In the 1980s and 1990s, Hong Kong was arguably the most "superstitious" city in Asia.
Here, feng shui masters wear suits and shoes and run their own "fortune-telling studios" in office buildings. On television programs, newspapers and magazines, there are also columns on "divine machine measurement" and "I Ching divination" in an endless stream.
Wrapped in such a living atmosphere, film works with horror, spirituality and ghost themes have also naturally stepped onto the big screen of Hong Kong films, becoming a popular theme for Hong Kong film directors to create.
Many famous Directors of Hong Kong films have laid the foundation for their career development by virtue of their outstanding performances in horror and ghost works.
Xu Ke, who led the wave of martial arts films, was known for his early years because of "Hell Without Doors", and the subsequent "Ghost of Qiannu" became a major turning point in Xu Ke's film career.
Director Hui Anhua, who is a soloist on the big screen of Hong Kong films, was also a good hand at fiddling with "horror themes" in his early years. The shadows left by "Crazy Robbery" and "Bumping into the Right" are still lingering in the hearts of many fans.
In the mid-1990s, Wang Jing, who was at the peak of her career, also created many film works with horror and ghost themes. In 1996, "Strange Talk Association", produced and written by Wang Jing, was an excellent horror genre work.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >01: Three weird talks of the "Weird Talk Society."</h1>
In order to save the magazine's market, the editor-in-chief sent female reporters to interview a mysterious organization called the Strange Talk Association.
The Odd Talk Association is so evil that no one knows what kind of organization they are. The outside world only knows that their way of joining is to tell a terrible, grotesque story, if they can get the approval of more than 90% of the old members, they can join.
Previously, there were also reporters who went to interview the "Strange Talk Association", but these interviewers later disappeared unexpectedly, which also made the "Strange Talk Association" more mysterious.
Under the arrangement of the editor-in-chief, the female reporter successfully came to the "Strange Talk Association". At this time, it was the election of the president of the "Strange Talk Association".
The election is a special way, candidates take turns telling a horror story, members score according to the excitement of the story, and the person with the highest score can become the next "president of the Weird Talk Association".
This time, there are three people running for president. The female reporter decided to cover the "live election" and observed the entire election process.
The first candidate was Ma Weihao, and the story he told was called "Fat Boss".
In an accounting firm, the small clerk "Ah Lang" (played by Zhang Daming) works hard and complains, but the fat manager "Ah Ding" (played by Gu Dezhao) is difficult for him.
Ah Lang and Ah Ding were originally college classmates, but their different personalities created different life situations for the two.
Ah Lang, who had been harassed and teased by Ah Ding for a long time, finally broke down in his heart.
One night, Ah Lang hid in Ah Ding's office, intending to take revenge on him. Ah Lang's plan of revenge did not succeed, but Ah Ding suffered a heart attack because of Ah Lang's scare and died in the elevator.
After Ah Ding's death, his superiors sent a female manager "MILL" (played by Li Zi).
MILL is beautiful in appearance and frequently shows kindness to Ah Lang. In the process of communication between the two, Ah Lang found that many of the habits on MILL were exactly the same as the dead Ah Ding.
On Alang's birthday, MILL told Alang a secret. MILL said that she and Ah Lang are old classmates and that she is fat.
Hearing this news, Ah Lang was scared out of a cold sweat, and he thought that Ah Ding, who was "dead", came back to mill and asked for his life.
Horrified, Ah Lang killed MILL with a knife. However, after the fact, Ah Lang found out that MILL was actually his female classmate "Fat Class Leader" in junior high school.
After the accident, Ah Lang was taken away by the "police".
On the prison cart, when Ah Lang was regretting his mistake, the souls of Ah Ding and MILL suddenly appeared and provoked Ah Lang in every way.
Whether it is Ah Lang who is nervous and "wrongly killed" MILL, or Ah Ding's ghost is not scattered, he comes back to ask for his life, the truth of the matter, I am afraid that only Ah Lang himself knows best in his heart.
As Ma Weihao finished telling the first story, the president told everyone that it was almost time for dinner. After the second candidate has finished telling the story, everyone can have dinner.
At this time, a waiter told the president that the chef was angry in the back kitchen because the ingredients were not fresh enough. Therefore, the president went to the back kitchen to communicate with the chef, and the scene was handed over to the second candidate, Qian Wenqi.
After Qian Wenqi stepped onto the podium, he told everyone a second story - "Four Unlike".
Apo and Amao's high school years were spent at a boys' boarding school, and after being admitted to college, their biggest wish was to fall in love.
The senior "Sanshang" is very fond of the new elementary school students. However, Apo and Ah Mao had long known about Sanshang's "eccentricity".
In a whole trick, the two will calculate the plan, but let the three Shang out of the ugly.
There is a statue called "Four Unlike" at the school, and Apo and Amao inadvertently touch the statue. San Shang tells the two that this statue will bring bad luck, but the two believe that this is the master's whole deception and do not care about it.
After touching the statue, Ah Mao had a lot of bad luck and encountered a lot of bad luck. However, Apo met peach blossom luck and met the girl "Lotus".
Lotus always meets at midnight, when Joabo meets at the lotus pond at school.
Apo didn't care about this, but Amao advised Apodo to be careful, because the school's lotus pond has always had a "haunted legend".
On this night, Apo rushed to the lotus pond again to meet the lotus. On the way, Apo passed by a speeding car, and the roses in his hands became messy and scattered because they were crushed by the wheels.
After arriving at the date, Apo gave the crushed rose to Lotus, and Lotus did not dislike it.
After the date, Apo returns to the dormitory, only to meet the school's school worker, "Old Lin". Old Lin told Apo not to walk around at night, in the herbarium of the medical school, there is a "female body specimen" that is haunted, often in the lotus pond area.
Old Lin's words aroused Apo's curiosity, and he ran to the specimen room to check. It turned out that the specimen was exactly the same as the lotus flower he had encountered, and the specimen was still holding a bouquet of roses that had been crushed by the wheel.
Seeing this, Apo was so frightened that he peed his pants. At this time, Sanshang appeared with a group of people and photographed Awa's appearance.
It turned out that there was no "female body specimen" at all, and all this was a trick designed by Sanshang.
When the crowd viewed Awa's photos of the outburst, it was found that Awa's images could not be displayed by the photos.
It turned out that before the car sped past, Awa had been killed in a car accident. The current Apo is just a soul that cannot be photographed by the camera.
After Qian Wenqi finished telling the second story, the waiters began to serve. The delicious barbecue feast made everyone present praise.
At this time, the third candidate, Ye Weimin, also stepped onto the podium and told the story he had prepared- "The Stand-in".
The girl Xiaomin (played by Yuan Yongyi) is an advertising model who lives in a big house with her boyfriend, because her boyfriend often travels on business, and the timid Xiaomin decides to rent out a room in the house and find a tenant as a companion.
While posting a rental advertisement, XiaoMin meets the bald priest "Old Xu" (played by Xu Jinjiang). Old Xu found that Xiao Min's appearance was not good, afraid that she was entangled in evil things, so he left her a contact information.
The girl "Aki" (played by Shu Qi) saw the rental advertisement and came to Xiao Min's home.
Aki and Xiaomin are very close, the two have nothing to talk about, Xiaomin also introduced Aki to the modeling agency for an interview. Over time, Xiao Min found that her friends often confused her with Aki.
One day, Xiao Min found out that her boyfriend was with Aki, so she thought that her boyfriend was empathetic and angry.
Unexpectedly, the boyfriend treats Xiaomin as Aki, and Aki as Xiaomin. Not only the boyfriend, but even Xiaomin's parents also regard Xiaomin as Aki and Aki as Xiaomin.
What's even more strange is that when Xiaomin took out her ID card, she found that the photo on her ID card was actually Aki.
And when Xiao Min looks in the mirror, the image seen in the mirror is also Aki. Xiao Min wanted to prove to the people around her that she was Xiao Min, and as a result, she was sent to a mental hospital as a "mental illness".
At night, Xiao Min escapes from the mental hospital, and on the way, she meets Aki. Aki tells Xiao Min that he is actually a lone ghost who cannot be reincarnated, and if he wants to be a human being again, he can only possess other people's lives by finding a substitute.
Aki said that after 12 o'clock tomorrow night, he will become the real Xiao Min, and Xiao Min will become a lone ghost.
Helpless Xiao Min thought of bald father Lao Xu. When she found Lao Xu, Lao Xu successfully recognized her as Xiao Min.
Xiao Min told Lao Xu about her experience. And Lao Xu also decided to use his mana to ambush Aki, the demon.
The next night, Xiao Min and Lao Xu came to find Ah Qi.
Aki saw that Xiao Min had brought helpers, so she locked Lao Xu out of the door, planning to kill Xiao Min in the house. In the fight, Xiao Min had the upper hand by virtue of her physical strength. At this time, Lao Xu also knocked on the door and came to help.
The moment Lao Xu entered the house, the 12 o'clock bell was about to ring.
At this time, Lao Xu, as if he had forgotten something, in turn helped Aki kill Xiao Min. At 12 o'clock, Aki becomes the real Xiaomin, and Xiaomin tearfully turns into a lone ghost.
At the end of the story, Xiao Min, who is transformed into a lone ghost, sees a rent advertisement, and she imitates Aki's original appearance and goes to rent.
After Ye Weimin finished telling the story, the crowd began to count the scores. At this time, the female reporter quietly left the scene and came to the back kitchen.
The female reporter found that the president came to the back kitchen at the end of the first story, and never appeared again.
In the back kitchen, the female reporter found that the president had been killed and turned into the "barbecue feast" that everyone tasted. Horrified, she plans to leave, but is caught by the fat cook.
Along with the screams of female journalists, this "Strange Talk Association" also came to an end.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >02: A story of segmented tandem</h1>
The plot structure of this "Strange Talk Society" is very clever, using a story to string together three unrelated story fragments.
Such a "segmented series" horror film creation method first appeared in Hollywood.
1982's "Ghost Show", 1983's "Yin and Yang Demon World", 1990's "Legend of the Demon Night" are all such forms of creation.
Although the plot design is to imitate the Hollywood model, in the performance of the story content, Wang Jing, Ma Weihao, Qian Wenkui, Ye Weimin, and Zou Kaiguang, who are the editors and directors, have given their own unique insights.
What is the greatest fear in people's hearts, ghosts and demons?
In fact, what people really fear in their hearts is "themselves". In this "Strange Talk Association", Wang Jing, Ye Weimin, Ma Weihao and others have made different forms of expressions on the theme of "self-fear".
In the movie, the three stories of "Fat Boss", "Four Different", and "Substitute" seem to be irrelevant, but the motif expressed in the story is all around the "self".
The first story, "Fat Boss", was written and directed by Ma Weihao, in which Ma Dao reflected on the "repressed self" in life.
In the story, Ah Lang, when faced with the humiliation of Ah Ding, chose to suppress himself in front of his self-esteem. After learning that Ah Ding died of a heart attack, he once again chose to suppress himself in the face of guilt.
The long-term suppression of self eventually leads to Ah Lang's insanity, which leads to the tragedy at the end of the story.
Behind the seemingly grotesque office legend is actually the fragile psychological defense zone for migrant workers under the pressure of great life.
The second story, "Four Unlike", is directed by Qian Wenqi and written by Zou Kaiguang, in which Qian and Zou discuss the "lost self" in life.
Student Apo was overwhelmed by beauty, he was hit by a car and did not know, still in the form of a soul to go on a date.
In life, we are faced with all kinds of temptations, fame, profit, power, wealth are easy to make people obsessed, and too obsessed with these things, will only make people lose themselves, and eventually like Apo, people are not like ghosts like ghosts.
The third story, "Substitute", is directed by Ye Weimin and written by Wang Jing, in which Wang Jing and Ye Weimin have a deep reflection on the theme of "losing themselves".
With the gradual loss of her own identity, Xiao Min's relatives and friends left one by one. The priest Lao Xu, who came to help, also changed from a friend to an enemy.
In our real life, nature will not be like the movie, the grotesque bridge section of "identity struggle". However, job changes and job replacements are very common scenarios for us.
When many people are in high positions, they are surrounded by a large number of fans, and after losing their status and fame, they are abandoned by those around them one by one.
Under the cold of the world, how many people like Father Xu observe the movement in the changing situation. It doesn't matter whether you are "Xiao min", who will eventually become "Xiao Min" is important.
The three groups of choreographers have also adopted different approaches to the language of the three stories.
In the first story, "Fat Boss", director Ma Weihao focuses on portraying the psychology of the characters. Through the psychological tension of the characters, as well as the real and illusory film shots, the horror atmosphere of the story is created.
In the second story, "Four Unlike", Qian Wenqi and Zou Kaiguang show a romantic plot of "campus people ghost love", but the atmosphere of the soundtrack and the unique use of the camera make the story sprout a burst of cold breath.
In the third story, "Substitute", Wang Jing and Ye Weimin adopt the technique of "suspense drives horror" to express the horror atmosphere of the story. As the truth of the story is peeled away layer by layer, the sense of fear gradually invades people's hearts.
At the end of the story, the abnormal behavior of Father Lao Xu is also extremely frightening. When her parents and relatives forgot Xiao Min's true identity, Lao Xu recognized her at a glance.
When the bell of 12 o'clock was about to ring, Lao Xu suddenly lost his memory and mistook the identities of the two. Whether Lao Xu really forgot, or had other plans, the truth behind this is intriguing.
Among these three short stories, the author's favorite is the third fragment, "The Stand-in". I have to say that Wang Jing, at the peak of her career, is still quite talented. Unfortunately, he can no longer create such excellent works.
Self-repression in the face of the pressures of life, self-loss in the face of temptation, and the coldness of the world when losing one's identity.
These people in life were exaggerated and magnified by Wang Jing, Ye Weimin, Ma Weihao, Zou Kaiguang, and Qian Wenqi, forming the story of "Strange Talk Association".
With the birth of this story, a new wave of creation has also been set off in the Hong Kong film market.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >03: Wang Jing, Liu Weiqiang, and Wen Jun, who joined hands to start a business</h1>
In the mid-1990s, the Hong Kong film market began to decline.
At this time, some Hong Kong film producers chose to go overseas to seek a larger film market. Another part of the Hong Kong film producers have chosen to stay in Hong Kong and continue to swim against the current and survive the cold winter of the market.
In 1996, in the face of the gradual downturn in the film market, Wang Jing, Liu Weiqiang and Wen Jun joined forces to establish the "Best Partner" film company and opened a road to the shooting of small-budget films.
On the road of exploration of this small-budget film, the best partner has successfully created two major genre film models: one is the little Ancient Puzzle Boy movie, and the other is a segmented series horror film such as Strange Talk Society.
In fact, the development of horror films in the Hong Kong film market has a long history.
At the end of the 1950s, Shaw was very keen on the filming of horror films, and Li Hanxiang's version of "Ghost of Qiannu", "Descending Head", "Oil Devil", "Evil", "Trick" and other works are all Hong Kong-style horror classics of an era.
After entering the 80s, the "zombie tide" led by Hong Jiaban has become a new milestone above the horror Hong Kong film market.
In the mid-to-late 1980s, the rise of a number of filmmakers such as Jackie Chan and Wu Yusen began to deal a major blow to the low-cost Hong Kong-style horror film market.
From "Police Story" to "Flying Eagle Project" and "Police Story 3", Jackie Chan's action scene performances have stimulated the eyes of countless audiences.
From "The True Colors of Heroes" to "Blood Street" and "Hot Hand Detective", Wu Yusen's escalated large-scene gun battles have repeatedly refreshed the movie-watching experience of film fans.
Under the repeated stimulation of these "blockbuster filmmakers", the Hong Kong film market in the early 90s embarked on a high-cost production path.
Under the pressure of these high-cost films, low-cost horror Films began to lose their market space step by step.
In the mid-1990s, the Hong Kong film market gradually entered a downturn. Low-cost horror film works have become a life-saving straw in the eyes of many Hong Kong film producers.
How to make new changes to horror films according to the market environment at that time also became a creative problem that plagued the Hong Kong film producers at that time.
In 1995, Wilson took the lead in experimenting with the "segmented horror film" model, filming "Midnight 1:30". However, the box office performance and word-of-mouth evaluation after the release of this work are very flat.
Although "One O'Clock in the Night" failed to achieve outstanding results, the pattern shown by the film attracted the attention of Wang Jing, Liu Weiqiang, and Wen Jun.
In 1996, Wang Jing, Wen Jun, and Liu Weiqiang jointly supervised the production of this "Strange Talk Association", and brought in Ye Weimin, Ma Weihao, and Zou Kaiguang to help.
The wonderful story design and excellent atmosphere creation made this "Strange Talk Society" get a good market response after its release in 1996.
After "Strange Talk Association", the Hong Kong film market has also set off a wave of "segmented series horror films" creation boom.
In 1997, Zheng Weiwen, Qiu Litao and Tan Langchang also imitated the model of "Strange Talk Association" and created the "Yin and Yang Road" series.
At the beginning of the new millennium, this kind of "segmented series horror film" is still popular in the Hong Kong film market. 2002's "Three Changes" is a classic of the times spawned by this model.
Original 丨 Article Copyright Genus: Magical Blush Lake
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