Rigor Mortis / 殭屍 Juno Mak, Hong Kong, 2013, DCP, 101m Cantonese with English subtitles A spiritual sequel to Mr. Vampire, this moody flick is a gothic reinvention of Hong Kong’s classic hopping-vampire movies that turbo-charges the tired old formula with modern filmmaking chops. Chin Siu-ho plays himself, one of the stars of the Mr. Vampire series now fallen on hard times and forced to move into a decrepit, spooky apartment building. He’s barely put his bag down when the ghosts of twin sisters possess his body and try to force him to kill himself. Fortunately, the downstairs food stall is run by Anthony Chan (who in Mr. Vampire played Lam Ching-ying’s fellow corpse wrangler at the very beginning and very end of the film), a wandering kung-fu vampire buster. He saves Chin’s life, but real evil is afoot in the building and soon the dark halls full of slithering shadows are echoing to the sound of hopping vampires and creeping ghouls clawing their way across the ceiling. Crammed with a gallery of old-school greats, from Shaw Brothers vet Kara Hui, to famed Eighties comedian Richard Ng, this cast is a blast from Hong Kong’s creepy old past, and they fill this movie with quiet dignity. Rigor Mortis was nominated for, and won, numerous awards, and if you spend a little bit of time falling under its dank, bloody, retro spell you’ll understand why. Part of HONG KONG FOREVER! Presented with the support of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office New York. SERIES: NEW YORK ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2014 VENUE: WALTER READE THEATER
Posted on: Fri, 04 Jul 2014 21:47:37 +0000
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