Three tales, two lovers, one monk who teaches wall-hacking—1969 Hong Kong horror gets weird.
Three tales taken from author Pu Songling's collection of famous classical ghost stories. Wu Qiuyue- Wang Ding falls in love with a ghost and fights with the guards of Hades to bring her back. Monk Lu Shan-A monk takes Wang Qi as pupil and teaches him the act of walking through walls. A Woman's Head- Li Sheng marries Rui niang only to discover that she is a headless ghost.
Practical Effects
Headless ghost reveal is gloriously unsettling low-budget magic.
Cinematography
Shadow-drenched Hades sequences evoke classic Chinese opera.
Writing
Pu Songling's source material elevates every segment.
Director
Tang Huang
Tin Ching
Wang Ding (segment "The Revival of Wu Chiu Yueh")
Maggie Lee
Wu Chiu Yueh (segment "The Revival of Wu Chiu Yueh")
Leung Yui
(segment "The Revival of Wu Chiu Yueh")
Doreen Chien Rong-Rong
(segment "A Lesson of Supernatural Art")
Steve Chan Ho
(segment "A Lesson of Supernatural Art")
Wong Sam
(segment "A Lesson of Supernatural Art")
Leung Sing Poh
(segment "A Lesson of Supernatural Art")
Kong San
(segment "The Head of a Beauty")
Sunny Fang Kang
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Pu Songling's 18th-century 'Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio' has been adapted over 70 times; this obscure 1969 version preserves the original's blend of romance and moral ambiguity often sanitized in later retellings.
Director Tang Huang was primarily a comedy specialist at Shaw Brothers; this rare horror detour borrowed technicians from the studio's wuxia unit for the Hades battle sequences.
HK
