Chapter 248: The Dilemma of Horror Films

"May I ask this gentleman, do you think this movie is not a ghost movie, so what kind of movie is a ghost movie in your eyes?" Lin Youlun couldn't help but ask.

The man just talked to himself, he didn't think about it but told others, he didn't see Lin Youlun's appearance clearly in the dark, and he was slightly stunned and said: "Don't say it's a ghost movie, how many movies in Hong Kong over the years can be regarded as real horror movies?" It's all about buying dog meat on the head of a sheep, so don't mention it. ”

Hong Kong movies have always been popular and filmed, and the most popular ones in the 80s were kung fu movies and comedy films, so most genre films have added these two elements.

Compared with Hollywood's genre films, which have strict boundaries between them, Hong Kong-made genre films have always been mixed with elements, kung fu, funny, sensational, nonsense, bloody, and grotesque are often cooked in one pot to satisfy the appetite of different audiences.

Listening to this person's words, it seemed that he had some insight, and Lin Youlun couldn't help but be interested.

"This can't be blamed on the short-sightedness of Hong Kong filmmakers, the Hong Kong market is so small, and the box office return of a single genre film audience can't support the cost of film production at all, after all, movies are made to make money. And Hong Kong is not completely without horror films, Xu Yuhua's "Crazy Robbery", Yu Yunhang's "Mountain Dog", and "Murder List" are all good films, but they are not forming a trend. ”

The other party let out a light "huh", obviously not expecting that in an ordinary movie theater, he could meet a person who has such a good understanding of Hong Kong films. Most of the early Hong Kong horror films were related to ghosts, but due to the limited production budget and film creativity, the development has been very slow, and few masterpieces have been produced, and there are even fewer works that win purely with suspense and horror plots. Until Hong Kong's "new. The rise of "Lang Cháo" films, this phenomenon has changed.

"Crazy Robbery" is Xu Yuhua's debut novel, and it is also a "new. "Lang Cháo" is one of the masterpieces of the film, the film is based on a real homicide case in Longhu Mountain, Hong Kong, but after clever choreography, the original unconscious madman murder incident has evolved into a human tragedy caused by abusive love, not only the plot is more suspenseful, but also allows Hong Kong audiences to experience the feeling of "screaming" for the first time in the theater.

And "Mountain Dogs" is another "new. "Lang Cháo" director Yu Yunhang's violent horror movie, the plot is very ordinary, but it borrows from the shooting techniques of Western horror films, using camera scheduling to create a suffocating horror effect, the film was violently criticized by public opinion because the picture was too terrifying and bloody, but it did not prevent it from becoming a classic representative of Hong Kong horror films.

Hearing Lin Youlun mention these films, the man just sighed softly: "What's the use of these movies no matter how scary they are, now everything is about the market, and simple horror films have no room to survive at all." ”

Can't pure horror movies make money? Lin Youlun doesn't think so.

"Isn't director Yu Yunhang's "Murder List" a successful example? I remember that movie did well at the box office, but it's really rare to make a genre film that is purely a horror film like that. ”

"You ask how many people around you remember Yu Yunhang? Maybe in another two years, the name will become a passerby. There was a kind of indescribable depression in the man's tone.

"No? Personally, I think director Yu Yunhang is still very famous. Lin Youlun replied.

"What do you think?" The man snorted coldly, "Yu Yunhang recently made a movie, which was just released the day before yesterday, do you know about it?" Anyway, you still know a little about Yu Yunhang, but even you don't know the news of the release of his new film, what is he not a passerby now? ”

Lin Youlun frowned, and when he was about to speak, the screening of "A Chinese Ghost Story" on the screen had already ended, and as soon as the overhead light was turned on, the surrounding audience stood up and prepared to leave the venue in a hurry.

Lin Youlun asked Wang Guxian and Qiu Shuzhen to sit for a while, don't be busy going out, and when he turned his head, the seat next to him was already empty, and the person who was talking to him just now was already gone.

"Who were you talking to?" Wang Guxian sat next to Lin Youlun and vaguely heard the conversation between him and the man.

Lin Youlun shook his head, with a confused expression in his eyes.

"A very strange man!"

——

After going back, Lin Youlun immediately called Cen Jianxun to ask about Yu Yunhang's new film.

Cen Jianxun is in charge of the operation of Jiayi Cinema Line, and he knows everything about those movies that were released during the same period, Lin Youlun asked, and he immediately fed back some information about his knowledge to Lin Youlun.

"Yu Yunhang's new film is called "Fierce Cat", the film is rated as a Class III film, released in 30 theaters, with a box office of 210,000 at the first time, and a total box office of less than 600,000 so far.

"Why is there so little box office?" Lin Youlun was surprised.

Cen Jianxun has not watched this film, and it is not easy to draw conclusions on the phone, only saying that it may be that the actor Yu Yunhang is looking for is a little outdated, and the audience doesn't buy it much.

Lin Youlun then asked: "Who is the starring role in the film?" ”

"Liu Jialiang."

Lin Youlun was stunned for half a second, "What does this Yu Yunhang think?" actually asked Liu Jialiang to act in a horror movie? ”

"Probably because he thinks it will be more gimmicky to join kung fu fighting, which is also more in line with the current cháo stream."

Cen Jianxun's guess is very close to the truth of the facts, but he and Lin Youlun both misunderstood Yu Yunhang. It's not that Yu Yunhang wants to make kung fu elements, but he doesn't add a lot of kung fu elements to this movie, and he can't find investment at all.

The horror style is a position that Yu Yunhang sticks to the most, and he still continues to play his good at rendering horror situations in this film, the camera, camera position, action, stunts, and performances are all very skillfully coordinated, and the plot of the Nine Lives Murder Cat is also thrilling enough, but the content is slightly mixed, and the horror film is already niche, so the box office has fallen into such a miserable situation.

Lin Youlun asked Cen Jianxun to send a copy of the videotape of "Fierce Cat", Wang Jixian and Qiu Shuzhen heard that this was a horror movie, and they clamored to watch it together, and they also turned off the lights in the living room.

The film was not very scary at the beginning, but when I saw the cat demon possessing the protagonist couple, the picture was almost sensational and terrifying, and the hands and feet of the woman who was leaned over twitched uncontrollably, her lips trembled, as if she desperately wanted to speak, but nothing was said, and her face was so terrified that there was no blood at all, only her eyes kept flashing. His hands and feet danced as if he wanted to hold on to something, but his body didn't move.

A terrible roar of "Meow" directly frightened the two girls into a ball.

Obviously scared to death, he had already covered his eyes with his hands, but he couldn't help but be curious, he was secretly watching from between his fingers, and when he saw the terrifying clip, he quickly put his fingers together.

When the movie was halfway through, Wang Guxian wanted to go to the toilet, but she didn't dare to go alone, and it was not enough to pull Qiu Shuzhen, so Lin Youlun had to accompany them to the bathroom door.

In the bathroom, Wang Guxian sat on the toilet, raised his head and asked Qiu Shuzhen, "Do you say that cats really have nine lives?" ”

"Probably." Qiu Shuzhen said hesitantly: "I have seen many cats fall from very high places without any trouble, but if it were a person, they would have fallen to their deaths. ”

Lin Youlun faintly heard the discussion between the two women outside, but he was thinking about another thing in his heart, and after a while, he only heard the sound of flushing, the bathroom door opened, and Wang Guxian and Qiu Shuzhen walked out.

Lin Youlun shrugged his shoulders and asked, "Do you want to continue watching?" ”

"Look, it's a coward who doesn't look!" Wang Guxian said stiffly.

Lin Youlun then asked: "Aren't you afraid that you won't be able to sleep at night?" ”

Qiu Shuzhen retreated, waved her hand and said, "Look, I don't dare to look at it anymore." ”

Wang Guxian glared at her and threatened: "No, if you don't accompany me, I will let you sleep alone tonight, and I will scare you to death!" ”

Qiu Shuzhen hesitated, and Lin Youlun interjected on the side: "Then what should I do?" ”

Wang Guxian held Qiu Shuzhen's hand, "I sleep with Ah Zhen, and you, just sleep on the sofa!" ”

Lin Youlun wanted to suggest that everyone could sleep together, but thinking that this possibility was basically zero, he couldn't help but say nothing.

The three of them returned to the living room and continued to finish watching the second half of "Fierce Cat", the protagonist of the film killed the murderous cat in righteousness, but then the camera turned, and one of the survivors was lying on the iron net in the form of a fierce cat...... This is the end of the film, which is very much in line with Yu Yunhang's consistent theory of "endless cycle of crime" in horror movies.

After watching this movie, Lin Youlun had a plan to meet Yu Yunhang.

——

"Fierce Cat" was released in Hong Kong for a week, and the box office was only a pitiful 1.7 million, and the number of theaters and the number of theaters in the second week were cut in half, and it is estimated that it will be very good to have a box office of three or four million when the final painting is made, although the total investment of the film is less than 2 million, but it still has to lose a lot of money.

The box office failure of "Fierce Cat" hit director Yu Yunhang very hard. "Lang Cháo" is one of the early representatives of the movie, Yu Yunhang became famous earlier than Xu Ke, but now he is far behind Xu Ke.

"Hero Ben Sè" and "Huang Feihong", Xu Ke is a supervisor and a director, the two movies not only grossed tens of millions at the box office, but also drove the black . The style cháo of gang films and costume martial arts films. Another film "A Chinese Ghost Story" supervised by Xu Ke and Yu Yunhang's "Fierce Cat" were released at about the same time, with a box office of nearly 12 million in the first week of release, an almost tenfold gap, which shows Yu Yunhang's downfall even more.

Yu Yunhang in Hong Kong couldn't stay any longer, and just as he was about to go to the United States, he suddenly received a phone call.

(There is something at home today, there are still two shifts, and the three shifts will be made up in the next two days, everyone forgive me!) (To be continued.)