When looking at the quartet of 88 Films Shaw Bros Blu's I had waiting to be played, this one stood out of the pack, thanks to it being the lone non-Action flick, which led to me meeting this goddess.

View on the film:

Whilst sadly not featuring any extras, 88 Films present a very good transfer, with the audio being clean, the English subtitles being well paced, and the image quality of the print being fittingly shiny.

Coming down from Heaven to give everyone a spoonful of sugar,Li Ching gives a magical performance as the Seventh Sister, thanks to Ching blending delivering the comedic dialogue in a cheeky, playful manner, with an intentional, wonderfully overripe expressiveness in the Melodrama of Seventh Sister discovering her former lover on Earth.

Landing on Earth with the Seventh Sister, the screenplay by writer/director Meng-Hua Ho conjures up a splendid seamless criss-crossing of genres, flowing from fish out of water fantasy Sit-Com gags and catchy Musical tunes over Seventh Sister feeling the flames of romance again, to the outstanding strange sight of Seventh Sister encouraging child labour and her laughing in the face of all the jumped-up politicians lusting for her.

Featuring a Musical number where the cast dress up as rabbits, director Ho & The Masked Avengers (1981-also reviewed) cinematographer Hui-Chi Tsao bounce the film along on a spellbinding atmosphere, which lays out the distinctive glossy Shaw Bros colours in whip-pans, glittering tracking shots down the streets of Hong Kong being lit up by magic, changes in film speed for slap-stick antics, and gorgeous close-ups on the beaming smile of the Seventh Sister, a real human goddess.

I have seen several of Meng-Hau Ho's films, and rather liked Black Magic (1975) and Black Magic 2 (1976) but this one is probably not as good and maybe aimed at children. The star Ching Lee (aka Li Ching) is pretty and certainly has charm but this is really hard to recommend and just about been falling me sleep, probably the best I can offer. The lovely lady made many films and one best note of, The New One-Armed Swordsman (1971).

'The Human Goddess' is a VERY guilty pleasure starring Shaw Brothers' "Baby Queen" Li Ching. Li Ching is the Seventh Sister, an angel who comes down from heaven to see what life in Hong Kong is like. In Hong Kong, she runs into Zili(Chin Feng), a reincarnated version of her deceased lover, Dong Yong. Zili, with help from cook Uncle Bull(the warm, portly Peng Peng), do their best to watch over homeless kids in an run-down orphanage. However, a heartless tycoon named Xu Caifa wants the land where the orphanage is and he's willing to go to extremes to get it. Armed with omnipotent powers, spirit, and help from her "celestial sisters", Seventh Sister works to defend Zili, Uncle Bull, and the orphans from Xu Caifa.

Scenes with nudity and some ribald, dyspeptic humor make 'Goddess' a questionable choice for children and prudent viewers, but this film still manages to be light-hearted and whimsical. Director Ho Meng Hua('The Flying Guillotine')does his best to hold the film together even though the film, at times, almost spins out of control like a broken merry-go-round. Li Ching is at the pinnacle of cuteness; she's almost like an HK Chinese Doris Day, to me, at least. 'The Human Goddess' does suffer from flaws such as overacting, stale puns, a dated 1970's look, etc., but it still manages to be a fun, enjoyable, and charming, albeit guilty pleasure.