A Chinese Ghost Story (Sien nui yau wan) (1987)

Name: A Chinese Ghost Story (Sien nui yau wan) (1987)
Duration: 1 h 38 min

1hr 38m

1hr 38m
3.8/5 (6.3K)
78%

A debt collector has no other choice than to spend the night in a haunted temple, where he encounters a female ghost, whom he falls in love with. To save her… More Details »

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Runtime:

1hr 38m

Synopsis

A debt collector has no other choice than to spend the night in a haunted temple, where he encounters a female ghost, whom he falls in love with. To save her soul he must work with a monk to defeat the tree demon who owns her spirit.

Letterboxd User Reviews

3.8

RATINGS 171 FANS

3.8

Jan 29, 2018

Damn this was good. A hopelessly romantic love story, an absolutely bonkers Evil Dead-inspired horror movie, a badass wuxia pian and a wacky Hong Kong comedy all rolled into one, and somehow none of them feel out of place. Wu Ma does a rap musical number in the middle of…

517 Likes

Tao A

Oct 18, 2025

Have you ever watched Sam Raimi's Evil Dead films and though to yourself, man those were great but I wish there was more.. martial arts, flying, zither, cute romance, long flowy fabric, endless tongues, and a rapping taoist priest? Well you're in luck... I had a blast…

372 Likes

Nemu

May 31, 2026

Van Helsing if it was good

351 Likes

Northernlion
Nov 20, 2020

73 Really dug this overall - its romance is lovely and the horror/fantasy is well-balanced - but what put it over the edge were the zombie skeletons. What a treat.

323 Likes

SilentDawn

Feb 9, 2023

Love is.. fighting a giant tongue-monster to save your undead crush from impending doom. 👅💥🤛🏻👻♥️ A Chinese Ghost Story was so much better than I expected it to be, and it was a lot funnier too! It is rightfully a cult classic.

249 Likes

Lou (rhymes with wow!)

Aug 10, 2020

Really just A Touch of Zen but done in the style of The Evil Dead. Which makes sense, given that both it and the King Hu movie are based on stories from the Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio collection. Tsui Hark and Ching Siu-tung's idolization of King Hu would become…

221 Likes

Sean Gilman
Mar 19, 2021

A fantastic mix of horror, comedy and romance! What A Chinese Ghost Story lacks in coherence, it more than makes up for with imagination and verve! The film begins with an atmospheric sequence in a haunted house, before moving onto a slapstick sword fight scene and that…

186 Likes

Slig001

Oct 23, 2025

I'm really grateful to @Nemu for a stellar recommendation, this is exactly what I needed. A Chinese Ghost Story surpassed my expectations in every way, as someone who grew up with Chinese films I'm ashamed i missed this gem. It's Evil Dead's mystical cousin dipped in wuxia…

168 Likes

AriseMac

Mar 23, 2021

Horror, comedy, and kung fu collide so hard it stops being a mashup and starts being a custody battle between fear, jokes, and violent choreography.

159 Likes

CinemaVoid 🏴‍☠️

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Queue Community Reviews

78%

Community 96

❤️ LOVE

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71%

😐 MEH

14%

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Top Reviews

Louis Bahouth is "meh" on

A Chinese Ghost Story

I see what they were trying to do and they did it really well, but it's just not for me

6M

Boomer Doomer loved

A Chinese Ghost Story

Awesome movie!

1M