In 2013, the horror film "Zombie" starring Qian Xiaohao, Zhong Fa and Hui Yinghong was released. In the case of Hong Kong ghost films being sluggish, the film finally won 15 million Hong Kong dollars, and entered the top ten of the box office of Hong Kong-made local films in 2013 (the box office came from Hong Kong, excluding imported films). And it was shortlisted to become the 70th Venice Film Festival, becoming the only Chinese film shortlisted. Although it did not win the final award, it still stood out under the siege of many blockbusters and was nominated. It can be said that this is the honor of Asian ghost films.
This film is a tribute to the old zombie films of the 1980s, and there are also many innovations. The director is Mak Junlong, and the producer is the famous Japanese ghost film director Shimizu Takashi (who has directed the classic ghost film "The Grudge")
Although the nationalities of the directors are different, there is no conflict in the plot, because Shimizu Chong is mainly responsible for the picture of the film, and Mak Junlong is in charge of the plot, so the picture is the classic style of Japanese ghost movies, and the plot is the classic plot of Hong Kong ghost movies . The two are combined into one.
The film mainly introduces that in the 1980s, action star Qian Xiaohao (played by Qian Xiaohao), an action star who was a hit with zombie movies, fell to the bottom of his career and life. After being trapped, he was rescued by a Taoist priest (played by Chen You), and later he was taken in by the apartment. Life gradually improved. I thought it would be smooth sailing, but there were unexpected clouds. Invited a Taoist priest to ask him to invite her husband to come back from the underworld to see him. But under the control of the Taoist priest (played by Zhong Fa), his husband became the tool that the Taoist priest used to prolong his life. It turned out that the Taoist priest was about to die from cancer. Yin Qi is used to prolong life. And suppress him with a talisman to avoid turning into a zombie. But I never thought that because Aunt Mei missed his husband too much, she thought that as long as her husband could move, she would return to the world. He tore off the talisman and mask that suppressed his husband, and fed the zombies with the blood of the children, so his husband became a zombie. The child's mother went to him because she didn't know her child's death, but unexpectedly, she released the twins who had been suppressed in the cabinet earlier and had already become Specter, and the building became a haunted house. After learning that her child was killed by a zombie, the child's mother took up the knife to fight the zombie, but was killed by the zombie after all. Qian Xiaohao also immediately came to the vicinity of the zombie and burned the zombie to death with torches. He thought everything was going according to his wishes, but at this time, the zombie who had already been burned to death was possessed by the twins who turned into ghosts, and stabbed Qian Xiaohao in the heart with an iron fork. In order to kill the zombie, Qian Xiaohao asked Taoist Chen You to prolong his life with Maoshan technique, and finally killed the zombie. But the ending immediately reversed. I thought this was the ending of zombies, but in the end, it was all just Qian Xiaohao's fantasy. Qian Xiaohao went to hang himself. A fantasy, the end of the final fantasy, to death. (Because the plot of the film is more complicated, the introduction may be messy, I hope everyone can be more tolerant)
The most regrettable thing about this film is that it was not released in the mainland. Once it is released, the box office is likely to reach more than 1 billion. This is also the reason why mainland films are not good. The censorship is too strict. Fortunately, the Hong Kong audience is strong and has not ignored this masterpiece.
In fact, through the great success of the movie "Zombie", it can be shown that when Asian ghost movies are serious, there is no such thing as European and American ghost movies. The elements of Asian ghost movies are far more than those of European and American ghost movies. Many excellent works, such as "Midnight Bell", "The Grudge", "Darkness", "Yin and Yang Road", "Mr. Zombie Series" and other excellent ghost films, are not inferior to the popular European and American ghost films "The Clown's Soul", which can be compared with "The Soul of the Clown". Classic ghost films like The Exorcist are in the ranks of excellent ghost films. But in fact, a movie like "The Exorcist" is not scary. There may be too many European and American religious cultures in it that we can't understand. But I think the most direct and the best looking is our Asian ghost culture. This is not my opinion alone. Many people around me who have watched ghost movies also love Asian ghost movies, especially Hong Kong ghost movies, because the culture in them is closely related to us, and people get chills after watching them, so In my opinion, if today’s Asian ghost films are to compete with European and American ghost films, they must show their own culture, so that it can not only meet the needs of Asians, but also provide a luxurious package for foreigners who love Asian culture. However, due to the censorship system, these ghost films cannot be released in mainland China, so the export of Chinese ghost culture can only rely on Hong Kong, but in fact, as long as Hong Kong ghost films are serious, there will definitely be a market, because countries in Southeast Asia are deeply impressed by Hong Kong films , because they, like us mainlanders, have seen many Hong Kong films since childhood, so as long as the filming is good, someone will definitely pay for it. Now Asian ghost film teachers imitate European and American ghost films, which is a kind of joke. Therefore, if Asian ghost films want to stand out from the siege, they must grasp the output point of culture. "Zombie" is so successful because it has grasped the resonance point of culture.
Finally, I hope that the ghost movies in Hong Kong will get rid of the predicament as soon as possible, and make more ghost movies like "Mr. Break the monopoly of European and American ghost movies!
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