Since the Shaw period in the 197s, Li Hanxiang, a famous director, has been keen on making short and pithy short films in the form of segmented plots, which greatly inspired Shaw film directors, and segmented horror films were born.
in the 199s, this kind of segmented horror film was all the rage, and a number of hit dramas emerged.
For example, the trilogy "One o'clock in the Middle of the Night" previously recommended, and the famous series "Underground World" in the same period.
These two series are particularly representative, and each series contains three different horror stories.
These films are cheap to make and often cause a sensation in the market, so film companies soon follow suit.
In 1999, at the end of the century, the famous filmmaker Huang Baiming invested in a staged horror film "Magic Mirror tales of mystery", also known as "Ancient Mirror tales of mystery". The film gathers more than a dozen Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland stars, such as Nicholas Tse, Ruby Lin, Xu Fan, Roland and Tang Bao. From today's perspective, it can be described as Starlight Glimmer.
When the film was released in Hong Kong, the box office was dismal, with only over 3 million yuan, and it was introduced to the mainland for release the following year. Although the mainland version had many modifications compared with the Hong Kong version, it was a great success at that time, earning 11 million box office and becoming a dark horse of Chinese horror films at that time.
More importantly, this movie directly influenced the development of horror movies in China in the next twenty years.
In this issue of forgotten cult movies, we will review a horror movie of 23 years ago-
Magic Mirror
Magic Mirror.
The film was shot in 1999, and was jointly produced by Oriental Film Company in Huang Baiming and Yunnan Ethnic Film Studio in the Mainland.
The main idea of the film comes from the screenwriter Huang Baiming, who was influenced by the Japanese horror film The Ring of Midnight, so the film was called The Ring of Midnight at the beginning of its release.
The story is divided into three different historical stages, from the Ming Dynasty to Shanghai in 1922, then to Singapore in 1988 and Hong Kong in 1999. The story tells a thrilling and bizarre story behind an ancient mirror covered with the grievances of several generations of owners.
at the end of the Ming dynasty, a big house was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, beaming with joy.
The sisters of Yan Hong (Yao Leyi), a famous brothel prostitute, are about to marry Wang Gongzi (Lian Yiming), a wealthy businessman. Everyone congratulates Yan Hong and thinks that she has found the dream girl.
Yan Hong is waiting for her lover in the bridal chamber, but I didn't expect Mr. Wang to stab Yan Hong with a knife.
Before Yan Hong died, she learned that the prince in front of her was a killer hired by her former lover, Li Da. Li Da didn't want others to know about his relationship with Yan Hong, so she hired a killer to silence her.
Yan Hong died unjustly. Before she died, she smeared her blood on the dresser mirror in the bedroom. The mirror on the dresser was enchanted by the resentment of prostitutes.
This is the plot of the Hong Kong version, and it is also the introduction of the story, which explains the source of resentment behind the ancient mirror.
However, the plot setting of the mainland version is quite different from that of the Hong Kong version, and there is another plot behind the mainland version.
After the killer killed Yan Hong, he came back to ask the mastermind behind the scenes, and Li was very satisfied and rewarded the killer.
Unexpectedly, the killer suddenly turned against Yan Hong, claiming that he had received money from Yan Hong before her death, and the other party wanted the killer to avenge Yan Hong.
Li's adult was frightened to disgrace, but before he could react, he had become a ghost by the sword.
the ending of the mainland version is very reluctant, but I can understand that the writer's changes to the story have changed the theme of the film from "revenge" of spiritual elements to pure "life's enmity and karma." .
I have to say that this technique is still used in today's domestic horror films.
Time came to Shanghai in 1922, during the Republic of China.
A dressing mirror covered with blood is sent to the villa of widow Mary (Xu Fan).
Mary was originally married to a famous Shanghai professor, Mr. Lu. After Mr. Lu died unexpectedly, Mary lived in the villa with her housekeeper, Miss Wang (Emily), and her maid (a Sargam).
Not long ago, Mary received a strange gift-an antique dresser.
Mary has been uneasy and suspicious since the mirror was put in the house.
What scares her even more is that she received an anonymous phone call claiming that the dresser was given by her cousin, which aroused her disturbing memories.
It turns out that Mary's husband didn't die in an accident, but her cousin, who was killed by Mary herself three years ago.
A few years ago, a beautiful young Mary married a famous professor, Mr. Lu. Mr. Lu's wife died young, leaving two daughters. But married life is not happy.
Because of the great age difference, they were inseparable until one day, Mary finally found out that her husband was cheating on her.
What shocked Mary even more was that her husband was cheating on Mary's cousin!
In order to get back at her husband and cousin, she designed to force her cousin to commit suicide by swallowing a gun, poisoned her husband's coffee and killed them mercilessly, but she succeeded in occupying her husband's inheritance and valuable villa.
however, Mary didn't expect that her housekeeper, Ms. Wang, and her maid, Dumb, would come to take revenge on her.
It turns out that these two people are actually the daughters of her husband, Mr. Lu, and they have been mixing with Mary in disguise.
Finally, Ms. Wang shot Mary, and similarly, Mary's blood spilled on the mirror.
The second story happened in Singapore in 1988.
A successful lawyer, Mr. Zhan, had a one-night stand with Laura, a beautiful woman. Under the pressure of the gangster, Mr. Zhan agreed to marry Laura, and Laura moved to Mr. Zhan's house and brought an antique dressing mirror.
Mr. Zhan used to be famous in his field, but recently he couldn't resist the temptation to defend a rich kid who committed murder, and finally he was cleared of the crime and got a high lawyer's fee.
After the job is done, Zhan Tianyou is going to take a holiday and enjoy his ill-gotten gains.
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, lawyer Zhan drove home, and suddenly he saw the victim sitting in the back seat of the car, staring at him, scaring him into a car accident.
Lawyer Zhan was badly disfigured by the car accident. Fortunately, he had the money to hire a famous plastic surgeon to have plastic surgery.
everything went very smoothly, and finally the day when the stitches were removed.
but what he didn't expect was that the plastic surgeon actually shaved his face according to the victim's photo.
Accidentally, the plastic surgeon changed the face of the victim who was brutally killed by the rich second generation, making him afraid to look in the mirror again.
In 1999, time came to Hong Kong.
The bloodstained dressing table was changed hands several times and sent to an antique furniture store in Hong Kong.
Aunt Lan (played by Roland) and her husband worked hard to earn a huge family business. After her husband died, her grandson and father (played by Nicholas Tse) became her only concern, and Aunt Lan sent her grandson to study abroad.
A few years later, when McGrady returned to Hong Kong after graduation, Aunt Lan had been looking forward to her grandson's coming home for a long time, always trying to fix up a distant relative's daughter Xiaoru and her grandson McGrady.
Unexpectedly, when McGrady returned to Hong Kong, he brought back a fiancé e, Xiaomei (Ruby Lin), who was inarticulate and foreign-looking.
Aunt Lan is a traditional person. She is not satisfied with the daughter-in-law of her future grandson, but she is not angry in front of her grandson.
One day, Xiaomei went shopping with McGrady and bought a toilet mirror when she passed by an antique furniture store.
After a period of getting along, Xiaomei's behavior is incompatible with Aunt Lan, which makes Aunt Lan very unhappy. At this moment, Xiaomei accidentally discovered that Aunt Lan had 1, yuan and gave it to her family relative Xiaoru for management.
Xiaomei seems innocent on the surface, but she has a deep heart.
In order to get Aunt Lan's property, she uncharacteristically courted Aunt Lan and killed Aunt Lan.
Then, she framed Xiaoru, killing two birds with one stone at last, and became the future hostess of Dazhaimen.
Just when Xiaomei thought the plot was about to succeed, she accidentally exposed her whereabouts and was discovered by Eddie.
Eddie is going to call the police, but Xiaomei is crazy. She wants to kill Eddie.
As a result, the greedy Xiaomei ate her bitter fruit and killed herself by mistake, and her blood splashed on the mirror.
in 2, time came to Taiwan Province.
A salesgirl in an antique shop saw a horrible scene in the mirror when she was cleaning it.
obviously, the resentment of the ancient mirror has not dissipated.
The movie story came to an abrupt end.
Today, the cast of The Ancient Mirror is quite strong, bringing together actors from Hongkong, Taiwan Province, Singapore and the mainland. The story took place in Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong, spanning from the late Ming Dynasty to the early Republic of China, and then to modern times. Several stories were connected in series through an antique dressing mirror, which was quite innovative in the field of segmented horror films at that time.
in the first paragraph of the story, Xu Fan plays the snake demon and Emily plays the revenge orphan girl as the main line, and there are many flashbacks in the middle, which increases the suspense of the story. Xu Fan went from being a weak woman in a wheelchair when she appeared, to gradually revealing her ulterior motives from girlhood with the development of the story, and killed her cousin out of jealousy. Her personality change is chilling.
Of the three stories, this one is the most complete, and the actors' performances are more mature than the other two short films. Moreover, the ancient mirror has played a very important role in promoting the development of the story, while the appearance of the ancient mirror in the other two stories is somewhat overwhelming.
Singapore's plot is a bit old-fashioned, and it is also the biggest difference from the mainland version.
The mainland version not only deleted the feud between lawyer Zhan and his girlfriend Laura's gangster brother, but also deleted the supernatural elements in the story. Before lawyer Zhan's accident, the photo of the victim fell in the back seat of the car and suddenly became the ghost of the victim sitting in the back seat, staring at lawyer Zhan, but this scene was cut out in the mainland version.
It is worth noting that the editing and content of the mainland version and the Hong Kong version are quite different, and the difference between the two versions is about 15 minutes.
As for the third part of the story, it should be the worst part of the movie.
The conflict of stories is far-fetched, and the transformation of characters is illogical. The screenwriter doesn't seem to consider the rationality of the story at all, and the process of Xiaomei's murder and framing is like a child's play.
What is even more embarrassing is the performance of the actors. Ruby Lin and Nicholas Tse invited by the film are two popular young idols. Nicholas Tse is famous in the music world, but her acting skills are really green. Ruby Lin can be played as a banshee because of the popularity of the Pearl River Delta, which really exceeds her acting skills.
But more importantly, this film opens the way for exploring commercial horror films.
As we all know, due to force majeure, horror films almost disappeared from the screen in the 199s in the Mainland, and in the field of co-production, their creation was restricted, so Hong Kong filmmakers rarely tried pure horror films in the Mainland.
In Hongkong, the film was directed by Rong Xiao, but it would not have been released without the help of director Forrest Gump.
Forrest Gump, formerly known as Liu Xiaoguang, majored in radio communication at the university. After graduation, he worked in Shenzhen Xianke Program Production Center and began to experiment with self-made film and television drama projects. Love in Ancient Mirrors is his first famous director's work.
As a part of a staged horror film, the film was shot in mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore, among which Gan Xiaofeng was the director of the mainland part. The film invested only 6 million yuan, but after it was released in the mainland, it won 11 million box office.
After the film was a great success, Gan Dao plunged into the field of domestic horror film creation, and in the following years, he indirectly released low-cost horror thrillers such as The Shining, Ghost House and Please Close Your Eyes in the Dark, all of which exceeded 1 million at the box office, making Gan Dao a representative of domestic horror films.
From Forrest Gump, he led domestic film companies to shoot low-budget horror films. In the media reports at that time, director Forrest Gump was called "the leader of domestic horror films". At that time, many domestic directors who were preparing to make horror films or were making horror films were probably inspired by Forrest Gump.
Although these domestic horror films often have a bad reputation after being released, they often sell well at the box office, which proves that horror films have an audience and a market. Although the production and story are mediocre and the plot is just mysterious, it still does not prevent them from becoming one of the few domestic films that make money.
From this perspective, Forrest Gump and Magic Mirror led the development direction of China horror films in the next twenty years.
After all, it was Forrest Gump's generation of directors who began to make China horror movies synonymous with bad movies!