Year: 1979
Duration: 01:38:00
Directed by: Han Hsiang Li
Actors: Shen Chan, Hsi Chang, Wei-ying Cheng
Language: Mandarin | English subtitles
Country: Hong Kong
Also known as: Xiao hun yu (original title)
Description: In an asylum, three patients tell their ghost tales.
The first one tells of a husband and wife that don’t take caution on what they wish for.
The second tells of a naked female drowned that is now a ghost in search of revenge.
The third tells of a dead prostitute that can’t get eternal rest.
Even though “Return of the Dead” is a different proposition from many other Shaw disasters of the same duration, shying away from visual shocks in favour of scary atmospherics, it’s by no means a quaint watching experience, in part due to Li’s interesting choice to spice points up with the afore mentioned nudity. Whilst the first segment is a basic affair, the third and second take place within the darker realms of aberrant individual sexuality, dealing with betrayal and infidelity. The nakedness actually works well, giving an additional atmosphere of reality, and never ever threatens to push the movie into exploitation territory, a unusual feat indeed.
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