Online Review: Rigor Mortis 殭屍 (DVD)

Rigor Mortis is a Jiangshi film directed by Juno Mak as a tribute to the 80s’ Jiangshi films. It narrates two stories – a past Jiangshi film actor Siu-ho, starred by Chin Siu-ho as himself, moved into an old public housing estate trying to commit suicide but failed; an old lady Aunt Mui bagged a Daoshi Gau to bring her just-died husband back to life where Gau made him to a Jiangshi. The two stories clashed as the Jiangshi was out of control and Siu-ho tried to defeat it with the help of Daoshi Yau. In the last part, the story went back to the beginning but Sui-ho did not interact with anyone and all residents are peaceful where Sui-ho finally died by suicide and no Jiangshi or heroic acts of him happened.

How the Genre is built? 

To construct the genre, Juno had added many symbols of the 80s Jiangshi genre, such as Daoshi, glutinous rice, Feng Shui compass, the symbolic theme song, even those actors who mainly starred in the 80s’ one. However, this is not a traditional Jiangshi film that it actually added lots of Western or Japanese horror elements, like the dark stressful atmosphere, costumes, make-up, sound effects, appearances of ghosts and exorcism comparing to the traditional one which is light and comedic. Juno actually made a mixed Jiangshi and horror film. He used the dark image of the estate as the setting that many Hongkongers would have listened ghost stories of old housing estates. He also used the fears of human that he turned a very nice aunt into a murderer and Jiangshi maker and also the fear of losing the old spouse. Finally, the film succeeded as it is not a simple Jiangshi film but an Asian vampire horror by adding many modern and humanistic elements.

 

Nostalgia of Hong Kong Films

The film actually showed the nostalgia of the golden period of Hong Kong films. The feeling of past and now is strong. Daoshi Yau emphasized Daoshi had a great relationship to grocery for rice but no more Daoshi or Jiangshi in his generation that he can only fry rice. The image of Daoshi was disgraceful compare with the 80s heroic one which is the Lam Ching-ying style. All symbols of Jiangshi films are useless, like the compass, wooden sword, Taoism books or the characters. Also, Siu-ho, a past famous Jiangshi film actor, had lost his family and glories faded. No one had called his name now, in the whole film. The only part which turned him into a heroic character again was just his imagination before death. Some symbols in the film are the memory of Hongkongers. People who have no understandings of the Jiangshi film or the actor’s background can only treat this as a Hong-Kong horror.

 

The characters, repeated saying that the estate has no more youngsters, only the elderly left, indicted the golden period and the vitality had gone. Those symbols and actors which are familiar to us are being represented as the abandoned in the society, just like the glories all gone in the present Hong Kong.

In conclusion, Juno had mixed the key elements of Jiangshi film with Western horror to fit the audience. He also used the symbols and actors of the 80s to show the sentiments of the past of Hong Kong movies.

(546 words) 

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Referemce:

向八十年代致敬 – 《殭屍》導演 麥浚龍專訪

http://www.post76.com/wordpress/?p=49965

《殭屍》導演分享會 - 問答環節https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6haF8ltzC7c

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Rigor Mortis (DVD version)

Director: Juno Mak

Producers: Juno Mak, Takashi Shimizu

Running Time: 101 mins

Release: Feb 2014

Starred: Chin Siu-ho, Kara Wai Ying-Hung, Paw Hee-Ching, Antony Chan Yau, Richard Ng Yiu-hon, Lo Hoi-pang, Chung Fat

Official trailer:

Student Name: Wong Sze Wing

Student Number: 10517856 / 21423772