Erotic Ghost Story Trilogy — Erotic Ghost Story Trilogy( Blu Ray boxset)
Here from 88 Films is a Blu-ray box set collecting together the three Erotic Ghost Story films- 1990 Hong Kong Cat III films, which blend softcore, fantasy and light horror elements. Each film gets its own disc, featuring a 2k scan, commentary tracks, and a few archive extras.
So firstly, on disc one we have Erotic Ghost Story (aka Liu Jai Yim Taam ) from 1990. It was directed by Hong Kong based Ngai Choi Lam between the early 80s and early 90s, he had thirteen features to his name. These went from gritty crime drama Men From Gutter (1983), oddball comedy/ horror The Ghost Snatchers (1986), and extreme gore-bound horror/ comedy Riki-Oh: The Story Of Riki (1990).
The period set film regards three elegantly dressed sisters who move into a rural area, and it’s clear from the off, they are not your normal humans, as early on one of them tricks a group of randy men- by creating a bevy of beauties- who turn into rotten and seeping eyes ‘n’ mouths corpses, another tidies up a room with a swish of hand, and another throws a group men into the air.
As the film unfolds, one of the sisters encounters a young/ timid scholar (Ha Chia Ling)- and slowly but surely each gets involved with him, first cleaning up & supplying him with food, threatening him with a sword, and ultimately all sleeping with him.
The sexual content moves from fairly glittering fantasy bound, to sweaty and sleazy, with one encounter featuring close-up shots of neatly trimmed female genitalia, which was quite surprising/ shocking for a Hong Kong film. Later on, we get some nicely demented multi-head demon effects, a face peeling, and a bit of gore.
Leading up the three sisters is a key name from the Category III genre- Amy Yip- who is joined by Hitomi Kudô, and So Man. The film does take a little time to get truly up & going, but as it gets into its stride, we get some very steamy encounters, with more horror-bound elements appearing in the last quarter. The film's title is somewhat misleading, as there are no real ghosts her maybe it was picked due to its mix of supernatural magic and flesh.
The disc features two versions of the film- Cantonese version [89 Mins] and the Extended Mandarin Version [95 Mins]
On this first disc, we find two new commentary tracks- one with Asian cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema, and one with film critic and author Samm Deighan- I played the second of these. Ms Deighan starts off talking about why she thinks the film is so much more than an erotic film- tying it into early Chinese Folk horror comedies. She discusses similar films, some with way more over-the-top effects. Later on, she talks about the female leads, and touches on the demonic folklore behind them. She discusses how Hong Kong softcore varies from its European counterparts and chats about the cast in general.
On the archive side, we get an episode of Celebrity Talk Show (47.56) which finds James Wong, Ni Kuang, and Chua Lam visit the set of Erotic Ghost Story and talk to the stars. And original trailers.
Next, we have on disc two Erotic Ghost Story II (aka Liu chai yim tam 2: Ng tung san)- this first sequel appeared a year after the first film, and the campy/fantastic elements are upped, with the horror elements being reduced/ barely there- aside from our big-haired pantomime villain.
It was directed by Hong Kong born Peter Nor- he has three other feature-length director credits to his name. These include in action crime thriller The Tragic Fantasy: Tiger of Wanchai (1994), students getting involved in drugs and prostitution crime drama Jian Dong Lao Ni Mei Zhi Si Da Tian Hou (1995), and crime action Legendary Couple (1995). Though he is most known for his cinematography, having forty-five credits to his name, and you can see it in this film, as it’s certainly well short.
Erotic Ghost Story II runs at one hour and thirty-eight minutes. And it’s fair to say it takes a little while to get going/ onto our lead characters. As we get five minutes of flesh-bound flash to the first film, with Mr Voice over reiterating the plot. Then we moved to a highly stylized/ theatrical introduction to our lead villain/ demon Wu-Tung(Anthony Chau-Sang Wong) who switches between moody big-hatted/braded-haired, and white face painted big-haired, purple Banda wearing with huge shoulder pads and a cape. With yet more explaining text from Mr Voice over, regarding battles & a bright purple light put into a just-born baby.
Finally, we get to meet our lead characters, who live in a large river-set village with a semi-period setting. There's a group of three just past their teen girls, a neatly bearded/toothy, smiling/ pretty boy fisherman and his tomboy sister.
The plot here is fairly thin and is used to lightly wrap around the fleshy encounters. Basically, Wu-Tung has set up a red strip & water pool bound cave- where he pleasures himself on virgins from the village.
As for the softcore porn side of things- this is very glossy/ camp- we move from kinky red wax-on-breast sessions, lots of shagging sessions involving bubbles- be it in white sheet swaying beds, or in large bunch of banana hung storage rooms. The most explicit/ prolonged session is a female-on-female session, which turns into a threesome with a large moustachioed man stepping in, with lots of sweaty, position-switching sex over various bamboo constructions.
There’s no doubt Erotic Ghost Story II is a colourful and highly campy affair- there are lots of flowing multi-colour sheets backdrops. Wu-Tung looks like he’s just stepped out of an OTT 80s hair metal band, and there are some romantic touches woven in. I guess it’s just ok- personally, it was just a bit too fantasy bound, with way too much 90’s softcore.
The disc takes in the original Cantonese version [98 Mins] and the shorter Mandarin Version [92 Mins].
On the new extras side, we find a commentary track from genre expert Frank Djeng. He begins by declaring this is his favourite of the three films. We find out it opened in Hong Kong on the 1st of January 1991- playing for two weeks, with a box office of eleven million HK dollars, ranking number twenty-five in the years' figures. He talks about how the film is deliriously stylized- doing everything a sequel should do- upping all its original elements. He talks about how the films pushed the edges of the country's censorship with the showing of close-up female genitalia. We find out that the score for the film was made up of mostly stock music, and how the whole thing often feels very theatrical in its presentation. He talks about how the film is clearly meant to be period set- though from time to time 90’s haircuts & dress sneaks in. Later on, he gives bios for actors as they appear, mentioning other notable pictures they are in. He points out moments of implied bestiality and necrophilia. And discusses when Buddhist elements appear in the film.
On the archive side there’s a making of (11.24) featuring Actor Anthony Wong, Scriptwriter Abe Kwong & Assistant Director Tenky Tin. An original trailer and stills gallery.
Lastly, on disc three, we have 1992’s Erotic Ghost Story III (aka Liu chai III: Dang Cho Wo Seung). The film sees the fantasy and martial arts elements pushed up, with some lengthy, often flame-lit softcore sex sessions.
The film was directed by Kai-Ming Lai- between the late 80’s and early 2000’s he had eighteen feature films to his name. These went from US action film parody- come- supernatural horror The Blue Jean Monster (1991), serial killer thriller The Peeping Tom (1997), and action-drama Boxer's Story (2004).
The picture runs around the hour and thirty-five-minute mark. It’s lead is swordsman Chu Chung(Tak-Bun Wong), who, when we first meet him, is on the run from a bar fight with his intended- it’s an arranged marriage, and either party is keen on the idea. They pair stumble across a series of rundown/ cobwebbed buildings- here they meet monk/ guardian Reverend Wick(Shing Fui-On)- who has been shrunk to the size of a mouse, and begs the pair to put him near the lantern he’s meant to be guarding. They place him back, and he returns to normal size- he’s a fairly quirky/ amusingly grumpy character, who adds some nice moments of humour to the film.
Anyway, Chu Chung goes wandering around the buildings- here he finds a dusty and cobweb-weaved painting of three women. One thing leads to another, and he walks into the painting- finding himself in a demon domain, first off, he has a lengthy (ten-minute plus) softcore encounter with one of the women from the painting, as her sisters get horny in another room & start lick/ caressing each other
Ruling the demon domain is a character everyone calls ‘granny’- who we find out later is a ten-thousand-year-old wolf demon. The middle-aged actress playing this part is one of the best things about the film, as she nicely hams it up in a pantomime baddie manner, though with some flesh and kink added into the mix.
The film mixes fantasy-based martial arts action, with lots of wrapping and flowing scarf-based fighting. There are big chunks of soft focus & flame-lit softcore- which, to be honest, are rather bland/ vanilla. And a general mix of fantasy, light comedy, with faint horror touches.
When we, finally, get into the demon domain, Erotic Ghost Story III is entertaining enough, though I’m afraid the addition of more martial arts action, and the overly lengthy soft-focused flesh-ness is a negative for me.
This disc takes in the original Cantonese version [96 Mins] and the shorter Mandarin Version [77 Mins] of the film.
We get a new commentary track from Frank Djeng for the film. He opens by talking about how it played in Hong Kong from 5th of March 1992- running for two weeks. It made 9.4 million HK dollars, charting at number forty in the year's box office. We find out, unlike the other two films, it has a proper period setting, the Tang Dynasty- he touches on the history of this time, and we find out there was a rather devastating eight-year war during the period. We find out all of the actors were dubbed in the film, and he touches on how the picture has decent sword fights & martial arts displays, unlike the other two films. We get a bio of actor Shing Fui-On- finding out he died of liver cancer in 2009. He talks about how the film is not a Ghost Story, but more of a supernatural fantasy. And we get a bio of our lead man. Later on, he points out the bit actors. He talks about how it was all shot in the Golden Harvest studios, suggesting this was done to stop disturbances from either Peeping Toms or the authorities in the sex scenes.
On the archive side for this disc, we get just an original trailer and stills gallery.
In finishing, I can’t say I was grabbed by any of the three films here- I think the issue is that there is way too much camp fantasy, and largely bland 90’s softcore for my liking. And not enough horror/ weird ‘n’ wacky moments. But I’d say if any of the above reviews make you curious/ you’ve seen the trailers, then go ahead and pick this set up. If I were to give a mark on the films alone, I’d say a two, but adding in the great 2 K scans and the excellent extras, I’ve pushed my mark up to three. So not for me, but it may well be for you!