
As it turned out China’s love of the yuan superseded their
love of oppression and not much changed in Hong Kong. Maybe a few more palms
had to be greased, but it was pretty much business as usual. The only thing is
that in spite of the movie industry staying “free” (ie still run by the triad),
for some reason the movies no longer had the spark of life that had made them
so appealing in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Because of this mundane slew of
generic product, several fair-weather film fans (such as myself) abandoned the
Hong Kong film in search of greener pastures. I think the final nail in the
coffin for me was Tsui Hark’s soulless, sappy remake of his own classic ZU
WARRIORS (1983/2001). The removal of action and crazy practical make up effects was substituted
with a saccharine love story that never got any deeper than Ekin Chang striking poses and flying around some primitive CG sky-scapes. This painful
experience led me to swear off HK movies, in particular those of Tsui Hark. Yet
somehow, 13 years later, I’ve been drawn back in. Not exactly jumping in with both feet, but
definitely jumping in.

After seeing no less
than three recent Tsui Hark movies that I actually enjoyed, in addition to the excellent grumpy old martial arts men pic GALLANTS (2010), I felt confident enough
to move on to the big buzz horror film RIGOR MORTIS (2013) from neophyte producer-director Juno Mak.
A has-been actor (Chin Siu-ho playing Chin Siu-ho) who has lost his
family and whose career has taken a nose-dive from the glory days of HK cinema,
finds himself destitute and alone. Forced by necessity to take up residence in
a public housing apartment complex, Chin decides that the only thing to do is
to take his own life. Before succeeding in hanging himself, his neighbor and
cook at the building’s dilapidated dining center, Yao (Anthony Chan,
permanently dressed in bathrobe, boxers and wifebeater) comes to the rescue.
His rescue comes exactly as the evil ghosts of a pair of twin sisters enter
his body. Fortunately the local priest of black magic, Gao (Fat Chung), also steps in to remove the evil spirits and lock them up in an armoire. Of course this isn't going to hold them long.
According to the aging residents, a man was tutoring a pair
of twins in that very apartment when he brutally rapes one, causing the other
to stab him to death with a pair of scissors. Both sisters commit suicide, and
naturally they still haunt the building. Most modern horror films would be
content to stop there, but this is just the beginning. The ghostly
horrors lead to the death of old man Tung (Richard Ng). Distraught by his death
and having nightmares that Tung will return, Auntie Mui (Nina Paw) stitches him
up and entrusts Gao to enact the rituals
that will prevent this. Of course, things quickly get ugly with some character twists that are unexpected to say the least.

Giving a great cast
of veteran actors eccentric roles to sink their teeth in to, Juno Mak creates a
dead-serious homage to MR. VAMPIRE (1983), ditching the slapstick comedy in favor of heavy gothic
atmosphere. The apartment building is as grey and bleak as the sky with sets
that look like they have genuinely been lived in for decades. Walls are smudged
and dirty and clutter is everywhere. The residents have accepted their lot,
eating glutinous rice every day in order to stave off the spirits, evil and
otherwise. In a great moment in the beginning of the film Yao insists on taking
a bowl of rice to a neighbor. When he is informed that she has been dead for
years, he exclaims “she still has to eat!” After setting down the rice bowl in
front of her door, he exhales smoke from his cigarette and you can see the
faint shape of a woman. It’s a very effective scene and makes it
clear that the superstitions of undeath, that the aging community accepts as a way of life, are real. In another scene Yau waxes philosophical about the ghosts in his apartment: “I have stayed here for
decades, but they have been here for more than a century. I’ll probably be
staying here when I die too. It makes sense to develop a good relationship beforehand.” Hard to argue that point.
Brother Yao, as it turns out, hails from a long line of
vampire hunters. For centuries his family has fought the undead, but these days
there isn’t much call for that sort of thing, as he says “What do vampire
hunters do when there are no more vampires? They cook.” This is the closest
that this film comes to comedy, a little dry humor in an otherwise utterly
serious film with pitch-perfect performances. Much like 2010s GALLANTS took
great pride in bringing aging stars back to life, so here does Mak. Yet instead
of having them play comedy, he gives them meaty roles to sink their teeth into
(sorry, had to go there). The scene where Auntie Mui is carrying on a
conversation with the deceased Uncle Tung before breaking down into tears is
surprisingly moving in this day and age of incredibly superficial melodrama.

The film boasts an incredible attention to detail, stylish cinematography, and it is unusual for a horror film these days to approach its subject matter without condescension or pretentiousness. Though all is not grimly perfect however. Screenwriters Philip Yung
and Leung Lai-yin work some fairly well-worn themes that are saved by superb
visuals and great performances, but worse than that, they opt for an ending that
will probably frustrate most viewers. That said, this is a film that really
caught me off guard with its old fashioned approach to horror and is definitely one of the best things I’ve seen out of
Hong Kong in a long time.
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