In 2013, as soon as "Zombie" directed by Mai Junlong was released, it set off a long-lost "zombie fever".
After all, since the death of Lin Zhengying in 1997, there has not been a zombie film that can be recognized by the audience for a long time.
However, it is different from the highlights of Uncle Ying's zombie films: clean fight scenes and endless Taoist methods.
The reason why "Zombie" has been recognized by the audience is mainly due to excellent atmospheric rendering and excellent plot design.
Among the two, the double ending setting in the plot design belongs to the stroke of God, so that this zombie film is not only sensory horror, but also makes people think carefully and endlessly after watching it.
First of all, let's talk about the atmosphere rendering, by perfectly blending Japanese horror and American blood and Hong Kong-style superstitious culture, Mai Junlong allows the audience to experience a sense of déjà vu but feels different in the film.
For example, in the classic scene "Yin Bing Borrowing The Road", in the Hong Kong-style village house, four eight-foot tall ghosts with a Japanese horror style slowly walking with paper umbrellas, and the indescribable sense of weirdness and oppression is creepy.
Another example is the plot of the sisters' flowers and ghosts, and the folk tragedies passed down by word of mouth are reproduced under the bloody scenes of the United States, which not only greatly stimulates the senses of the audience, but also makes the old stories rejuvenated in the visualization, which makes people feel terrible.
The first time to independently direct a horror film can be so brilliant in the rendering of the atmosphere, Mai Junlong's talent as a director can be seen.
However, if only the atmosphere is rendered, "Zombies" is not enough to still be enjoyed after 8 years of release.
The reason why this movie can be called "the last zombie film" is mainly because the setting of the double ending is a stroke of God, which directly makes the already declining zombie film fall into an embarrassing situation of "no one after".
The ending of Zombie consists of a special effects battle and a "God Twist" plot:
In order to defeat Uncle Dong, who has become the ultimate zombie, the male protagonist played by Qian Xiaohao was martyred with the help of the Dao Chief Ayou.
He overdraws his life through the seal, while fighting with zombies, he rotates the Five Elements Compass Protector for the Dao Commander Ah You, and finally annihilates the zombies with the help of the Compass's Five Elements Array, but he himself is fatally injured by falling from a high place.
Just as Xiao Hao was dying, the picture switched to the perspective of memory, showing the completely different sides of the various characters in the movie:
The Dao Chief Ah You is just an ordinary neighbor who stirs up glutinous rice, Uncle Dong, who has been refined into a zombie, has long passed away, Uncle Jiu, who studies magic, is a corpse mortician, and the body that was buried is the male protagonist Xiao Hao himself.
For this sudden transition, viewers of different moods can interpret two different endings:
First, the final return to reality of the movie, all the elements of the strange power and chaos in the film are the fantasies of the male protagonist before his death:
From the male protagonist's monologue and costume and other information, it can be known that he was once a popular zombie film actor, and when he was young, he neglected his family due to his busy career and inflated mentality, which eventually led to the breakdown of family relations, and his wife took her son away.
Unexpectedly, zombie films were gradually abandoned by the times, he could no longer find a job at the age of more than half a hundred, and he could not see hope in the life of a lonely family, so he would choose to return to the village house where he was born to end his life.
The final transition in the film is partly his last memory before he was born, and part of his cognition when his soul has not yet dissipated after he was born. As for the main plot of the movie, it is a movie he choreographed for himself in his mind during the process of his life.
Because in recent years, when domestic horror films are censored, the requirements for the elements of "strange power and chaos" are very strict, so many viewers are more comfortable with the story of the movie, which is the fantasy made up by the male protagonist before his death.
Combined with the background of the era when Hong Kong-made zombie films have declined, the once popular zombie film stars have died in a nest, such a bland and slightly sad ending, which can cause people to sigh about the passage of time.
However, the film "Zombie" has never been released in mainland theaters, and director Mai Junlong also said in an interview at the Venice Film Festival that when writing the script, he did not specially design the plot for the sake of review.
Therefore, some viewers who are more "confident" about zombie films do not think that the male protagonist will die so badly, combined with some logical loopholes that the first ending cannot explain, and the interpretation of the second ending comes into being:
Second, the end of the movie is imagination, the vigorous zombie war has indeed happened, just like the zombie movie once brilliant
In the first interpretation, there is actually a logical loophole, the mortuary Uncle Nine is not a resident of the village house, and the male protagonist has not seen him before he died.
But he did play a lot of negative roles in the movie and played a lot of scenes, so it can only be explained that the male protagonist's soul is not scattered after death, and the mortician Uncle Jiu, who "sent him on the road", was designed as an evil Daoist with an improper heart.
However, if the soul is not dispersed, isn't it also an acknowledgement of the existence of the strange and chaotic god?
And since it is a fantasy of brain replenishment before death, then the emergence of a person who came to bury the corpse after death is not right in time?
If you think about it, you will find that the first ending is not completely self-explanatory.
In addition, director Mak Junlong once said that "Zombie" is a film made to pay tribute to the classic Hong Kong zombie film.
In the classic Hong Kong zombie films, the protagonists are basically the "GuangWeizheng" image of sacrificing their lives for righteousness, since they want to pay tribute, how can they let the protagonist die so badly? In summary, the zombie war in the movie should have actually happened.
On the contrary, it is the final twist of the plot that is the male protagonist's imagination of ordinary life before he dies.
At the time of life and death, the male protagonist reflected on his own ending:
If nothing had happened in the story, he would have ended his life in the village house.
After that, the neighbors who had never met him were indifferent to his imminent death, and the morticians who were accustomed to seeing life and death were accustomed to his corpse, and even their son, who had not been seen for many years, could not even see the front when he bid farewell to himself on his last journey.
For an actor who has made zombie movies for most of his life, this is not what he expects.
Only by vigorously fighting with evil and truly being a hero at the most depressed time in life will you die without regrets.
In addition, the eyes of the male protagonist appear many times at the end of the movie, which also hints at the life and state of mind of the male protagonist.
After the Great War, the eyes are confused, proving that they are returning to the light and entering the hypothetical world of reflection;
When he realized that his mission had been completed, he closed his eyes with peace of mind, his head blank, and the whole film ended.
Mai Junlong treats the ending as Xiao Hao's pre-death reflection, which can be used to pay tribute to the zombie film by the experience of the male protagonist.
It expresses that even if the zombie film has been abandoned by the market, but it has not died out of it, until the last moment when it is completely forgotten by the audience, as the light of the former Hong Kong film, the zombie film will still show its value to the audience who loves it.
The first ending is bland and slightly sad, and the second is violent but full of lamentations, and depending on the audience's mood for zombie films, both can be interpreted as a reasonable ending.
Such a miraculous stroke has raised the pattern of the film a lot, combined with excellent atmospheric rendering and excellent performance by the actors, even if there is a certain abruptness in the advancement of the plot, it does not prevent "Zombie" from becoming an excellent zombie film.
Although "Zombie" sets a successful example for contemporary zombie films, it is not easy to imitate its success.
First, director Mai Junlong is a filmmaker with certain financial resources who can bear part of the film production costs himself, which means that he does not need to be unpopular with the market because zombie films are not favored by the market and cannot find capital investment.
Second, the high quality of "Zombie" has changed the threshold of this theme, and if the later zombie films cannot reach a similar level as "Zombie" in depth, it is difficult to get the recognition of the audience by imitating the Tao fa and fighting in the Uncle Ying series of movies.
Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that there is no zombie film after "Zombie", at least since 2013, there has not been a zombie film that can be enjoyed.
I am a wooden branch of the dangerous building, what do you think about "a "zombie" two endings, the reason why there is no Hong Kong zombie film, Mai Junlong is fully responsible"? Feel free to leave your comments below.