With 'Ghost', Hollywood would seem to have discovered the ability of the dead to be big box-office, but film-makers in Hong Kong have been aware ofthis for far longer, and regularly produce interesting and exciting films.
The dead in Oriental mythology seem to be much like the living, andthere lies the problem. Because you can hardly distinguish between ghosts and real people, until the former start showing off their powers, it's very easy to make the mistake of, say, falling in love with a ghost and this can cause no end of difficulties. Breaking up with a vengeful girl is bad enough, but when she possesses supernatural powers capable of blowing holes in space and time, things are even more tricky. Cute female ghosts are only part of the population of the underworld. Rather less pleasant are the vampires, usually skilled in martial arts - no Bela Lugosi lookalikes these, they may be recognised by their hopping motion which may seem comic, at least until they start draining your blood...
Fortunately, humans are not defenceless and certain measure are effective: there are phrases which when spoken or written, can provide protection - in extreme cases, these may be written on the skin but great care must be taken to cover the whole body or you will suffer the fate of a character in 'Kwaidan', who neglected his ears and had them ripped off as aresult. Priests are also of use, though there is little similarity to their Occidental counterparts - these men of the cloth are just as likely to decapitate as exorcise, and are capable of hurling bolts of force from their fingers.
Of all the films of this genre to have come out of the Far East in recent years, one of the best is universally agreed to be 'A Chinese Ghost Story'.
If there's one thing that Hollywood and Hong Kong have in common, it's their belief in sequels, so it was no surprise to learn of the imminent arrival of: 'A Chinese Ghost Story 2'.