Painted Skin (1992 film)

Painted Skin 畫皮之陰陽法王
Theatrical poster
Directed by	King Hu
Written by	King Hu Ah Cheng
Starring	Adam Cheng Joey Wong Sammo Hung Lam Ching-ying
Production company	New Treasurer Films
Distributed by	Mandarin Films Distribution Co. Ltd.
Release dates	September 1992 (1992-09) (Tokyo International Film Festival) 18 September 1993 (1993-09-18) (Hong Kong)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Cantonese
Box office	HK $1,315,857

Painted Skin
Traditional Chinese	畫皮之陰陽法王
Simplified Chinese	画皮之阴阳法王
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Huàpí zhī Yīnyáng Fǎwáng Yue: Cantonese Jyutping waak6 pei4 zi1 jam1 joeng4 faat3 wong4

Painted Skin (Chinese: 畫皮之陰陽法王) is a 1992 Hong Kong supernatural horror film starring Adam Cheng, Joey Wong, Sammo Hung, Lam Ching Ying, and Wu Ma. It was directed by King Hu.

It is based, very loosely, on a famous story in Pu Songling's classic short story collection Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio.

Story

A scholar encounters a beautiful maiden in an alley on his way home and leads her to his house, where he tries to marry her as a concubine. By chance, his wife and he discover that she is in fact a ghost, who must "paint" and graft a facial skin mask over her face to look human. Terrified, the scholar enlists the help of two Taoist priests, who give him a magic whisk to keep the ghost at bay. However, it appears that the ghost is benign – she merely wants to escape the clutches of an evil Yin-Yang King, a faceless, powerful spirit-king who shuttles at ease between the mortal world and the spirit, and who seems to be controlling the destinies of some recently deceased souls.

The two Taoist priests battle the King to release the ghost, but realize their magical prowess is not sufficient. Instead, they use the ghost to track down a highly skilled Taoist Master in the countryside. Meanwhile, the Yin-Yang King has possessed the scholar and is wreaking havoc in the mortal plane. The priests finally discover and convince the Taoist Master, who decides to destroy the evil spirit-king so as to guide the ghost back to Hades.

Cast

• Adam Cheng
• Joey Wong
• Sammo Hung
• Lam Ching-ying
• Wu Ma
• Lau Shun

Production

Painted Skin was the last film directed by King Hu.^[1] Its filming locations included Mount Wutai, Ming tombs, and Huairou.^[1][2]

Reception

The film was released in the Tokyo International Film Festival in September 1992,^[3] and in Hong Kong in September 1993, and the box office was HK $1,315,857.^[4] It received generally mixed to negative reviews when it was released in Hong Kong,^[2][5][6] and also received some positive reviews in 2020.^[1][7]

References

1. "一部被香港人低估的"聊斋片"，胡金铨最后的扛鼎之作". 163.com (in Simplified Chinese). 22 October 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
2. "《画皮》：女鬼重现". sohu.com (in Simplified Chinese). 8 January 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
3. "胡金铨口述自传出版：《侠女》对白为什么那么少". thepaper.cn (in Simplified Chinese). 3 October 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
4. "Painted Skin (1993)". Hong Kong Movie DataBase. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
5. "首位获戛纳国际大奖的华人导演". sohu.com (in Simplified Chinese). 23 December 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
6. "独家评论：《画皮》四个版本比较 赵薇让人惊艳". sohu.com (in Simplified Chinese). 18 September 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
7. "28年前，有一部奇幻片精彩不输《倩女幽魂》，却被时代严重低估". 163.com (in Simplified Chinese). 6 September 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.

External links

• Painted Skin at IMDb
• Painted Skin Homepage at Sohu.com