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鬼新娘 (1987)
Spiritual Love


Reviewed by: STSH
Date: 10/30/2010


Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: JohnR
Date: 09/03/2007
Summary: Unassuming Ghost Flick

Boy meets girl; boy meets ghost; boy loses girl; girl battles boy; ghost battles girl; boy loses ghost. Details are amply provided in the review just below.

High points for me were Cherie Chung and the non-dragginess of the plot. Actually, her performance wasn't stellar, but her looks sure are. Deannie Yip was ok, but wasn't given the opportunity to let loose; but she's a side character so she wasn't supposed to. She did well what she was called upon to do.

Chow Yun Fat hammed it up a little too much. He got a bit carried away playing his character as almost idiotic, though righteous. If he'd have toned it down somewhat it would have improved the movie, but it wasn't a fatal distraction. After all, he IS Chow Yun Fat.

The scene in which Deannie and Cherie spar while performing Chinese opera is classic. If only the writer could have found a couple more of those in him.

The Chinese title, by the way, is "Ghost Wife" which is far more discriptive than the English version.

All in all it's nothing special, but not bad. Fans of Cherie should be pleased; fans of CYF and Deannie less so.

Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: laadolf
Date: 08/31/2002
Summary: Supernatural love story enlivened by the chemistry of its two leads

Chow Yun Fat plays Lao K, a small time triad type who earns his living
as a collection man for a loan shark. His cousin, Chin Hua (played by
Deannie Yip), an aspiring "ghostbuster", pines after him, using her
divination skills to chart her cousin's romantic future, hoping to see
her name revealed. Lao K is oblivious to her infatuation, caught up
with his collection activities and the romantic charms of May (Pauline
Wong), a self involved maneater who treats him badly, and soon forsakes
him for a richer, more successful man.

One day, while trying to collect a debt for his boss in the company of
his constant companion, 6'3" (a fellow petty criminal who was deafened
and forced to drink acid by the triad bosses while Lao K went to prison
for a botched job, and whom Lao K has "adopted") a deaf mute, Lao K is
captivated by an antique Chinese desk. Buying it and taking to the home
he shares with his cousin (he's nine months arrears on the rent he owes
her), he discovers a letter in a drawer that tells the sad story of a
young woman, sick from birth, who posthumously was wed to an "ugly
ghost" by her family. The young woman has not been reincarnated and has
little hope of ever being, until she can find a man born on a yang day,
in a yang month, in a yang year willing to give up 3 years of his mortal
life to help her escape from her fearsome ghost-husband and win her a
chance at reincarnation.

Lao K, the petty criminal with a heart of gold, and told by a physiogamist that he will live to 98, decides he can spare a few years to help the girl out. He performs the ritual she details in her letter, and then promptly forgets about the whole matter.

He is walking on the waterfront when he spies a young woman in a boat.
He greets her, she responds, but as he watches in horror, her craft
sinks with her in it. Diving into the water he rescues her. Unbeknownst
to him, this is the young ghost-woman of the letter from the desk.
Escaped from the underworld, Wei Hsaio-Tieh (Cherie Chung), has come to search out her benefactor.

Hsiao-Tieh enters and reenters his life over the course of the next few
days, finally coming to stay with him after an argument with his
unfaithful girlfriend May, results in Lao K stumbling home sick.
Appearing to him in the elevator of his apartment building while he lies
insensible in its cab, she brings him home, takes care of him and tidies
his room while he lies unconscious. He awakens to her presence,
recognizing her as the girl in the boat, but still unaware of her
supernatural nature.

His cousin returns, and she is not long fooled by their house guest.
Chin Hua soon brings in the bug guns--her occultist sifu-- in her attempt to rid her cousin of his ghostly girlfriend. Master and student soon launch into a ritual designed to exorcise Hsiao-tieh and send her back to the afterlife.

Lao K, in the meantime, has discovered that 6'3" has been kidnapped by a
rival gang and that his life is in danger. When appealing to their loan
shark boss (Paul Chin Pui) results in no help to rescue him, Lao K goes it alone. Buying toy guns and jury rigging them to fire blanks, he launches a lone assault on the gang's lair. He is almost successful when his ruse is revealed and his life and that of 6'3" is put in further danger.

Hsiao-tieh, caught in the middle of the exorcism, senses his danger and is able to escape to rescue the man she loves and his burly friend. The great
expenditure of her supernatural powers to accomplish this results in a
weakened condition and the danger of her being sucked back to the
afterlife. Lao K, by now aware of her ghostly status, becomes desperate
to find a way to keep the woman he has fallen in love with on earth.

Further rituals ensue, which will cost Lao K ten more years of his
lifespan, but which will allow Hsiao-tieh to spend 49 days on earth in
his company. It is a sacrifice he is willing to make.

Restored to full power, Hsiao-tieh is granted her 49 days with Lao K and
the love between them grows and deepens.

May, the man-eating girlfriend soon returns however, pregnant and
abandoned by her new, more upwardly mobile boyfriend. She attempts to
trick Lao K back into her clutches. He resists, until she threatens
suicide, promising that if he does not come to save her, she will return
as a vengeful ghost and take his life.

May's plans go awry, resulting in a finale where all the supernatural
stops are pulled out, as Lao K and Hsiao-tieh try to protect each other
from the perils of the afterlife. A bargain is struck and the film
winds down to a bittersweet ending.

The always versatile Chow Yun Fat is endearingly roguish as the
basically decent Lao K. Cherie Chung displays her wonderful range as an
actress, effortlessly moving from broad comedy to affecting pathos as
the ill-starred Hsiao-tieh. The supporting players, especially Deannie
Yip as the long suffering cousin, are universally excellent.

This film carries appeal on several fronts, not the least of which is the incredible chemistry between its two leads.



Reviewed by: Sydneyguy
Date: 05/08/2001
Summary: ok-ISH

A pretty standard story about love with a ghost!! Mayb bring a tear to your eye!!

6.25/10


Reviewed by: hkcinema
Date: 12/08/1999

A young man lives with his attractive female cousin who is a student of the occult. She is at odds with her cousin's sometime girlfriend who, if anything is an avid student of the same material. He hasn't the money nor the connections to keep up with his girlfriend's high style. The man finds a letter from a mysterious 'Butterfly' and decides to write back-- with dramatic and sometimes terrifying results.

[Reviewed by Rim Films Catalog]


Reviewed by: hkcinema
Date: 12/08/1999

Cute modern ghost romance where Chow and a ghost falls in love. Chow's living ex-girlfriend kills herself to be able to compete with the other ghost.

[Reviewed by Anonymous]