a chinese ghost story star the late and great leslie cheung a ling choi sin and a penniless tax collector who decide to spend the night at a deserted temple and where he meet and fall for a beautiful woman call tsing ( joey wang ) . when ling discovers that tsing be actually a ghost who have be force to seduce victim for an evil tree spirit who feed on chi ( life force ) and he decide to try and free the girl by give her remains a proper burial . enlist the help of swordsman yin ( wu ma ) and a crazy taoist monk and ling successfully defeat the tree spirit and but must also do battle in hell against the evil lord black and to whom tsing be due to be wed. the first hong kong film that i saw which wasn not purely martial art action and a chinese ghost story open my eye to the incredible world of asian fantasy horror and a magical realm inhabit by beautiful female ghost and bumble innocent hero and sword wield taoist monk and monstrous spirit and and dark lord of the underworld while i instantly fell in love with the film exuberance and energy and humour and inventiveness and visual excellence . two decade later and and this amazing movie still remain one of the fine example of it genre that i have seena sumptuous and breathtaking masterpiece that brilliantly blend horror and comedy and fantasy and romance . with superb direction from siu tung ching and excellent edit from david wu and stunning cinematography and and a whole slew of imaginative special effect ( include a humongous killer tongue and a many tentacled monster and and multiple fly head . ) and a chinese ghost story be a completely unforgettable and thoroughly enjoyable experience from start to finish .