Enchantress, The (1984)

People are mysteriously dying at a picturesque location known as Moonlit Sky. A young swordsman (Max Mok) investigates, only to discover a beautiful zither player and her master, a vengeful ghost intent on destroying the martial world. Spiritual men and gods alike unite to stop this demon.

The Enchantress is Shaw Brothers’ answer to Tsui Hark’s Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain. Seemingly based on the tales that would inspire Tsui’s A Chinese Ghost Story, it features lovers caught up in an epic supernatural battle between a powerful ghost and spiritual leaders in the martial world who call upon the aid of gods. SB’s otherworldly sets filled with colored smoke and wire-assisted stunt work are in place, as are modest special effects and comedy hijinks.

Max Mok is the dashing young swordsman Feng Xiwu who arrives at a beautiful, but deadly location known as Moonlit Sky to investigate rumors of deaths and disappearances there. He comes to the defense of a beautiful young woman (Mary Jean Reimer Lau) playing a zither who warns him to leave. He refuses and is soon at the mercy of the girl’s mother, a woman long dead who haunts the place. She and her companions that included a group of Japanese samurai were all slain by Chinese swordsmen eighteen years ago. The ghost swore an oath of vengeance against the martial world and her Chinese husband, swordsman Lan Tianyu (Lau Wing), who betrayed her. When her daughter helps Xiwu to escape and come into the care of a Taoist priest (Lo Lieh), the ghost begins her assault on the martial world to destroy the descendants of those who wronged her. Tianyu unites with the Taoist priest and Shaolin monks to battle the ghost, but her power is too great and a spiritual master known as Purple Robe (Yueh Hua) is called upon, along with seven gods. Xiwu, Tianyu and the gods follow the ghost into the netherworld to put an end to her curse.

The Enchantress has a bit of everything. It’s a swordplay movie first, but one dominated by ghosts and gods. Mild humor is tossed in by way of two bungling monks and an equally squirrelly Taoist apprentice. There is a mild love affair with young stars Max Mok teamed with Mary Jean Reimer, who married martial arts moviemaker Lau Kar-leung the same year. Veteran stars Yueh Hua and Lo Lieh essentially play elder ghostbusters. Swordplay star Norman Chu (Duel to the Death) is present with sword in hand. Last but not least is action director Yuen Wah who has a small role and oversees a plethora of sword fighting and wire work along with fellow stuntman Yuen Bun and Wong Pau-gei. All of this takes place in some of SB’s most imaginative sets where stage fog and colored lighting fills nearly every scene.

Director Chor Yuen, well known for helming some of SB’s greatest swordplay films over the years, manipulates studio resources to the fullest in order to create an eye-catching fantasy adventure, but it just cannot match Tsui Hark’s outrageous Zu. Where Tsui was able to draw on his experience in America and the aid of Hollywood special effects technicians, Chor Yuen is stuck with a talented, but creatively tapped out art direction team who rely too much on smoke, fans and gaudy lighting. That said, there is still some clever use of pyrotechnics, wires and drawn-in animation.

No amount of smoke or special effects can mask the action, which is all nicely put together. Characters leap through the air, twirl about with swords in hand and battle fiercely. On more than one occasion, creative effects and strong choreography come together to create fantastic scenes. At one point, a swordsman (Goo Goon-chung) is confronted by the ghost who possesses his wife and son with tragic results as he finds his own skill turned against him. The best sword fight scene overall is between Norman Chu and two possessed opponents, Goo Goon-chung and Venoms star Phillip Kwok, who makes an extended cameo. The scene takes place in a swampy set where Chu is confronted by his former colleagues and the ghost who now controls them. It reaches a frenzied climax as Chu spars with the ghost on a bamboo raft floating several feet above the murky water.

The Enchantress is a wild mix of swords and the supernatural, held back only by the creative limitations of a movie studio in decline. It’s very consistent with the style of Chor Yuen’s more conventional swordplay films of the past and holds up well in that regard. However, it simply cannot match the efforts of Tsui Hark and action master Ching Siu-tung who reinvented the Chinese fantasy genre with A Chinese Ghost Story three years later.