The Cinematheque

“High style, low comedy, classy special effects, rap renditions of Taoist poetry, and so on … but [with] new energy and confidence; sheerly as a ride on a ghost train, the sequel beats the original.”

Tony Rayns, Time Out

A Chinese Ghost Story II is a typical sequel: larger monsters, more supporting characters, and higher stakes. But amid all the ectoplasm, supernatural spells, and uncanny appearances, this is also a film where producer Tsui Hark and director Ching Siu-tung sharpen all the political subtext their action-horror-comedy film can muster. Abducted and imprisoned, the situation for Choi-san (Leslie Cheung) goes from bad to worse when he escapes to the site of the first Ghost Story: a haunted temple where factions—revolutionaries and imperial soldiers, not to mention giant bugs—gather to wage battle. Among their number is Windy, a battle-tested woman who clearly resembles the ghost from the first film (she’s likewise played by Joey Wong). A spectre of doubt extends beyond the couple to an allegorically hollowed-out Chinese government and a brainwashing High Monk. Wu Ma, as Swordsman Yin, nearly steals the show; Jacky Cheung’s theme song directly references the Tian’anmen Square Massacre.

In Cantonese with English subtitles