''The Ghost Tales'' (Chinese: 變羊記) is a 2012

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

ese

psychological horror film Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre frequently overlaps with the related subgen ...

directed by Tso Shih-chiang.

Plot

Sung Ting-Po (Tsai Chen-nan) is a debt-ridden businessperson. Just as he is planning to go deep into the woods to kill himself, he runs into a ghost (Wu Pong-fong). Ting-Po has long already given up on life and decides to mess with the ghost, who is actually quite timid and turns into a goat. The goat is then picked up by A-chuan (River Huang), himself a talented gardening enthusiast, who has just left the military and takes both his younger sister (Lee Yi-chieh) and the goat to live in a dilapidated block of flats. At this time, through his gardening connections, A-chuan is staging a performance with a former schoolmate (James Wen). A-chuan covets a precious bonsai arrangement valued at over a million NTD, and he gradually loses all rational perspective; even his girlfriend (Lorene Ren) leaves him. Within all of this, the situation envelopes peoples' spirits as things continuously spiral out of control, and the darkness and fear devour all sense of reason.

Cast

River Huang River Huang (; born November 13, 1989) is a Taiwanese actor. He is the first actor signed by the director Yee Chin-yen. At age 18, Huang won the Best Actor award at the Golden Bell Awards for his debut role in ''Dangerous Mind'', making him the ...

as A-chuan *

Lorene Ren Lorene Jen (; born 22 November 1988), previously known as Kirsten Jen, is a Taiwanese actress, model and singer. Her surname is sometimes spelled as Jen. She is the younger sister of Taiwanese girl group S.H.E member Selina Jen. Jen graduated f ...

as Lo Fen *

Lee Yi-chieh Lee Yi-chieh (; born 1992) is a Taiwanese actress. Lee appeared in ' (2010) as Laichun. She won a best newcomer award at the 2011 Chinese Film Media Awards for her work in that film. Lee was Ximin, a college student, in ' (2018). Lee's character i ...

as Chi *

Wu Pong-fong Wu Pong-fong (; 2 November 1964 – 25 May 2020) was a Taiwanese actor and choreographer. Wu was born on 2 November 1964. His father was from Zhao'an County in Fujian. His parents married in 1950 and divorced when Wu was eight years old. He li ...

as Big Chung / Ghost *

Tsai Chen-nan Tsai Chen-nan (; born 26 July 1954) is a Taiwanese actor and singer. Tsai was invited by the Hsinkang Foundation of Culture and Education to perform in Xingang, Chiayi, by the organization founder Chen Chin-huang, who sought to mitigate the eff ...

as Sung Ting-Po *

James Wen James Wen (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Vûn Sin-hò''; born 22 February 1978) is a Taiwanese actor, former reporter and model. He is known for his supporting performance in Taiwanese drama ''My Queen'', for which he received one of his four Golden Bell ...

as Senior schoolmate * Julianne Chu * Nelson Shen as Ching

Production

Tso Shih-chiang reported coming up with the initial concept for the story 10 years before filming began. The film received the largest film subsidy possible in 2011, and filming began in July of the same year.

Release

The film premiered at

Yuan Ze University Yuan Ze University (YZU; ) is a private university located in Taoyuan City, Taiwan. Established in 1989, YZU campus is in Zhongli District, Taoyuan; Taipei; and Bade District, Taoyuan. Yuan Ze has five colleges, Engineering (accredited by IEET), ...

on 10 August 2012 as part of the 'National Roaming Battalion of Literature and Art' festival () before release on 7 September.

References

External links

* – official site * 2012 horror films Taiwanese horror films 2012 films Taiwanese supernatural horror films Taiwanese ghost films {{2010s-horror-film-stub