Sinnui yauman (1987)

Country of Origin: Hong Kong
Year of Production: 1987
Running Times: 92 mins (USA)     98 mins
Format: colour     35mm
Ratio: 1.85:1
Sound:

PRODUCTION
Production Companies: Cinema City Film Productions / Film Workshop Ltd
Executive Producer: Zhong Zheng
Producer: Hark Tsui
Assistant Producer: Qianqing Liu
Production Manager: Claudie Chung Chun
Production Coordinator: Cangxian Lin

SCRIPT
Script: Yuen Gai Chi
Novel: Songling Pu

DIRECTION
Director: Ching Siu-Tung
Assistant Director: Shaolin Shi

PHOTOGRAPHY
Directors of Photography: Yongheng Huang, Tom Lau Moon-Tong, Sander Lee, Jiaogao Li, Putang Liu, Hang-Sang Poon, Wing-Hung Wong
Camera Operators: Shijie Huang, Zhiwei Huang, Zinian Liang, Zhenhua Ruan

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: David Wu
Post Production Supervisor: Gouzhong Zhou

MUSIC
Music: Romeo Díaz, James Wong

SOUND
Sound: Dawei Hu, Cheng Xiaolong, Qun Xue

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: Renming Wen
Costume Designer: Gufang Chen, Huiying He

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: New Vision

VISUAL EFFECTS
Effects Photography: Dai Zhang

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Zhongwen Xi
Art Director: Chung Man Yee

STUNTS
Action Directors: Ching Siu-Tung, Alan Chui Chung San, Jin Guo, Zhilong Hu, Zhihao Liu, Phillip Kwok Soo, Lau Chi Ho, Wu Chi-Lung, Zhongxin Xu

CAST
Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing (Ling Choi San)
Joey Wong Cho-Yin (Lip Siu Sin)
Ma Wu (Yin Chek Hsia)
David Wu Dai-Wai
Jin Jiang
Wai Lam (Hsia-hou)
Siu-Ming Lau (Tree Devil)
Jing Wang
Zhilun Xue (Ching)
Chiang Kam

PLOT SUMMARY

Tax collector Ning Tsai-Shen arrives in a small town and finds that no-one wants to give him a room for the night. He's forced to seek shelter in the haunted Lan Ro temple where he meets the Taoist swordsman Yen Che-Hsia and the beautiful Nieh Hsiao-Tsing. But Hsiao-Tsing is a ghost, trapped by an evil tree, and Ning Tsai-Shen, who has fallen in love with her, must battle supernatural forces to free her soul.

A glorious martial arts / supernatural hybrid which, along with the films of John Woo, helped to break Hong Kong movies in the west. Technically, the film is breathtaking - tightly edited and ingeniously shot, the martial arts sequences are stunning - and the performances are wonderful. Endlessly inventive and constantly surprising, Sinnui yauman is a classic of its kind, one that holds up as well today as when it was first released.

France
Theatrical Distributors: Capital Cinéma

Hong Kong
Theatrical Distributor: Golden Princess Film Production

Spain
Theatrical Distributor: Manga Films S.L.

USA
Video Distributor: Facets Multimedia Distribution
DVD Distributor: Megastar Pictures Corp (MS/DVD/007/98)

Argentina
Rating: 16

Finland
Rating: K-16

Spain
Rating: T

Sweden
Rating: 15

UK
Rating: 15

USA
Rating: unrated

West Germany
Rating: 16

1988
Fantafestival
Best Direction (Siu-Tung Ching) - winner

Fantasporto, Portugal
International Fantasy Film Award Best Film (Siu-Tung Ching) - winner

Hong Kong Film Awards, Hong Kong
Best Art Direction (Chung Man Yee) - winner
Best Original Film Score (Romeo Díaz, James Wong) - winner
Best Original Film Song (James Wong, Sally Yeh) - winner (for Lai Ming Bat Yiu Loi (Daybreak Doesn't Arrive))
Best Action Choreography (Siu-Tung Ching, Jui Kwok, Chi-Ho Lau, Chung Shun Tsui, Chi Lung Wu) - nominated
Best Actress (Joey Wong) - nominated
Best Cinematography (Hang-Sang Poon, Ka Ko Lee, Moon-Tong Lau, Wing-Hung Wong) - nominated
Best Director (Siu-Tung Ching) - nominated
Best Film Editing - nominated
Best Original Film Song (James Wong) - nominated (for Do (Tao))
Best Original Film Song (James Wong, Leslie Cheung) - nominated (Sin Nui Yau Wan (Sien Female Ghost))
Best Picture (Hark Tsui) - nominated
Best Supporting Actor (Ma Wu) - nominated

1987
July
18: Hong Kong - theatrical release

August
12: Hong Kong - initial theatrical release ends

1988
February
Day Unknown: Portugal - shown at the Fantasporto Film Festival
27: UK - television broadcast (on BBC2)

June
26: Finland - theatrical release

July
17: Sweden - theatrical release

1996
December
6: UK - theatrical re-release

1997
January
27: UK - video release

1998
May
26: USA - DVD release (Megastar Pictures Corp (MS/DVD/007/98))

2001
December
20: Germany - DVD release (One World Media (OW-DVD 5072))

Aavesoturi - Finnish title
A Chinese Ghost Story - English language title
Histoire de fantômes chinois - French title
Una historia china de fantasmas - Spanish title
Histoires de fantômes chinois - French title
Historias chinas de fantasmas - Argentinian video title
I demonernas våld - Swedish title
Qian nu youhun
Storia di fantasmi cinesi - Italian title
Verführung aus dem Reich der Toten - German title

SEQUELS
Sinnui yauman II (1990)
Sinnui yauman III: Do Do Do (1991)

REMAKE
Xiao Qian (1997)

SEE ALSO
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Duli shidai (1994)
The Evil Dead (1982)
Gam yin ji (1988)
The Witches of Eastwick (1987)

MAGAZINES

Cinefantastique vol.19 no.4 (May 1989) pp.50-51 (USA)
illustrated credits, review (by Dan Persons)

City Limits no.329 (21 January 1988) p.25 (UK)
review (by Kim Newman)

Empire no.175 (January 2004) p.195 (UK)
illustrated DVD review

Film Review January 1997 p.18 (UK)
Review (by Ian Calcutt)

Films in Review vol.40 no.1 (January 1989) pp.27-28 (USA)
review (New Directors, New Films Part II by Richard Greenbaum)

Hollywood Reporter vol.313 no.22 (18 July 1990) pp.5, 12
credits, review (by Henry Sheehan)

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.55 no.650 (March 1988) pp.88-89 (UK)
credits, synopsis, review

Positif no.335 (January 1989) pp.60-61 (France)
illustrated credits, review

Screen International no.636 (23 January 1988) p.21 (UK)
review

Starburst no.223 (March 1997) p.59 (UK)
review (by David Bassom)

Time Out no.909 (20 January 1988) p.33 (UK)
review (by Tony Rayns)

Variety 2 September 1987 p.16 (USA)
credits, review (by Mel)

NEWSPAPERS

Svenska Dagbladet 17 July 1992 (Sweden) - np
Review (Specialeffekterna bäst by Hans Schiller

book into film, ghosts, magic, martial arts, monsters, sword fights, temples, tongues, trees, wolves, zombies