In the past six months, Chinese horror movies have gone crazy.
There was "Crying Sorrow" before.
As soon as the resources came out, the whole network was frantic.
There is "The Spell" after that.
The resources have not yet come out, and the Douban score has been solidified at 8.0 points.
However, Uncle Yu noticed that many people were sighing.
Compared with these fierce horror films, we miss a "childhood shadow" - a Hong Kong zombie film.
A jumping zombie, an extraordinary Taoist.
The atmosphere may seem intimidating, but the theme is always warm.
However, these images seem to have been frozen twenty or thirty years ago.
Recently, there is a topic that has been very hotly discussed:
Why aren't Hong Kong zombie movies on fire?
Uncle Yu took this opportunity to review with everyone that the tide of Hong Kong zombie films ebbed and flowed.
The "zombie" in Hong Kong, China, is unique in the world.
It is different from the zombies in the West who suddenly run wild at every turn.
Nor is it like the psychic medium of Southeast Asia, full of primitive ghosts, hidden in untouchable darkness.
Zombies are real, standing in front of you, forcing you to breathe.
Most of them wore Qing Dynasty official uniforms.
The skin failed miserably and the circles of the eyes darkened.
Flocks of people jump at you.
Of course, there is no shortage of ways to deal with them.
Put a note on the door of your head and they will immediately obey.
Small raw sticky rice can also defend against zombies.
The most reassuring thing is that at every critical moment, there will be a Maoshan Daoist wearing a zodiac robe and holding a peach wood sword.
His presence always turned the tide.
Half a bowl of clear water shines on the dry, a spirit rune destiny ghost god.
And the origin of all this has to start from 1985.
That year, the psychic kung fu film "Mr. Zombie" came out.
It is the pioneering work of Hong Kong zombie films.
In "Mr. Zombie", Uncle Jiu, played by Lin Zhengying, is a Ghost Hunting Maoshan Taoist.
He was entrusted by the rich squire ren to move the grave of his deceased father.
After observing the cemetery, it was found that the body of Old Lady Ren had turned into a ferocious zombie.
Uncle Jiu also has two apprentices, Wencai (Xu Guanying) and Qiu Sheng (Qian Xiaohao).
These two people are not so much helpers as living treasures.
Literary talent is timid, kung fu is not good, always love to be lazy.
Bitten by a zombie, he almost turned into a zombie.
Qiu Sheng is poor and mischievous, agile but young and vigorous.
Always seduced by female ghosts
Uncle Nine had no choice but to display the housekeeping skills of the Maoshan Daoist.
While catching zombies, he also has to save his apprentices.
After 37 years of watching it again, this movie is still very novel.
It not only creates the terrifying atmosphere that a horror movie should have, but also has a lot of fierce fighting.
The gags of the two apprentices also made the audience laugh.
As it does in the Douban label, action/comedy.
Essentially, it is a derivative of Hong Kong kung fu films.
"Mr. Zombie" grossed more than HK$20 million at low cost, ranking in the top five of the year's box office.
It made the filmmakers overjoyed, and also set off a "zombie fever" in the Hong Kong film circle.
In the following years, Lin Zhengying alone directed or participated in more than 20 supernatural films, creating the "Hong Kong Zombie Cinema Universe".
The big and small video stores on the street are full of video tapes of zombie films.
In fact, "Mr. Zombie" is quite rough.
Looking back at these movies after more than thirty years, whether it is the costume road or the scene construction, it is quite simple.
However, the reason why Lin Zhengying's zombie film can attract audiences so much lies in his intentions.
Most of the details in the film are meticulous and vivid.
For example, whenever Uncle Nine needed to summon a ghost messenger, he would eat a bite of mud.
This stems from the folk saying that "ghosts eat mud" -
Only by eating mud can the living communicate with ghosts
Spells and gestures also have their origins.
Lin Zhengying spent a lot of time delving into the Taoist secret book "Ten Thousand Laws returning to the Sect" and finally formulated a standard action.
In addition, the props used in the exorcism method in the film, Lin Zhengying also strives to be perfect.
In "Exorcism Police", Lin Zhengying needs a Maoshan jade pendant when dealing with a Japanese female mage.
On one side is the Taoist spell edict, and on the other side is the yin and yang taiji of slaying demons and exorcising demons.
In fact, such a flash of footage, the audience will not care about the history.
However, Uncle Ying did not want to be confused.
He deliberately entrusted someone to borrow a jade pendant from a professional Taoist organization in the interior.
Relying on the strict control of details, Lin Zhengying's zombie film has conquered countless audiences.
What is even more valuable is that the connotation of these films is worth pondering repeatedly.
"Uncle Nine" has actually always wanted to tell the audience a truth:
Ghosts are not terrible, but terrible are still people.
Uncle Nine once had a line:
"People divide good people into bad people, and corpses divide zombie corpses." Man becomes a bad guy because he doesn't fight, and a corpse becomes a zombie because he breathes more."
Hong Kong zombie movies always break our stereotype of ghosts.
Let us see the other side of them, not all of them are heinous, but also emotional.
For example, the female ghost Xiaoyu in "Mr. Zombie".
Ben is a lone ghost, specifically asking for the life of a man.
Just because Qiusheng gave her incense, she fell in love with Qiusheng.
However, people and ghosts have different paths, and the two cannot be consummated in the end.
When Lin Zhengying was about to get rid of Xiaoyu, Qiu Sheng stood up and begged the master to let her go.
Lin Zhengying asked Xiao Yu not to look for Qiu Sheng in the future, and Xiao Yu did not appear again after that.
Ghostly and ruthless.
For the sake of Qiusheng's good, he can only let go of his lust.
The parting moment, accompanied by the interlude "Ghost Bride", is really uncomfortable.
"Her eyes, her eyes, are like the stars shining."
Years later, the song was used again in the opening credits of Mak Junlong's Zombies.
Qian Xiaohao, who has entered middle age, reappeared with a familiar song, which made people sigh endlessly.
The reason why Uncle Ying's zombie film has become a childhood memory of countless people is inseparable from his care for his childlike heart.
In "Zombie Family", the friendship between the little zombie and the little girl is very moving.
Adults are afraid of zombies and want to get rid of them.
But the little girl's idea was simple.
She has always wanted to bring warmth to the little zombie with friendship.
And when the little zombie was with her, she didn't have the ferocity of the zombie at all.
At that moment, he was just an ignorant child.
He still has emotions left.
When I saw Mom and Dad on TV, I would cry in tears.
Then later, when the big zombies arrived, the little zombies also tried their best to protect the little girl's family, and even danced their teeth and claws at their parents.
At the first meeting, the little girl took the initiative to shake the hand of the little zombie.
At the end of the film, the little girl resolutely pushed away her father's obstruction and took the initiative to hold the hand of the little zombie again
In "One Eyebrow Road Chief", Uncle Nine also domesticated a pet zombie.
Feed him tomatoes and treat him with a brush. Warm and harmonious, playful and cute.
In 1995, Lim joined Asia Television in Hong Kong to produce the TV series Zombie Road Chief, which also followed the same theme.
It seems to be catching ghosts, but it is actually to save the moral hearts of people.
Unfortunately, this is the last highlight of Lin Zhengying's zombie film.
Even he himself did not realize that his life had begun to count down.
In 1997, Uncle Ying died of liver cancer.
He died on December 31, 2012 at the age of 4
Along with him, there was the glory days of Hong Kong zombie films.
Back to the question at the beginning, why aren't Hong Kong zombie movies on fire?
Some people say that genre films can never escape the law of prosperity and decline.
Just like Hong Kong films that are brilliant for a while, martial arts films, gangster movies, and police films.
The audience watched more, naturally tired.
Some people say that the audience's taste has changed.
In the past, Hong Kong people believed in gods and worshiped ghosts.
The retribution of good and evil is a concept engraved in the bones of that generation.
Even after the economic take-off, the ritual of sacrifice was never interrupted.
The buildings are lined with legends.
For example—
In a room that has been vacant for a long time, you must knock on the door before entering the house.
Before moving in, you must burn incense to send away the ghosts.
Together, these city atmospheres form Hong Kong's unique ghost culture.
However, as the new generation grows, modern life has become too clean.
It was too clean to tolerate cattle, ghosts and snake gods, clean enough to be transparent and withdrawn.
The neon lights of the city are still strange, but there is no reverence.
This must also be an important reason for the decline of zombie films
But Uncle Yu feels that in the final analysis, the quality has declined.
In 1985, "Mr. Zombie" exploded.
In just five years, more than 100 zombie films were shot in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
At its peak, 17 zombie movies were filmed at the same time.
"On the set of the wilderness ridge, countless large and small zombies jumped around"
However, there are many people who shoot, but few can do Lin Zhengying's intentions.
In order to make money, the scenes are shoddily made and the script is perfunctory.
Feelings become business, and it is difficult for the audience to buy it again.
In fact, as early as 1989, Hong Kong's traditional Maoshan zombie films had a rotten street trend.
Lin Zhengying has also actively sought change.
Hong Kong has always been a focal point for the fusion of Chinese and Western cultures, and Lin Zhengying has also tried to draw inspiration from Western elements.
In One Eyebrow Man, he fuses Western vampires with Eastern zombies.
The Taoist and Christians live in the same time and space.
The two chickens talk with the ducks, and collide with countless laughs.
The traditional Maoshan technique and the entanglement of Western zombies are also refreshing.
"One Eyebrow Man" eventually succeeded in winning tens of millions of box office.
Lin Zhengying's eclecticism has injected the last vitality into the zombie film under the river.
Unfortunately, after Uncle Ying, there was no innovation.
Only follow-up imitation remains.
Until the final enthusiasm of the audience is squeezed dry.
What is even more regrettable is the mess on the ground after the withdrawal of capital.
China's Zhiwei culture has a history of thousands of years and has also had a profound impact on neighboring countries.
Most of the prototypes of Japanese ghosts and yokai are derived from classical Chinese culture.
Japan has set up a special set up ghost research, yokai science, etc., they also have a special yokai literature creation, the content of the work is bold and diverse.
In contrast, in China, some are just flipped cold rice and lack innovation.
In retrospect, the last time a Hong Kong zombie film returned to the public eye was in 2013.
Directed by Mai Junlong and starring Qian Xiaohao and Chen You, "Zombie".
In the film, Qian Xiaohao plays a veteran zombie film actor.
His figure has appeared in countless classic zombie films.
Today, his master (Lin Zhengying) and his brother -- and sister-in-law (Xu Guanying) have been dead for many years.
Depressed, he once wanted to hang himself.
This is the helplessness that stems from reality.
And the one who saved Qian Xiaohao was a Dao Chief (Chen You).
With the decline of Maoshan Daoist techniques, the bagua bells and spells in his home were useless.
But knowing that it was useless, he still placed it at home and carefully treasured it.
It's obsession.
And with the shaking camera, we can also see the memories of the glorious era of Hong Kong films.
Director Mak Junlong as a new generation of Hong Kong people, this is his untimely sigh.
The tide of the times will eventually fade, and it is inevitable.
It is not necessary to return to glory.
However, I hope that when I talk about it, I can leave a beautiful corner for it in my memory