Erotic Ghost Story III

A restless wanderer crosses paths with a monk who practices uncanny magic and becomes drawn to a mural that depicts sensuous, animated dancers. Compelled to step into the painting itself, the wanderer discovers the painted world is real and that the women in the mural are trapped behind brushstrokes. As he works to figure out why the mural was created and who benefits from the imprisonment, alliances and betrayals begin to surface. The film keeps its supernatural premise front and center while mixing erotic moments with folkloric horror, and the protagonist tests different strategies to free the women while facing the monk's ambiguous motives and otherworldly obstacles.

Released in 1992, Erotic Ghost Story III was directed by Ivan Lai Kai-Ming and credits Gaap Yuen-Ya as creator. The picture continues the Cantonese erotic-horror cycle and stars Pauline Chan Bo-Lin, Shing Fui-On, and Kenny Wong among its principal cast.

Comprehensive box office records for this title are scarce. As a Category III era Hong Kong release it largely screened in local and regional venues and did not secure wide international distribution. Publicly available sources do not list notable global grosses, suggesting a modest commercial footprint outside dedicated genre audiences.

Critical and audience responses are mixed, reflected in a small user rating near 5.48 out of 10 from limited votes. Commentators often point to the film's mood and visual ideas over tight plotting, and it thematically centers on erotic desire, questions of agency and objectification, and the uneasy overlap of spirituality and exploitation within a supernatural framework.

While not a mainstream hit, the film helped sustain the Erotic Ghost Story series' reputation and tapped into 1990s Hong Kong interest in supernatural erotica. It maintains a modest cult following among collectors and fans of Category III cinema, who note the mural conceit and several atmospheric set pieces as memorable features of the subgenre.