-hou. Hsia-hou decapitates one and slashes up the other, retrieving his bag. Once Ning arrives at his destination, he pulls out his balance book, only to find the rain has caused the ink to spread, making it impossible to decipher. Without a record, he cannot collect the tax.
So, Ning asks a nearby shopkeeper for a place to stay. The shop-keep suggests the Orchid Temple, which silences all townspeople in his vicinity. As night falls, wolves chase Ning to the temple. There, he witnesses Hsia-hou and Yin Chik-ha sword fighting. Hsia-hou escapes to the caves below to nurse his wounds. Yin Chik-ha warns Ning of the dangers inside the temple. Still, Ning enters and finds a place to rest.
Beneath the temple, Hsia-hou finds Nip Siu-sin. As they kiss, shriveled remains come to life, and something rushes into Hsia-hou and sucks the life out of him. Nip Siu-sin watches tearfully. Yin Chik-ha, aware of the disturbance, finds Hsia-hou’s body shriveled like the others. Meanwhile, Ning hears the clanking of bones upstairs and starts to investigate. But before he can, he hears a song. He follows the sound to find Nip Siu-sin.
Will Ning befall the same fate as others, or will he listen to Nip-Siu-sin and Yin Chik-ha’s warnings? Or will he find love in a hopeless place?
The effects are so much fun! Cinefex Workshop was HK’s first special effects studio—folks were teaching themselves stop-motion animation while working on the movie. The subtle animations of ghost spirit movement are such a nice touch.
The film has wuxia-style fights. The wind, costumes, and Dutch angles are incredible.
One character gives us some gender fuckery — I don’t want to spoil it, but she rules.
It makes sense why this HK ghost movie broke through in America. It’s fast-paced, funny, and full of surprises.
Leslie Cheung and Joey Wong 💖