Reincarnation of Golden Lotus (1989)
Reviewed by: STSH on 2007-01-28
Summary: Grit your teeth
Viewed as a glamour vehicle for Joey Wong, this film could hardly be better. She is on screen nearly 90% of the running time, being shown off in a great variety of clothing and looks, and shows off her entire dramatic range, from A to B (with occasionally C). And some of the photography is just wonderfully lush, but little if anything to recommend apart from Joey-watching.

Eric Tsang plays a HK businessman who never quite grew up, and his naive enthusiasm and faith in Joey is cringingly believable. The rest of the cast show little enthusiasm for proceedings, while Tan Lap-Man rehearses for Erotic Ghost Story. Joey's character is possessed of the vengeful soul of Poon Gam Lin (Golden Lotus), and keeps taking her over, and forcing her into wild and sluttish behaviour. The story moves from dull to horrifying to unssettling to weird to irritating to sad to ...... yeah, lots of negative stuff, very downbeat. And a really weird and unexpected ending.

Warning : do not watch this in a cinema. Boredom or depression may result from inability to escape the horrid bits. Fans of possibly Asia's loveliest star (which includes me), watch it with gritted teeth. Others, miss it.
Reviewer Score: 5