A Chinese Ghost Story

A young tax collector named Ling Choi-san loses his account books in a rainstorm and is left with no money and nowhere to stay. He takes shelter in an abandoned temple in a forest, where he meets a beautiful woman, Lip Siu Sin. He falls for her, not realizing she is a ghost bound to serve a sinister tree demon that uses her to lure men to their deaths. When the demon learns of their feelings for each other, Ling turns to a Daoist swordsman, Yin Chek-ha, for help, and the two confront the demon and the forces of the underworld.

Directed by Tony Ching Siu-Tung, this 1987 Hong Kong action fantasy was the first of the thirteen films he has directed, followed by Swordsman in 1990. Tsui Hark produced, Kai-Chi Yuen wrote the screenplay, and the cast includes Leslie Cheung, Joey Wong, Wu Ma, Lau Siu-Ming, David Lam Wai and Fanny Sit Chi-Lun. The film was made for about one million dollars and runs 95 minutes. On IMDb it holds a 7.4 rating from roughly 13,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 7.3 from about 350 votes. A critics' rating of 7.8 from ten reviews places it close to the audience scores.