Rigor Mortis (2013)

A public housing tenement is plunged into a dark storm of supernatural chaos.

Director:

Juno Mak

Writers:

Philip Yung (scriptwriter), Lai-Yin Leung (scriptwriter) (as Jill Leung)

Stars:

Siu-Ho Chin, Kara Wai, Hee Ching Paw

8 wins & 27 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Siu-Ho Chin	...	Chin Siu-Ho
Kara Wai	...	Yeung Feng
Hee Ching Paw	...	Auntie Mui (as Nina Paw)
Anthony Chan	...	Yau (as Antony 'Friend' Chan)
Hoi-Pang Lo	...	Uncle Yin
Richard Ng	...	Uncle Tung
Fat Chung	...	Gau
Billy Lau	...	Cook
Morris Ho
Zip Ho
Oggy Ho
Bobo Tsang
Chun-Man Ko	...	Feng's husband (as Ray Ko)
Giselle Lam	...	Siu-Ho's Wife
Chak-Sun Lau	...	Siu-Ho's Son

Storyline

In this eerie and chilling, contemporary, action/special effects laden homage to the classic Chinese vampire movies of the 1980's, writer-director-producer, Juno Mak makes his feature directorial debut. Co-produced by J-Horror icon Takashi Shimizu, and reuniting some of the original cast members of the classic Mr. Vampire series, RIGOR MORTIS is set in a creepy and moody Hong Kong public housing tower whose occupants we soon discover, run the gamut from the living to the dead, to the undead, along with ghosts, vampires and zombies.

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Plot Keywords:

possession | haunted | shaman | supernatural fight | psychotronic film | 

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Taglines:

Nobody's story ends well here (UK DVD, back)

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Genres:

Action | Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The tall ghosts that cross the hallway carrying parasols are based on Chinese reapers. Three variations include: * A reaper that returns a soul 7 days after they die to home. They return the soul to their home to say goodbye to loved ones before being taken to hell. * Reapers that collect a lost soul that has wandered for 7 days. * A reaper on the hunt for wandering souls that they trap in their parasol. It is used as a net. This is where the superstition originates that you must not open one indoors should it contain a ghost.

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Goofs

At the end when he is shown hanging, the first shot shows him with his head tilted down and eyes closed. In the next shot, his face is tilted up and his eyes are open.

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Crazy Credits

The split-second image that pops up before the cast credits begin, is actually of the director, Juno Mak, who is sitting on seat 13.

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Connections

Features Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars (1985)

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Soundtracks

Spiritual Love
Composed By Anders Nelsson (as Nelsson Anders Gustav)
Lyrics by Kok-Kong Cheng (as Cheng Kok Kong)
Re-arranged produce by Juno Mak
Vocal section by Adrian Chan
Re-arranged by Nate Connelly
[Theme Song]

User Reviews

Eerie and disturbing homage to the classic Mr. Vampire.

Director Juno Mak brings us a horror HK movie like nothing else, a story about a former actor who makes his new home at a creepy, dark and depressed-looking Hong Kong public housing tower. There, he encounters a slew of ghosts and zombies.

It was nice to see a brand new horror movie from Hong Kong that pays homage to the classic Mr. Vampire and other ghost genre movies of the 1980s-1990s. Actors from the original Mr. Vampire series reunited to star in this film, including Chin Siu Ho, Anthony Chan, Billy Lau, Chung Fat and Richard Ng. They, including others in the movie, gave a very powerful and dramatic performance in their respective roles. Lai-yin Leung and Philip Yung wrote a very moody, dark and eerie story that, despite being a homage, provided a huge departure to the Chinese vampire/ghost movies of the 80s and 90s. The usual lighthearted humor and slapstick comedy seen in those movies were sorely absent in this film.

The darkness and gloomy atmosphere that surrounded this movie almost made it seem that the heydays of those classic ghost/vampire movies were long gone. Still, though, the setting and cinematography were a nice touch and it accentuated the horror and solemn drama felt in the film.

The plot goes at a fairly fast pace, keeping you engaged and intrigued. The main vampire in the film was executed very well and all the events leading to its appearances provided enough creepiness and terror to make the hair raise behind your neck.

While a pretty scary and intriguing movie, many of the plot points are confusing and the special effects team relied too heavily on CGI. The two female ghosts portrayed in the film seemed like a rip-off of The Grudge and the hopping vampire didn't really hop much - just gliding from place to place with heavy CGI influence. In addition, the bloody gore and adult themes were done overboard.

Overall, it's not a horrible movie. I prefer watching the Chinese vampires movies of the 80s and 90s, but this one is worth the watch at least once for a good scare and reminiscing.

Grade C-

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Release Date:

6 June 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rigor Mortis

Box Office

Budget:

HKD15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,865, 8 June 2014

Gross USA:

$7,865

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,018,374

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kudos Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1