cmovie: Painted Skin (1993)
Not to be confused with the 2008 version with Zhao Wei, Sun Li, Donnie Yen, and Zhou Kun.
It is, however, based on the same Liao Zhai story (though all 3 versions of the story that I've seen have had very different plots), and so I couldn't help comparing them quite a bit.
This one is way less wuxia and more of a straightforward ghost story, with the scholar hero meeting a beautiful girl in an alley and bringing her home (not knowing that she's a ghost with a horrible natural form who puts on a painted mask every day) much to his wife's consternation. And there are taoist monks and an evil spirit king. The ghost is played by Joey Wong, who is very subdued and serious throughout. It was quite odd not seeing her seductively lolling about and tempting men to abandon their chastity/vows.
It's a good ghost story, but I much prefer the 2008 version. Not because it's shiny and new (well, aesthetics is a factor, but 90s Hong Kong has its special brand of pretty and lushness too) , but because there's more with the women, less with the men, and I don't recall there being any rape in it. (Also, much as I love Joey Wong, she's the only cast member I have much of an opinion of, whereas I am quite fond of most of the main cast in the 2008 version.)
It is, however, based on the same Liao Zhai story (though all 3 versions of the story that I've seen have had very different plots), and so I couldn't help comparing them quite a bit.
This one is way less wuxia and more of a straightforward ghost story, with the scholar hero meeting a beautiful girl in an alley and bringing her home (not knowing that she's a ghost with a horrible natural form who puts on a painted mask every day) much to his wife's consternation. And there are taoist monks and an evil spirit king. The ghost is played by Joey Wong, who is very subdued and serious throughout. It was quite odd not seeing her seductively lolling about and tempting men to abandon their chastity/vows.
It's a good ghost story, but I much prefer the 2008 version. Not because it's shiny and new (well, aesthetics is a factor, but 90s Hong Kong has its special brand of pretty and lushness too) , but because there's more with the women, less with the men, and I don't recall there being any rape in it. (Also, much as I love Joey Wong, she's the only cast member I have much of an opinion of, whereas I am quite fond of most of the main cast in the 2008 version.)