Chinese Erotic Ghost Story

Title: Chinese Erotic Ghost Story
Original Title: Yuk lui liu chai
Genre: Comedy, Exploitation
Rating: 2.5/5
Starring: Ben Ko Chu, Chun Chung, Siu Wan Hung
Director: Kin-Nam Cho
Language: Chinese

It's always a little tricky to think how these sort of films should be rated; from the title it's apparent that they aren't perhaps the most creative when it comes to titles, though if nothing else it certainly is an accurate one, with perhaps some mention of how batshit insane the bizarre events of the actual film are being the only thing missing. It all kicks off rather normally; Chu is introduced as the debt collector working for an asshole of a King with a beautiful mistress, two beautiful daughters and an even prettier wife, whilst he's stuck with a woman who sleeps 20 hours a day and spends the remaining four awake eating. Caught in the embrace of one of the King's daughters he's punished with the task of entering Satan's Temple and stealing the statue that resides there, only the statue isn't merely a statue but embodies the ghost of Judge Lu, keeper of the dead and master of manipulating stuff. Taking pity on Chu's life, he bestows upon him wealth, gives his wife a pure heart (which somehow means she can get her pretty behind back in the kitchen) and Chu the gift of wisdom, and most importantly, gives him Magic Dick. Magic Dick is a 13 inch long, 3 inch round flying penis, capable of pleasuring a woman a mile away (it can fly off) and will frequently converse with Chu on what he should do next. It's around this point that everything really kicks off.

There are always good points and bad to any film, and in this case the good ones are exceptionally good, surpassing all expectations only for the the bad to bring it all right back down again. The biggest problem is easily the fact that the subtitles are bloody awful. It seems quite apparent that they never really intended for this film to leave the country – exploitation flicks generally aren't well publicised until decades after their release and the biggest turds have risen to the top of the bowl for our enjoyment – and as a result a lot gets lost in the waves of typo's and non-sequitur responses, though admittedly after a while you become somewhat accustomed to the worst of it, and the humour is derived from the events and expressions more than anything else. The film clearly looks like it was constructed on a budget, evident from the set designs that would look more at home in a theatrical production and a picture quality that reminds me of the old VHS days, but really this only adds to much of the humour, and its this that is its strongest selling point.

The absolute hilarity of our clumsy oaf of a protagonist and his tiny penis trying to arouse his wife whilst she'd rather sleep or read a magazine, and asks him simply to finish and not wake him, not to mention the other antics they find themselves a part of; the glee in magic dick's face, played by a bald Chinese man if I forgot to mention that, as he gets his way with a woman, jumping up and down, screaming 'left left right right' as he struts his stuff, spitting out a load of man milk from his mouth when he's spent. There are also some messages of morality embedded in its wise words, from the classic 'be careful what you wish for,' and 'power corrupts' as the denouement starts to rear its head, as well as words no respectable film would dare suggest, like “once a whore always a whore.” The problem with all this is that humour is often derived from the events and as it continues, the joke of a giant talking penis that can fly, and all the trouble sleeping around can cause starts to wear thin, and by the half way mark the laughs have almost stopped completely leaving only the promise of more tits that keeps you going. Like 'Tampon Tango' and 'Hausu,' this is a work of true insanity, and despite all the good and the bad, is one of those few films that do what few dare. Or would ever think of for that matter.