Why are movies getting more and more mediocre?
In my opinion, it is when the freshness is exhausted, the routine becomes more and more similar, and the audience is tired of watching.
However, there is a genre film that still carries the banner of "innovation" - horror films!
In the heyday of Hong Kong cinema, "ghost films" have always occupied a pivotal position.
Especially in the early nineties, low-cost horror films gradually formed an irresistible trend.
Among them, Qian Shengwei's "Date" series, Nan Yan's "Yin yang road" series, and Qian Yongqiang's "Midnight" and "Strange Talk" series are the most dazzling.
And "The Fifteenth of the First Month" is a classic in one of the few Hong Kong suspense films.
However, this low-budget film was released in theaters after only one week of release.
The reason is unknown, but when the discs flowed into the mainland market, they caused a lot of repercussions.
Released 7 days after being removed from the shelves, the box office is only 4.14 million, and this movie still can't hide the sharp edge of glory.
Since the film is so old, let's talk about its story first.
The wife of police officer Chow Sir (Chow Man Kin) accidentally witnesses a murder in a parking lot.
A week later, Sir Zhou received an order from his superiors to investigate the case.
Later, Zhou SIR investigated the suspect, who turned out to be the prisoner who was killed in a robbery five years ago.
Just when he was puzzled, his old partner Kong Ming (played by Liu Qingyun) returned from abroad.
Soon, the two discover that the victim had a girlfriend named Wang Wenwen (played by Jiang Rong), which may be related to the case.
However, the other party said that he had only just met the victim.
Not long after, another murder occurred in a dance hall.
Kong Ming found a ring at the scene of the crime, and he began to suspect that it should have been dropped by the murderer.
According to eyewitnesses, the killer was tall and mighty and wore a pair of military boots.
So the two went to the funeral parlor in disbelief, opened the coffin cabinet and found that there was no body inside.
Later, according to the guard Chen Bo, a fire broke out in the funeral home on the night of the crime, and he saw a figure walk out of the fire.
At this point, the two can be sure that although the robbers of 5 years ago were killed on the spot, they may live in another state.
So Zhou Sir and Kong Ming ran to wang wenwen again, and they found that she looked very similar to a person named Wang Jingjing.
At this moment, a person who often spied on her opposite the Wang Wenwen building was killed.
The two immediately rushed to the scene, but they almost attracted the disaster of killing.
Kong Ming was more certain that the murderer was the prisoner who had been killed 5 years earlier.
With the deepening of the investigation, an old thing that has been sealed for many years gradually surfaces.
It turned out that the murderer's name was Yu Junsheng, a soldier, who fell in love with Wang Jingjing in his early years, and the two had a deep affection.
Unexpectedly, the war suddenly broke out, and Yu Junsheng was forced to go to the front.
Before leaving, Yu Junsheng and Wang Jingjing made a covenant of life and death.
Unexpectedly, when the war ended, Yu Junsheng returned to his hometown and found that Wang Jingjing had long been married and moved to Hong Kong.
Later, Yu Junsheng also followed him to Hong Kong, but he could not find Wang Jingjing.
As a result, in the process, unfortunately clashed with the police, but was shot in the head but because of the obsession with Wang Jingjing's love, he survived and had the ability to live forever.
Therefore, when he met Wang Wenwen, he regarded her as Wang Jingjing and wanted to protect her for the rest of his life.
At this time, Wang Jingjing had already become a white-haired old man, unlike Yu Junsheng, who was still the same as before.
After her husband's death, Wang Jingjing has been waiting for Yu Junsheng's appearance, because of this obsession, she was able to survive.
So when she met Wang Jingjing again, she finally got her wish and died peacefully in Yu Junsheng's arms.
After losing his lover, Yu Junsheng also let go of the obsession in his heart.
For more than 50 years, he has been living as a living dead.
At this moment, he roared angrily at the heavens, and the wounds on his body that had been shot before gradually exploded, and finally fell on Wang Jingjing's side.
After many years, watching "The Fifteenth of the First Month", I still feel that this is a rare masterpiece.
Director Qian Shengwei takes the bizarre ghost incident encountered by the police when handling the case as the story framework, and slowly leads the truth behind the case to the surface through the protagonist's investigation of the case.
Using the story as a lead, it extends the themes of love, friendship, and family affection.
Although the film is labeled as a suspense thriller, there are a lot of comedic elements in the film, which makes the atmosphere of the story itself less terrifying and dull.
The combination of Liu Qingyun and Zhou Wenjian continues the grotesque and funny style of "July 14".
On the basis of the previous game, continue to improve the entire story line, so there will be a later series.
However, from another point of view, "The Fifteenth of the First Month" also has the imprint of Hong Kong films at that time.
Limited by the film market, the set was strictly controlled at 95 minutes, so that the love portrayal of Junsheng and Wang Jingjing was not detailed enough, just a brush stroke, which eventually led to the incompleteness of the whole story.
But there is no denying that this movie has unexpectedly made two people.
One is Yu Rongguang, who was discovered by Hong Kong director Xu Xiaoming in 1982 and began to fight in Hong Kong.
During the period of Hong Kong's development, Yu Rongguang made nearly 50 films, most of which played villains.
To some extent, his experience is somewhat similar to Jet Li,but Yu Rongguang did not become famous in a certain genre, but has cooperated with directors such as Cheng Xiaodong, Yuan Heping, Qiu Litao, Tang Jili, Wang Jing and other directors in various genres.
And "The Fifteenth of the First Month of the First Life" is, in my opinion, one of the representative works of Yu Rongguang's period.
Although he plays a villain and is still a supporting role, in the film, his performance is very dazzling.
He will express the obsession with love, the grief that is gray with all thoughts, to the fullest.
The other is Roland, as a legend in the era of Hong Kong ghost films, the image of "Dragon Woman" created by Roland is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and has become a classic role in Hong Kong's "ghost films".
The vast majority of horror films, often laid out in terms of suspense, but can give people a sense of shock in visual effects.
And Roland's performance belongs to the latter.
It is precisely because in Qian Shengwei's "Date" series, the classic image of "Dragon Woman" has been created.
Later, it shined in another series of "Yin Yang Road", and was affectionately known as the "Ghost Queen" by fans.
She is different from Lin Zhengying at her peak, Roland plays mostly supporting roles, but her weight in the play is definitely not weaker than the protagonist.
Released for only 7 days and grossing 4.14 million, Yu Rongguang created a classic role in Hong Kong films.
With the passage of time, "The Fifteenth of the First Month" is still remarkable in other aspects, in addition to being criticized in the story.
Although the film was only released for 7 days and received more than 4 million box office, it was a small cost production after all, so it did not lose money.
Director Qian Shengwei also launched a series of thrillers such as "February 30", "Dragon Woman of July 13", "Believe It or Not" in July and 14, but in my opinion, there is no "July 14" and "15th Of the First Month" classics.