Painted Skin (1993)

A lost spirit (Joey Wong) trapped between Heaven and Hell comes under the protection of three Taoists as a demon possesses the body of a scholar (Adam Cheng) to return her to his nether realm.

An ensemble cast under legendary director King Hu offers a beautifully filmed ghost story where Taoist priests do battle with demons and the fate of one lost soul hangs in the balance.

Adam Cheng (Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain) stars as Wang Hsi Tzu, a scholar who prefers leisure to study. After a chance meeting in the street, he takes home a beautiful young concubine named You Feng (Joey Wong). She turns out to be a ghost hiding from a demon who had imprisoned her in a realm between Heaven and Hell. Hsi Tzu enlists the aid of two Taoists (played by Lau Shun and Wu Ma) to keep this spirit away, but the real threat is from the demon who possesses the body of Hsi Tzu in order to find Feng. Meanwhile, Feng has goes to the Taoists who agree to help free her. They begin a journey to find a legendary High Monk (Sammo Hung) who can help them defeat this demon. Although reluctant at first, The High Monk eventually joins them to battle the demon while attempting to save the body it inhabits.

As a writer and director, King Hu has a very classical style to his filmmaking that lends itself to the supernatural genre as evidenced in an earlier film entitled Legend of the Mountain (1979) which also deals with ghosts and the Taoists who do battle with them. In this 1993 release which was his last, Hu really solidifies his uncanny ability to frame poetic and lush scenes that create atmosphere without the wirework antics popular at the time. The use of earthy colored filters, wide outdoor shots and creative panning is expertly applied and lends the film an artful, visual polish rarely seen in a modern Kong Kong cinema that usually prefers manic handheld camerawork and over-saturated colors.

The film’s greatest asset is the visuals which often evoke a classical Chinese painting. Art direction is by James Leung Wah Sang whose notable credits include John Woo’s Bullet in the Head (1990) and Fong Sai Yuk II (1993). The costumes, colors and tone all maintain this look throughout, especially in unusual and memorable outdoor scenes set in places such as a wheat field.

Sadly, the acting fails to match the film’s look. Adam Cheng goes from being a sex-starved scholar to a pasty-faced ghoul and he’s never convincing as either. This presents a problem since the film’s villain is nothing more than demon with a ghoulish rubber mask until he takes over Cheng’s body. This is the only chance for the villain to really establish himself and its wasted. Without a love affair to struggle with as in Tsui Hark’s A Chinese Ghost Story (1987), Joey Wong’s character has no deep connection to any of the other characters. The Taoists who protect her do it simply out of moral obligation, or so it seems. Worst of all, Cheng as the scholar goes from treating her as a sex object to a fearful apparition. At the end, when Sammo Hung hands him a scroll with her picture on it, there is no meaning for Cheng. Sammo plays the only other major character and he looks great as an elder spiritual master, but doesn’t perform any kung fu per say.

Lam Ching Ying gets the only decent action scene in a cameo role as The Purple Taoist. The rest of the film favors a judicious sampling of pre-CGI and mostly pre-New Wave special effects, especially during a final bout between Sammo and Cheng that incorporates lots of colored smoke.

The title Painted Skin, refers to the painted human mask that Joey Wong wears while on earth, which she offers Sammo as she returns to her realm by bursting into flame. This ending and the rest of the film is actually quite depressing and not always for the right reasons. Without building or establishing any meaningful relationships, the characters’ actions are hollow. And without sufficient action or chills, this ghost story fails to scare up an engaging experience which is shame considering the talent involved.