Directors: (Tony) Ching Siu-Tung
Screenplay: Chui Jing-Hong
Based on a Novel by: Ba Jin
Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Yammie Lam Kit-Ying, Emily Chu Bo-Yee, Dick Wei, Ng Hong-Sang, Tang Tai-Wo
Country: Hong Kong
Running Time: 89 min
Year: 1986
BBFC Certificate: 15
Ching Siu-Tung (a.k.a. Tony Ching) is a director, action choreographer and sometime actor who’s helped produce some of the best Hong Kong genre movies. Two of my favourite films he directed came early in his career – Duel to the Death (1983) and A Chinese Ghost Story (1987). Both are hugely entertaining and visually stunning spectacles filled with wild set-pieces.
Between these two titles, however, Ching directed another, less successful film, Witch From Nepal (1986). Starring Chow Yun-Fat when he was in his ‘box office poison’ days (it wasn’t until A Better Tomorrow later in 1986 that he became a huge movie star), the film saw Ching experimenting with blending disparate genres, seemingly in preparation for the popular Chinese Ghost Story films that would follow.
Witch From Nepal is not a film that is talked about all that often, perhaps because of its poor performance at the box office, but the lure of Ching and Chow Yun-Fat was enough to prompt me to get hold of a copy of 88 Films’ forthcoming Blu-ray release of the film. My thoughts follow.
The film opens in Nepal, with a demon (Dick Wei) appearing and threatening to overthrow the leader of a religious tribe and take his power, which is stored in a special talisman. The leader manages to get away, with the help of a skilled tribesperson named Sheila (Emily Chu). She is told that the new leader of the tribe will arrive on an eagle and that she must pass the leader’s powers on through the talisman.
Meanwhile, during a holiday in Nepal, Joe Wong (Chow Yun-fat) and his girlfriend, Ida (Yammie Lam Kit-Ying), go on an elephant ride that takes an unexpected turn when Joe falls, knocking him out cold and injuring his knee. While recovering in a local hospital, Joe is plagued by visions of a captivating veiled woman possessing mystical abilities. Later, his leg becomes infected, necessitating a transfer to a hospital in Hong Kong. There, he encounters Sheila, who is the woman from his dreams.
Sheila miraculously heals Joe’s leg and bestows upon him the extraordinary powers her leader promised, including the ability to perform incredible leaps. Sheila reveals her identity as a witch and explains that Joe has been chosen to help her tribe defeat the demon that destroyed their temple.
As Joe and Sheila work together to develop the former’s skills, so that he can stop the demon, they begin a romantic affair, much to the disappointment of Ida.
As mentioned, you could see Witch From Nepal as being a developmental turning point for Ching, as it sees him experimenting with a different style that would lead to the wonderful Chinese Ghost Story, his next film as director. Sadly, it’s not as refined or as successful as that in blending romance, fantasy, horror and action, but it’s interesting to watch as a stepping stone. I’m also quite partial to these Hong Kong films that recklessly mash together styles and genres. You could call them messy or random, but it’s all part of the charm for me.
Whilst the film looks to be an Indiana Jones-inspired, globetrotting adventure, to begin with, it becomes a surprisingly low-key film about only a handful of characters as it moves on. The love triangle between Joe, Sheila and Ida, in particular, takes up a lot of time during the mid-section of the film.
This small-scale approach has charm, aided by likeable leads, but, personally, I could have done with a little more excitement, and Joe’s switching of romantic loyalties is quite clumsily handled. Thankfully, the final act is enjoyably bonkers, kicking off with a surprising zombie attack before ending with the predictable but gloriously over-the-top showdown between Joe and the demon (who only speaks in cat-like screeches).
Surprisingly, for a film that doesn’t contain a huge amount of fighting, Witch From Nepal won ‘Best Action Choreography’ at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 1987. It does have some inventive wirework and camera effects to provide the superhuman feats of its heroes and villains. However, I’m not sure it should have beaten out the action classics it was up against that year, including Royal Warriors, Righting Wrongs and Martial Arts of Shaolin.
The film looks great, as you’d expect from Ching. Great use is made of lighting to create mood and atmosphere. There are also some enjoyably old-school practical and optical special effects used.
Overall, Witch From Nepal has its charms and a couple of wild set-pieces to keep you on your toes, but it feels a little underbaked, on the whole. It’s certainly not as strong as Ching Siu-Tung’s more famous films that bookend it, but it’s still worth a watch.
Film: 
Witch From Nepal is out on 23rd June on region B Blu-Ray, released by 88 Films (pre-order it here). The print and transfer are impressive. It looks sharp and detailed, with rich colours. I’ve used screengrabs throughout this review to give you an idea of how it looks, though these have been compressed. There’s only a Cantonese audio track available but perhaps a dub was never made for this. The track sounded decent to me.
LIMITED EDITION FEATURES
– Brand-new 2025 2K Restoration from original camera negative
– High-Definition Blu-ray presentation in 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
– Original Cantonese Mono
– Audio Commentary by East Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
– Interview with Tony Rayns
– Trailer
– Stills Gallery
– Reversible sleeve with brand-new artwork from Sean Longmore & original Hong Kong poster artwork
Frank Djeng provides a commentary. As usual, he has a treasure trove of information about the production and its makers to share. He even teaches a little Nepalese history to help better appreciate the setting. He also explains why he thinks the film, despite its failure at the box office, could be deemed quite an important and influential title. It makes for essential listening.
Tony Rayns also talks about the film in an interview. He gives background on its director and star before going on to analyse the film. Interestingly, he talks about how he thinks it might be largely playing out in Joe’s mind. I’m not sure I’d go with that, as Ida is also involved with a lot of the happenings, but it’s an intriguing viewpoint.
So, 88 Films have put together a strong package for an otherwise largely forgotten film. It’s worth getting your hands on.
Disc/package: