lost-in-limbo
Those who have seen the beautifully crisp and considerably raunchy 'Erotic Ghost Story' will know what to expect from its sequel. Well kind of, as like most sequels it overdoes itself in every category. It's far sleazier, stranger and neurotic in its erotic fantasy. Is it better for it… well I liked it, but still prefer the original film.Wutung a sex demon returns in another body where he falls for the mortal girl Hsiao-yen, but heaven thinks otherwise with the girl being burned at the stake and her soul being incarnated in the just born Fang Yu-yin. Anger fills Wutung, and to stop this vengeance the town near his lair promise to offer him a virgin girl at the end of every month to become his sex slave. Ya-Yin is selected; however her lover rescues her from the clutches of Wutung. So Wutung sends his demon concubine to get her back, and to cause havoc on the village for the interference.Really it wasn't as captivating as I remembered it being, however it's a colorfully cheerful and playful mash that's hard not be infatuated by. Slow to get going (where it quickly caps off what happened in the first and sets the story in motion of the sex demon Wutung returning), but when it breaks out, it's stylishly crazy (the dwarf monk takes the cake) and frenetic verve comes to the party. There a real nice flow to the action with well positioned photography, and not forgetting its in-your-face comical horn-dog attitude and harmlessly goofy nature.Being risqué and low-brow it was heavy on the lusting sexual activities (some quite twisted while others rather hysterical), making up a lot of the alluring set-pieces in a choppy but meaty plot (which was a delusional love story at heart). There's nothing overly horrific or creepy about it, but a vibrantly realized atmosphere (despite some chintzy looking set-designs and hazy visuals with a washed-out look) holds colored details and supernatural currents. It's adequately staged by Peter Ngor's spirited direction and the use of stylized images (like the lesbian and underwater sex scenes). The jaggedly overstated score held succulent ooze with its soulful jazz cues, maybe a bit of place. The performances are held together rather finely. Anthony Wong goes all out as the demon Wutung, (with a pale white screwed-up face, feral mop hair and a rubber tail) and an innocently sweet May Law instating something enticing about her beautifully love struck glare. Lui Siu Kip holds plenty of charm as the heroine. Amy Yip (who appeared as one of the leads in the first) has only a small part here.
FieCrier
I didn't like this one as much as the first, but it was still OK. A number of the external reviewers found this movie to be superior to the first, while some found it to be a train wreck. I'd fall in closer with the latter, but it wasn't that bad.The movie starts with some clips from the first movie, recapping some of the events of that film. Wu-Tung, the demon sex god (or whatever he is) appears in another body, and takes up with a willing female partner. However, Heaven sends two "fairies" (what the subtitles called them: they're probably something else) to keep them apart by burning the woman at stake. They put her spirit into some kind of pill, and toss it out a window. The spirit pill lands on the shoulder of a baby girl being born.The girl grows up in a village that regularly sacrifices virgins to Wu-Tung. Wu-Tung, though now with a female counterpart of himself who growls and hisses about as much as he, is still looking for his lost love. It's inevitable that the girl will become slated to become one of the sacrifices.However, she has some attraction to a fisherman in her village. Some have called him handicapped, but I didn't pick up on that apart from his occasional too-wide goofy grin.There are a lot of colorful costumes in the movie, although Wu-Tung's get-up is pretty ridiculous. He has a giant white fright wig that must be three feet across at least, along with white face makeup, a metallic-looking phallic tail, huge shoulder pads, etc.: really silly. Some of the sets and outdoor locations are picturesque, while others are on the poor side. Cinematography was generally pretty good. Soundtrack was generally pretty bad, particularly the saxophone music.I enjoyed the little person Buddhist monk who can jump in the air, spin himself around and turn himself into a ball of fire. He could also shoot soul-fire-pearls. For me, much of the appeal was the peculiar foreignness of everything. It would be interesting to know more about the legends behind some of the characters, if in fact they were based in that.Apart from the presence of supernatural characters, the movie isn't particularly horrific. Some appendages do get cut, and Wu-Tung at one point splits one of his sex zombies (or whatever she is) in half and has his way with the lower half while the top complains she wants to be put back together since she can't feel anything anymore.I'd definitely recommend the first film over this one. Viewers who haven't seen Sinnui yauman (1987) AKA A Chinese Ghost Story, should also check out that one if they're not looking for a Category III film.
