Erotic Ghost Story III (1992)

Having run the course of the Wu Tung legend over the first two films, Diagonal Pictures and journeyman director Ivan Lai took the series off in a different direction for the third film in the trilogy. Although hampered by a lower budget than the first two films, Lai's addition to the mythos more than makes up in outrageous invention what it lacks in fiscal grounding. As an added bonus, Erotic Ghost Story III benefits phenomenally from the presence of the stunning (and then sweet seventeen) Pauline Chan. What could have been a disaster, turns out quite a pleasant surprise.

Chu Chung (Cheung), a scholar, and Su-Su (Chik), his fiancée, are travelers through Ching Dynasty China. An altercation at a roadside tavern with swag of sleazy bandits sees them sidetracked off the beaten path through uncharted terrain into a (rumoured) haunted part of the countryside. Happening across a tumbledown monastery, they chance a meeting with the Reverend Wick (Shing), albeit the size of a thumb. Reconstituting himself, Wick bunks down with Chu and Su-su for the night. In his wanderings, Chu discovers an aging portrait of three fairies in the ruins, that seemingly winks to him from beyond. Don't know about you, but even if a portrait (that did look like Ms. Chan) came to life, I'd be high tailing it out of there!

Captivated by the portrait (actually a portal to Hell), Chu calls on the conjuring skills of Wick to supplant him through the looking glass for a night of pleasure with the glorious Yan Yi Meng (Chan). Begrudgingly, Wick accepts under the proviso Chu returns within 24 hours. However, once he has bedded his silken beauty (prompting a line almost as classic as "Saturday Night Fever's" "what was your name again?", Chu becomes ensnared in a plot by the Queen of Hell (Otomo) to break free of her parchment prison to enslave the mortal world. Ah, the price of a one night stand these days…

Lai takes us off into new territory in the third installment of the trilogy, still offering three fairies (the Chinese equivalent of ghostly spirits), but substituting the demon Wu Tung with an altogether more devilish successor in Otomo's demoness. As a quick aside, "Hell" in Chinese culture is not the Hell of Western culture, more a nameless limbo-like purgatory where spirits reside awaiting their chance to reincarnate so that they may ascend to Heaven. Lai does however layer his cinematic Hell with Western imagery, replete with heady orgies, imprisoned souls, whippings, and rival deities served up for cannibalistic feasts. He also trowels on the soft-core couplings to balance out his more exploitative elements, prerequisite they are luscious, soft-focus and lengthy. Although a far cry from the exquisite beauty of the second film, it is not without its merits (the prime of these being the striking Pauline Chan).



Erotic Ghost Story (1987)
Erotic Ghost Story II (1991)

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