It's really bad; slightly better if charged by 80's HK standard. The major problem with this movie is that it's a Chinese Ghost Story wannabe. It came out within one year of that instant classic and looked like it was rushed to capitalize on the fad. I didn't even know this movie existed until one day I chanced upon a HK/Asian kung fu cinema site and found a 4 star (out of 4) review of this film. The reviewer praises everything about the movie, equating it on par with Chinese Ghost Story, especially the orchestral score, except the leads. I think he might have seen an import version of the movie because of all the bad things about this movie, the score was the worst! It wasn't orchestral, it was synthesizer music, very 80's, very cheesy, especially in a movie about ancient China. Horrid. The male lead, a singer of a pop/art rock band by trade, is cringe inducing. The big bad was played by an actress of high repute in her younger days and now reduced to putting on a kabuki mask making scary faces, so sad. It reminds me of Bette Davis with thick pancake makeup in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane but at least that was a classic and tour de force acting. Hers was anything but that. The dueling Tao monks for comic relief are annoying and just take up time. Don't bother with this and just stick w/ the Chinese Ghost Story trilogy.
Review of Golden Swallow
