Although Hong Kong cinema has often used shocks to attract audiences, proper Cantonese-language ghost films didn't start being produced until the 1980s, when the genre was combined with kung fu and comedy in hit films like Sammo Hung Kam-bo's Encounter of the Spooky Kind. As for horror, cheap copies of American movies were produced in the early 1970s to ride...
A still from Encounter of the Spooky Kind . The Sammo Hung film was one of the first Cantonese-language productions to successfully blend comedy, kung fu and Chinese superstition.Although Hong Kong cinema has often used shocks to attract audiences, proper Cantonese-language ghost films didn't start being produced until the 1980s, when the genre was combined with kung fu and comedy in hit films like Sammo Hung Kam-bo's Encounter of the Spooky Kind.
For instance, in 1957's The Nightly Cry of the Ghost, the supposed ghost turns out be a human girl posing as a spook to scare the people who murdered her family into giving a confession."Many of the ghost movies of the traditional Cantonese cinema of the 1950s and 1960s were psychological, didactic films using the idea of ghosts to impart a materialistic point of view," wrote Cheng Yu in an essay entitled Under a Spell.
But the genre really took off with Sammo Hung's rambunctious Encounter of the Spooky Kind in 1980, a lively mix of jokes, action and Chinese superstition. The story of Mr Vampire revolves around bouncing, zombie-like corpses — the vampire reference in the English title was reportedly just a savvy international marketing move by the film's producers — who are under the control of aanimates the corpses by sticking magical yellow papers on their foreheads.
The collection was even the inspiration for King Hu's art-house classic A Touch of Zen, although the ghostly theme was ultimately subsumed into a more realistic storyline.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Hong Kong government to further ease coronavirus measuresHONG KONG - The Hong Kong government said on Friday it aims to ease some coronavirus curbs in an orderly way as pandemic trends in the Asia financial hub were continuing to stabilise. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Read more »
How leptospirosis left a pet dog fighting for its life and its Hong Kong owner with a $72,000 billWhen Tong Jun-wan moved to Hong Kong from New York in 2020, he chose to live in Tseng Lan Shue, a small village in Sai Kung in the New Territories. The rural environment was perfect for his active lifestyle - and his dog Buchi, a Labrador retriever he had relocated from the United States. 'My village house is on section...
Read more »
Data breach at Shangri-La hotels during Asia's top security summit, guests' data potentially leakedGuests who had stayed at its hotels in Singapore, Hong Kong, Chiang Mai, Taipei and Tokyo may be affected. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Read more »
Tencent shifts focus to majority deals, overseas gaming assets for growth-sourcesHONG KONG : Tencent is resetting its M&A strategy to put more focus on buying majority stakes mainly in overseas gaming companies, as the tech giant eyes global expansion to offset slowing growth at home in China, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.Tencent Holding Ltd has for years invested i
Read more »
Shangri-La says data breach at hotels, guests' info potentially leakedSINGAPORE - A database breach has occurred at luxury hotel chain Shangri-La Group, potentially exposing the personal information of guests who had stayed at its hotels in Singapore, Hong Kong, Chiang Mai, Taipei and Tokyo. In an email informing affected guests, the group's senior vice president for operations and process transformation Brian Yu, said: 'A sophisticated threat actor managed to...
Read more »
Data breach at Shangri-La hotels potentially affected guests of Asia's top security summitA database breach has occurred at luxury hotel chain Shangri-La Group, potentially exposing the personal information of guests who had stayed at its hotels in Singapore, Hong Kong, Chiang Mai, Taipei and Tokyo. In an e-mail informing affected guests, the group's senior...
Read more »