NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Btexxamar I like Black Panther, but I didn't like this movie.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Derek Childs (totalovrdose) If your ideal fantasy genre contains unrelenting action and adventure, Painted Skin may not be the title for you. But, if you're looking for a beautiful dramatic romance, that is as poetic as it is entertaining, you will not be disappointed.Written in an intelligently mature fashion, and performed with emotional poignancy, Painted Skin is quite unlike its American contrasts, with stories of battlers fought for love occasionally becoming lost in bloody violence and nudity. This Chinese feature delivers a tasteful approach, that sacrifices in your face thrills and excitement, for a gripping character driven tale of unrequited romance.General Sheng returns home with his army after defeating barbarians infringing on his borders, bringing a beautiful young woman he rescued with him. His wife is immediately suspicious of the young woman, and becomes more so when her former paramour, Yong, a soldier turned nomad, returns to the city at the same time as gorgeous demon hunter, Xia, both firmly believing the woman is not who she claims.There is, without a doubt, more to the mysterious woman, Xiao, than meets the eye, though any accusations are rendered preposterous in the eyes of those who appreciate her. With suspicion and paranoia mounting, Yong and Xia begin investigating, only to find themselves in the middle of a battle, plagued by conspiracy, jealously, betrayal and lust.Although there are a number of astounding action sequences, Painted Skin is more of a cat and mouse thriller, with many of the fights taking place in conversations, where one character is always trying to outwit the other. At its heart, the film reveals that no sacrifice is too great when you love someone, both the script and the actors capturing the emotion perfectly, from the beauty of romance, to the grueling pain of loss.Unlike in other films, where demons are purely villainous antagonists, Painted Skin makes demons and humans alike sympathetic characters, with breakable hearts, and many a vulnerability, the seductive storyline between man and demon being similar to the fourth Hellraiser. With this in mind, though a sex scene is apparent, nothing is ever seen, the tasteful directional style presenting the audience with all of the passion, but not at the expense of the actor's privacy.With outstanding special effects that draw you further into the plot, alongside a soundtrack that mirrors the turmoil and romance exhibited in the film, Painted Skin is a perfect fantasy that you do not want to miss.

J_Charles It's not a horror movie although the concepts of having a demon that requires a steady diet of human hearts in order to keep it's fake skin looking fresh could be horrific if filmed the right way.It could be a love triangle story as it shows the internal conflict of a man who loves his wife dearly but is intrigued by the new young lady who's entered into his life.There's some interesting characters - Donnie Yen who's unrequited love comes back to request his assistance in solving the murder mysteries to which she has a prime suspect.There's the wife who's torn between fear of the demon, jealousy of her husband's attraction to the new lady in the house, and her complicated respect but not quite love for Donnie's character.In the end, it's not about the mystery of the killings as it is all readily shown on screen who is the demon, who is not. It's more an interesting play between characters and how they interact with each other and what the real meaning of love and sacrifice is. And yet, with the horror elements in play, you cannot really take the 'love-story' part of it all that seriously and in the end you're left confused over just what it is you watched.Undeniably the costumes, settings, and direction are all very well done. And at the end of it I was entertained, albeit a little confused.7/10

BronzeKeilani26 "Painted Skin" draws you in with it's recognizable list of performers (Vicki Zhao, Xun Zhao, Donnie Yen) and gives off an air of mystique with its movie posters and unique storyline. Loosely based on the classic Chinese short story "Strange Stories From A Chinese Studio, "Painted Skin" revolves around a female demon that feeds off of human hearts to retain its human like skin. The movie takes liberty to add several of its own plot twists, the major one being a Gothic love triangle of sorts with the demon's desire to win the heart of General Wang and take the place of his wife. Ending gets pretty emotional. There is no vampires in the movie and it isn't a gory horror flick. It's one of the best Asian flicks I seen! In other words, "Painted Skin" is light years better than "An Empress and the Warriors" and proudly untypical from the flood of Chinese epic period pieces we have seen this year. One of China's most versatile actresses, Zhou is good at switching between Xiao Wei's evil and goody-goody sides. The characters are quite engaging, the acting is solid, and the action is exciting. Better yet, the fighting scenes doesn't go on and on for a million light years as with most Asian films. The mood shifts, dancing around between drama, fantasy, demonic, and melodramatic romance. Very entertaining and mesmerizing! I couldn't get enough and started to watch it again and again. I'm glad I ignored bad reviews and took a chance on this! It's definitely not one to be missed by lovers of Asian films!

johno-21 I recently saw this at the 2009 Palm Springs International Film Festival. I didn't know quite what to expect of it but being Hong Kong's official entry to the 81st Acadmy Awards I thought it may be of some value. This film is adapted from the 300 year old classic ghost story of Song Ling Pu and is a combination of historical romance, supernatural and martial arts from director Gordon Chan who also wrote the screenplay along with Abe Kwong and Lau Ho Leung with action scenes directed by Wei Tung. Yong (Donnie Yen) is China's best warrior. His former love Peirong (Wei Zhao) is now married to Wang Sheng (Ken Chen) the commander of the armies. In a raid on desert bandits the beautiful Xiao Wei is taken into the armies custody and she takes a liking to Wang Sheng but Peirong stands in her way. Mysterious grizzly deaths start happening and soon Xia-Bing (Betty Sun) a tough female hunter of demons shows up. Xiao Yi (David Leong) is the mysterious supernatural companion to the beautiful but deadly Xiao Wei. This is an entertaining story and makes for a great debut film for director Chan. Great cinematography from Arthur Wong and a great visual setting from the art department of art director bill Liv and production designer Chung Man Yee. A co-production of Hong Kong with China and Singapore it's a little drawn out but worth seeing. I would give it a 7.5 and recommend it.