This is the third, and to date final, installment in the Chinese Ghost Story saga. I do not know if there are going to be any more made, but Des Mangan seems to think that by this one the story is being stretched at little thin. There is little that I can say about this one that I have not said about the other two, but I will talk about this movie nonetheless.Chinese Ghost Story 3 has a very similar plot to number one. At the end of number one, the tree demon was defeated but was laid to rest for 100 years. Now 100 years have passed and a new generation walks the earth. The characters have changed, but the tree demon is still there. She awakens, gets some more ghosts, and begins her terror anew. This in essence the plot returns to that of the first movie.The second movie digressed a lot because it dealt with a wider area and a greater evil, but Chinese Ghost Story was not really about ghosts. This movie returns to the ghosts, but there is a slight difference in the characters. In this movie, the main character is a Buddhist Monk traveling with his master. They find shelter in the temple and the master learns that there are demons about. While the master is out, a ghost comes into the monastery and attempts to seduce the young monk, but she fails as the monk has vowed to refrain from the pleasures of the world. The monk goes to kill the ghost, but decides to set her free. The ghost, Phoey, live a life, and death, or decadent slavery and prostitution. She had never know love or friendship, and is surprised when the monk shows this to her.The monk is similar. He never had a family and was brought up by the master to reject the world and focus on the spiritual. The monk is a bit of a bumbler and is constantly breaking things and getting him and others into trouble. The one thing is that he learns to love and to care of Phoey, and the conflicts between these two characters is what this movie focuses on.In essence, this movie does not let down on the Hong Kong action, nor does it let down on those cool effects, like people flying everywhere. My friend Joanne Chong, who also watches Hong Kong movies, says she doesn't like these dark movies with people flying around, but I personally think that they are great.

Chinese Ghost Story III is a totally superfluous sequel to two excellent fantasy films. The film delivers the spell-casting special effects that one can expect, but fails painfully on all other fronts. The actors all play extremely silly caricatures. You have to be still in diapers to find their slapstick humor even remotely funny. The plot is predictable, and the development is sometimes erratic and often slow. Towards the end, the movie begins to resemble old Godzilla films, including shabby larger-than-life special effects and a (well, yet another) ghost with a Godzilla head. Maybe I would have grinned if I was expecting camp.It is astonishing to see what trash fantasy fans have to put up with - in this case because somebody thought they could squeeze a little extra money out of a successful formula. They won't be able to do it again: the cash cow is now dead as a dodo.

The visuals and effects are up to par with the the original film and provide a lot of entertainment even if the storyline is essentially the same as the first two films. It also seems a lot more erotically charged than I remember the other films being. If you're a big fan of flying prehensile hair and tongues that can reach all the way down into your stomach, you'll like this film.

While essentially a remake of the original Chinese Ghost Story, this third installment has higher production values and greater subtlety in both the acting and the story. Tony Leung is particularly good. CGS III is a gorgeous, moving film.