Hong Kong Horror Essay

Hong Kong horror is paradoxically unique due to “its heavy borrowing of narrative stylistic and thematic elements from non-horror genres, regional and Western horror” (Boey 45). Hong Kong horror gained its worldwide recognition only after the J-horror boom and just like the former, focuses on vengeful spirits and the supernatural. One of the key elements in Hong Kong horror movie production is the jiangshi – a corpse reanimated by a Taoist priest pertaining to Chinese folklore resembling the Western concept of zombies and vampires – often represented in a borderline if not outright comedic way, as well as blended with kung fu, a recognizable feature of 1980s’ Hong Kong cinema. Just like J-horror, Hong Kong horror also uses the world of the dead and the world of the living to demonstrate the juxtaposition of the past and the present. Boey states that reincarnation is the backbone of Hong Kong cinema,

Boey lists “the country’s association with the occult, folklore and superstitions about Thai witch doctors, ghost children and black magic” as Thailand’s main influences on urban legends of East Asia and its horror production (121). Thailand’s most popular urban legend/ghost story is the story of Mae Nak Phra Khanong or Nang Nak – a pregnant woman whose husband, Nak, is sent to war. Mae Nak dies in labor but when Mak returns home from war, he finds his wife and child seemingly alive and well. The villagers try to warn Mak that his house is haunted and that his wife had died in childbirth but Nang Nak kills everyone who poses a threat to her marriage. Eventually, Mak realizes that his wife is a ghost and runs away from her, while Nak, furious at the people responsible for Mak leaving her, terrorizes the village until she is finally defeated by an exorcist monk. The latest and most successful film adaptation of Nang Nak’s story is the eponymous 1999