In recent years, Chinese mainland films have flourished, from the "Hello, Lee Huan Ying" and "Detective Chinatown" series that show the level of commercialization, to the "Red Sea Operation" and "The Wandering Earth" that show the level of industrialization, and then to the animated films "The Devil Boy Descends", "Jiang Ziya" and "White Snake" series.
Moreover, only one of the top ten foreign films in the box office of Chinese films is "Avengers 4", and the rest are domestic, which also shows the great progress of Chinese films.
However, in all genre films: main theme films, romance films, science fiction films, xianxia films, costume films, criminal investigation films, Chinese films have been involved in the development,
There is only one kind of theme, which is caught in the "three noes" situation of not being easy to shoot, not good at the trial, and not good at the box office.
Yes, it's a horror movie.
European and American classic works include "The Shining", "Exorcist", "Death is Coming", "Texas Chainsaw Killer", "Chainsaw Horror", etc., creating one classic character after another, the main elements are violent perverted killers, thick plasma, zombie exorcism, fragmentation.
Japanese horror film classics include "Midnight Bell", "Ghost Call", "Curse", "Ghost Doll Hanako", etc., generally pay attention to the horror atmosphere, mostly with horror imagery, suspense, with lens, rhythm, light, makeup and soundtrack to create a sense of terror from the inside out.
In recent years, Horror films in South Korea have risen, mainly criticizing social reality, adding the core of social and family ethics stories, including classic works such as "Rose Red Lotus", "Kun Chi Yan", "Sopranos Strange Talk", "Pen Immortals" and so on.
Thai horror films are mostly based on religion, head downfall, witchcraft as the theme, including "Ghost Shadow", "Ghost Dormitory", "Demon Art", "Ghost Will Be Reflected", "Death's Crossroads" and so on.
So why have Chinese horror films, especially mainland horror films, not developed much?
In fact, Chinese horror films have had a golden age, in the 80s and 90s of the last century, there were many good works in mainland horror films, including "Midnight Song", "Lonely Soul of the Black House", "Murderous House Beauty Head", "Tomb of the Night Thief Zhenfei", "Fog is Vast", "Please Close Your Eyes When Dark" and so on.
Among them, "The Lonely Soul of the Black Building", released in 1989, is even more classic and quite "famous", which is the first stereo horror film film shot by mainland film and television people, and the first film in China to be marked as inappropriate for children.
It is said that "Lonely Soul in the Black House" was also scared to death when it was screened that year, so it was banned for more than twenty years. At present, the online version of the clip is nearly 20 minutes less than the original version of that year, so you can only imagine its pomp and circumstance.
Now it seems that the Douban score of these movies is above 7.0, which is better than more than 80% of horror films. It can be said that it was really the best time for mainland horror films.
However, this highlight moment was soon inherited by Hong Kong, Taiwan and other places, and in the 90s and 00s, Chinese horror films were carried forward, and classic works such as "Yin yang road" series, "Mountain Village Old Corpse" series, "Three Changes" series, "Strange Talk Association", "Dragon Woman", "Double Pupil", "Heterogeneous Space", "Little Girl in Red" and so on were successively produced and released.
With the strengthening of the mainland film censorship system, the squeeze of Hollywood films such as "True Lies" and "Titanic", and the rise of New Year films such as "Party A and Party B", "Not Seen and Not Scattered", and "Big Bowl", under the double suppression of censorship and the market, mainland horror films have completely declined.
Mainland horror films are difficult to produce high-quality films, which has basically become the consensus of the audience. But haven't mainland horror films turned around at all?
Not really.
Several online horror movies released in recent days have indeed opened up new ideas and new situations for mainland horror films. Among them: "Huangmiao Village: Underground Palace Beauty", "The Legend of the Hunters of Xing'anling", "Water Monster 2: Black Wood Forest" and so on.
Drawing on the experience of mainland suspense criminal investigation dramas "Daytime Pursuit", "Undocumented Crime" and "Silent Truth" all rely on network broadcasting and explode into phenomenon-level dramas, network broadcasting may indeed be a way out and a solution for mainland horror film and television dramas.
And in the "Water Monster 2: Black Wood Forest" in these network universities, Yunfan believes that there has been some progress and breakthroughs, which is a clarion call and a symbol of the "revival" and "rise" of mainland horror films.
"Water Monster 2: Black Wood Forest" was broadcast on The Youku and iQiyi dual platforms on August 20, which is a completely independent new story compared to the previous work "Water Monster 1", but it follows the previous character "Aquatic", and the protagonist of this movie is his daughter.
Why does "Water Monster 2: BlackWood Forest" have made some progress and breakthroughs in the quality of horror films?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="40" > gold medal team + "ghost queen" heroine</h1>
"Water Monster 2: Black Wood Forest" is produced and directed by Xiang Qiuliang and Xiang Hesheng, written by Jian Shigeng, starring Wang Zhen'er, and special starring Han Dong.
In recent years, the Xiang brothers have focused on the shooting and production of online movies, including "Raid on the Tunnel War", "Qimen Dunjia", "Four Famous Catches" series, etc., of which "Water Monster 1" in 2019 was divided into 17.69 million box office in 20 days after its release, breaking the highest popularity of the network. It can be said that it is a famous producer and director of the University of The Internet.
Screenwriter Jian Shigeng is not small, and the "Little Girl in Red" series of horror movies he participated in the screenplay is one of the best works in recent years, "Little Girl in Red 2" won the box office champion in Taiwan Province, China, and the reputation is also good. Therefore, "Water Monster 2: Black Wood Forest" has a high quality guarantee in terms of production and plot.
The heroine of "Water Monster 2: Black Wood Forest" is played by Wang Zhen'er.
It can be said that Wang Zhen'er is one of the most suitable actresses in China to interpret horror films, she played the big villain Ah Wen in the popular web drama "Detective Chinatown", and her acting skills are delicate, especially the hidden and "ghost upper body" and other wonderful interpretations, which are called "ghost queens" by the audience.
Wang Zhen'er can actually be described as one of the domestic actresses with double online appearance and acting skills, and entered the show business circle in 2008 for starring in her first TV series "Peacock Blue". After that, he successively starred in drama films such as "Little Town Love", "The Method of Entertainment", "Chinese Partner", "Magic Escape", "Legend of Wu Meiniang", "Memory Master", "Shanghai Women's Illustrated Book", "Dear, Loved", "Wife's Choice" and other film and television dramas.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="31" > a strong atmosphere of terror</h1>
"Water Monster 2: Black Wood Forest" is about a female forensic doctor in the Republic of China, Qing Ling (Wang Zhen'er), who was adopted by a large family in Shanghai and grew up with her brother, although she repeatedly solved strange cases in the Shanghai patrol house, but her troubles are the mystery of her own life, and she often receives some inexplicable pendants and letters.
A letter from Shangshui Town kept her in nightmares. So his younger brother Jiahao (Han Dong) went to Shangshui Town to investigate, but he mysteriously disappeared.
The sister Qingling went to the cold and strange town of Shangshui to find her brother and found that the reason for his disappearance was related to the "water monkey". When the heroine investigated the "water monkey", she found that the people in the whole town talked about the "water monkey" discoloration, and even there were sacrifices and worships, and the villagers who regarded it as a god did not dare to offend it and offend it, even if they talked about it, it might bring disaster to themselves. Everywhere reveals a very eerie atmosphere.
The "curse" of the water monkey's revenge was tested one after another. Qingling then decided to carry a gun to brave the forbidden land of the water monster - the black wood forest...
Finally, when the heroine's memory is restored, she knows the truth of everything, but this truth is not simple, and it also makes her a little unacceptable........... It turns out that the "water monkey" is the heroine's brother! The reason for all this is actually the heroine herself!
This also corresponds to the words borrowed from the Diamond Sutra by Water Monster 2: The Black Wood Forest: "Everything that has a phase is illusory, and all phases are not phases, that is, they are seen as they are."
Everything that has a phase is illusory, and all phases are not phases, that is, seeing as they are- this is a fundamental principle of Buddhism, and the progress of "Water Monster 2: Black Wood Forest" also falls on Buddhism at the final point, which is thought-provoking.
Coupled with the fact that the previous "Water Monkey" is based on folklore, plus the whole film adopts cool tones, the crew costumes and camera language are very careful, creating a dark and low, full of horror atmosphere in Shangshui Town.
Therefore, "Water Monster 2: Black Wood Forest" is a mainland horror film with progressive and breakthrough significance, which also makes us have more expectations for the development and progress of mainland horror films in the future.