A human rebel who Ning initially mistakes for Xiaoqian.
The film that started it all, the 1987 A Chinese Ghost Story , is loosely adapted from "Nie Xiaoqian," a short story from Pu Songling’s Qing Dynasty classic anthology, Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio . However, Tsui Hark and Ching Siu-tung stripped away the rigid moralism of the original text, transforming it into a dizzying, poetic punk-rock opera of love and death. The Plot: Love Beyond the Grave
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Hong Kong cinema experienced a golden age of unbridled creativity, churning out genre-defining masterpieces that blended high-flying martial arts, slapstick comedy, heartbreaking romance, and existential horror. At the absolute pinnacle of this cinematic renaissance stands the legendary trilogy ( 倩女幽魂 ).
: The iconic bathtub scene, Wu Ma’s memorable Taoist rap, and the ethereal, award-winning score by James Wong. Availability : A 4K restored version was released in 2025. A Chinese Ghost Story II (1990)
Directed by Ching Siu-tung (choreographer of Hero ) and produced by Tsui Hark, the original film was a revolutionary departure from the staid Shaw Brothers productions of the prior decade. It took a classic Qing dynasty tale from Pu Songling’s Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio and injected it with 80s MTV pacing, wire-fu poetry, and tragic romance. A chinese ghost story I II III -1987-1990-1991-...
The trilogy redefined the possibilities of the "FantAsia" genre, blending superhuman martial arts, magic spells, and supernatural beasts, and its legacy continues to inspire filmmakers and captivate audiences to this day.
), completed the trilogy, offering a new perspective while staying true to the aesthetic of the previous entries.
Across all three films, the trilogy explores the tension between the human and the supernatural. The central theme is that humans can be more monstrous than ghosts, and ghosts can possess more humanity than the living.
: The trilogy’s legacy has been solidified with its introduction to modern audiences. The 1987 original was re-released theatrically in mainland China in March 2025 as a stunning 4K restoration, proving the film's power and its visual beauty are timeless. Following this, in August 2025, Shout! Studios announced a new 4K Blu-ray release of the entire trilogy, and the third film was also shown in a haunting 4K restoration at the Fantasia Festival in the same year. A human rebel who Ning initially mistakes for Xiaoqian
Ning is shocked to meet (Joey Wong again), a rebel fighter who looks identical to his lost love, Xiaoqian. While managing this emotional confusion, the group must fight corrupt government officials and a monstrous, false Buddhist deity that is actually a giant centipede demon devouring the souls of the nation's leaders. Why It Matters
A significant factor in the trilogy's lasting impact is its iconic music. The score was composed by three of Hong Kong cinema's most legendary figures: Wong Jim, James Wong, and Romeo Diaz. The music perfectly underscores every shift in tone, from the gentle romance to the frantic action and the tragic melodrama.
Directly following the first film, this sequel leans more into political satire and high-speed action.
Ten years after the first film, the Tree Devil has regenerated. A young monk (Tony Leung Chiu-wai, in a rare comedic role), Fong, travels to the temple to cremate his master’s remains. He meets a new ghost, Lotus (Joey Wong, playing a heartbreaking courtesan ghost serving the same Tree Devil). Yin Chek-ha (Wu Ma) returns, older and drunker, to help decapitate the monster once and for all. The Plot: Love Beyond the Grave In the
The sequel shifts its focus from the supernatural realm of ghosts to the political turmoil and social chaos of the human world.
Ning Choi-san (Leslie Cheung), a timid, bumbling tax collector, seeks shelter in the abandoned Lan Ruo Temple. There, he meets Nie Xiaoqian (Joey Wong), a breathtakingly beautiful ghost trapped in servitude to a soul-eating Tree Demon. Ning falls deeply in love with her, unaware of her spectral nature, and eventually teams up with a fierce, Taoist swordsman-monk named Yin Chik-ha (Wu Ma) to rescue her soul from eternal damnation.
, it follows a bumbling tax collector (Leslie Cheung) who falls for a ghost (Joey Wang) enslaved by a tree demon. The Sequel (1990):