| The Buddhist Spell | |
| Native Name: | 菩薩戒 |
| Director: | Chao Lu-chiang |
| Starring: | Sharla Cheung Wu Ma |
| Runtime: | 94 minutes |
| Country: | Taiwan |
| Language: | Mandarin |
The Buddhist Spell (Taiwanese: 菩薩戒, Romanized: Pu ti you hun) is a 1993 Taiwanese fantasy film directed by Chao Lu-chiang and starring Sharla Cheung.
Shen is assaulted by the local magistrate and attacks him with a knife in revenge but is stopped and beaten to death. Her revenge-seeking spirit fills a log that a scholar was planning to carve into a Buddha idol.
The review website sogoodreviews.com wrote, "A perfectly adequate time cut out of the A Chinese Ghost Story-mold (Wu Ma co-stars as well!) with an unusually good sense when it comes to mixing the moods.[1] Unusual because The Buddhist Spell doesn't bring in comedy a whole lot. The freaky sights of the Blood Kid slowly being born throughout the movie plus skilled wirework- and animated effects (complemented by fine editing) are driving forces for a standard time with 90s Hong Kong cinema. The core romance isn't particularly noteworthy though but no one makes an ass out of him or herself here."[2]
Reviewer Andrew Pragasam of thespinningimage.co.uk gave the film a score of 5 out of 10 stars, writing, "Many Hong Kong fantasies do a remarkable job interweaving seemingly disparate tones (sometimes even genres). Here however the doggedly downbeat plot and undeniably delirious horror imagery sit uneasily besides tedious time-wasting comedy and a romance that proves more depressing than enchanting."[3]