Chao Pai-Chuan

Adapted from a Tang Dynasty fantasy tale, Sung Chuen-sau used the story of a scholar meeting a female ghost at night, but emphasised neither the killing nor horror but the literary and romantic elements. Scholar Chan (Shih Chun) stays in a remote mansion outside the city. People often fall into the mansion’s well for no apparent reason. Chan looks into it. Later, he sees the girl from the well, Susu (Brigitte Lin), waving to him. She begins to wait on him nightly. Susu was from a wealthy family, but was running away from bandits during wartime, and committed suicide by jumping into the well rather than be caught. After her death, her spirit was controlled by Du Long (Pai Lin). Du Long has forced her many times to harm Chan, but she never has the heart to carry it through. Chan’s pity for her soon becomes love. He goes into the well to retrieve an old bronze mirror, and eventually succeeds in freeing Susu. In the end, to rescue Chan, Susu fights with Du Long and they destroy each other.

HK crime film.

The Mermaid Princess of Dongting Lake had the misfortune of marrying ill, her husband being the depraved and tyrannical Prince of Jingchuan, who subjected her to relentless torment. By chance, she encountered the scholar Liu Yi, entrusting him with a blood-stained letter to seek aid from her father, the Dragon King. Ultimately rescued and returned to her maternal home, the Mermaid Princess and Liu Yi transcended the divide between mortal and immortal realms, uniting in a bond of true love.