Aside from his last two movies, which were produced in HK during his failed comeback attempt (Swordsman 1, and Painted Skin) I've seen only two movies of this legendary Taiwanese director, the seminal A Touch of Zen, and this movie, which was shot back to back with the companion piece Raining in the Mountain, and was finally released in 1979. Most reviewers consider LotM to be one of his weaker offerings, but lacking the comparison to his other films, I will try to review it on its own merits.

The film unfolds like a traditional Chinese ghost story: A young scholar (played by the not so young actor who was the scholar in Touch of Zen) is asked by a monk to copy a mysterious sutra which when finished has power over the dead, and he sets out to complete his task by travelling to a remote fortress where he believes he will be able to work in peace and quiet.

At the old fortress, he meets several characters, including a young girl (played by Hsu Feng, the heroine in many of Hu's films, including ToZ) who seduces him. However, ominous signs and portents all around (including the appearance of an enigmatic lama) seem to hint at imminent danger, and soon the scholar finds himself battling ghosts who are after the sutra.

All of the above unfolds over the course of two hours at a very slow pace, and in typical Hu style: There are lots of stunningly gorgeous nature shots (the film was shot in the mountains of South Korea, I think), and long sequences without dialog where Hu tells the story through images instead. Unlike ToZ, this is not a build-up to climactic fight sequences, however. There's no fighting in this movie (perhaps one reason this film seems to be regarded less?), and only one action setpiece towards the end that has a little bit of the typical trampoline shots, as well as some colored smoke and lighting effects.

The film works best in its attempts to create a haunting atmosphere, and does so very nicely, supported by lovingly composed and framed camera shots, as well as a traditional musical score. Compared to King Hu's work, so much of HK's movie output seems sloppy by comparison. LotM looks beautiful, and succeeds in creating some truly stunning moments. Unfortunately, the film is also let down by some weak acting. With the plot offering so little suspense due to its familiarity, it falls to the actors to hold the viewer's interest, and it is here that the film shows some weakness: the scholar simply doesn't have the screen presence to carry this movie, and Hsu Feng seems miscast as well. As an actress, she appears to have a somewhat limited range; she is good at portraying stoic, almost silent, intense characters, and while her intensity works well in some later scenes, she fails to convince in some of the earlier scenes when her character is meant to be perceived as an innocent girl who seduces the scholar. I was surprised, however, by the fact that Hu actually shows the sexual attraction between the two! It is too bad he does so in a half-hearted, timid fashion, though, immediately pulling back and once again cutting to nature shots to signal what is happening here. I'm not asking for a gratuitous sex scene, but the film could have benefitted here from some of the eroticism Tsui Hark created in movies like Green Snake.

The standout in the movie is a very young and charming Sylvia Chang. The scenes with her are among the best in the movie. And btw, until now I never noticed her striking resemblance to Shu Qi... (or was I imagining that?)

The story drags a little on occasion, and the resolution left me somewhat wanting, but overall I still found this a very worthwhile and pleasurable viewing experience, aided by Winson's decent presentation of this long unavailable film. The DVD is probably the best we can hope for with respect to watching a King Hu movie, given the state of film preservation in HK. The film is presented in the original aspect ratio, and the picture quality is acceptable. Some faded colors, lots of speckles in some scenes, but overall, it's not bad. The subtitles are optional (i.e. very readable) and well timed (unlike some other recent Winson discs), and the sound mix is good. I watched the movie with the Mandarin DD 5.1 remix (there's also a DD2.0 remix, as well as a Cantonese dub).

Let's hope this is the first of many King Hu rereleases...