Xiao hun yu

A spooky anthology from Shaw Brothers, Return of the Dead consists of three reasonably entertaining supernatural stories, as recounted by patients at a mental hospital. The trio of tales are suitably atmospheric and stylish, but falter at the final hurdle, each finishing in an abrupt and consequently unsatisfactory manner.

Story number one is a variation on the classic 'monkey's paw' story: the owners of a family-run bean curd factory receive an amulet (depicting three monkeys) that is said to grant three wishes to whoever possesses the trinket. As is usually the case in these circumstances, the wishes backfire, leading to death and misery (and a very abrupt ending).

Next up is a tale of revenge beyond the grave, as a female ghost (the very lovely Wei-Ying Chen, who is buck naked for most of the time) lures her deceitful lover to a watery fate (and another abrupt ending).

The last story is about a young rickshaw driver who gives a ride to a beautiful woman, who is a dead ringer for recently deceased prostitute Hun-yu (Linda Chu); the woman pays for the journey with a valuable pearl necklace. When he next encounters the woman, she talks the young man into selling his rickshaw and gambling the money at a casino, where he wins a fortune. The next day, the police arrive to question the young man about a pearl necklace stolen from Hun-yu's tomb; he tells them the story about the woman and takes them to the casino, which is now in ruins. In a confusing (and abrupt) ending, the money he won at the casino turns out to be fake.

The film closes with - you guessed it - an abrupt ending at the mental hospital that makes very little sense.

5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for the tasteless but funny scene in which graverobber Da-yan (Shen Chan) decides to have some sexy time with Hun-yu's corpse, which leads to the naked dead woman waking up and chasing the robber away.

RETURN OF THE DEAD (1979, original title Xiao hun yu) is a horror anthology by the Shaw Brothers studio, consisting of three half-hour tales told by the residents of a mental hospital. The first is a straight adaptation of the W. W. Jacobs classic THE MONKEY'S PAW, transplanted to Hong Kong; the second is about the ghost of a prostitute haunting a lake; the third has a prostitute returning from her grave to play foul with the living.

This is one of those films that starts out on a very strong footing. The great Ku Feng plays in the first story, which is one of the best filmed adaptations of the story out there and a perfect fit for Shaw. The second story features Yueh Hua and a half-decent story, but gets bogged down in nudity and silly FX later on. The third story is all over the place, the sub-plot with Chan Shen's graverobber being the best bit. The emphasis does seem to be on female nudity here so at times this feels more like one of Shaw's erotic comedies than a horror, and given the quality of their other fare I expected better.