Hong Kong horror

Hong kong Horror is vastly different from the Horror genre we are used to in the west. Hong Kong horror typically reflects cultural topics, similar to our own horror genre, however cultural differences brings about very different explorations of these topics, some absurd and most of which are vastly unknown to the western audience. These topics include death, religion, politics, economics, class and the supernatural. All of said topics are covered in the film I will talk about “A Chinese Ghost Story” (1987)

In western culture, the dead and death is often a taboo social subject, and so ghosts and the dead are seem among the most terrifying of the supernatural. Popular horror flicks from recent years provide evidence to this as the 'Zombie flick' Genre has exploded with the likes of "The Walking Dead" AMC TV show. Multiple Resident Evil series installations, World War Z, an Evil Dead reboot and even a Pirates of the Caribbean have all taken on the Zombie genre, and films such as Paranormal Activity have shown a surge in ghost oriented horror films in the west. both genres show the afterlife with zombies and ghosts as horrific and a danger to human life. Chinese horror however is much different in the way. while films of ghosts are still popular, spirits play a very different role. they are usually much more set into the mythos of the world and its structure, rather than the breaking of said structure and mythos like the western counterpart.

In Hong Kong Horror, Ghosts are heavily featured. Usually this is not in a horrific way, but the ghosts are more accepted as a norm by folk. This is something completely alien to western cultures, as belief in ghosts is found within the minority, and not considered a hard truth.

In Hong Kong horror, Ghosts seem to be accepted to be as real as people. There even seem to be a set of rules followed when communicating with ghosts, or acting upon or with them.

The two major religions in China are Daoism (Taoism) and Buddhism. Whilst Buddists believe in reincarnation until Nirvana is attains, Daoism states that souls can survive after death, and travel through space.

Daoism was founded in china, whereas Buddhism was founded in india. This may explain Chinese public's openness to ghosts and their existence. while ghosts are still often relentless or evil spirits in Chinese folk lore and film, it is not their mere existence that causes disbelief or mental abrasion but rather the story they tell and the consequences surrounding them.
Magic and curses is also commonplace in eastern culture, especially Chinese, with rife supernatural folklore it is often not warranted to explain the presence or regulations and rules of such feats, unlike in western culture such as Harry Potter, where a clear distinction must be drawn between the 'Magic' world and the one we live in. 
As seen in the clips below, incredible feats can be pulled off with no effort made to explain how seemingly normal human characters can do such things. whereas in western culture, belief cannot so easily be suspened. Lord of The Rings, for example, must explain the character Gandalf is a wizard, not a normal human although his magic seems to be limited to minor clairvoyance and animal communication.

Politics. Hong Kong until 1997 was ruled by Britain. This was very profitable for Hong Kong and economically and industrially, it boomed over the rest of china. This led Hong Kong to have heightened sense of Class over other countries. Foreigners are often depicted as lower, lesser beings, with primitive lives. This can be seen in the film 'The Ebola Syndrome' where Africa is shown to be a poverty ridden 3^rd world country, where people are laying in make shift beds and have no medical competence.

This led to a sense of fear to outsiders, typically depicted in Hong Kong Horror, like in “a Chinese Ghost Story”

There is also a sense of Corruption in the government in this film, as well as an incompetence in the justice system.

Class plays another important factor in this cinema. There is a visual class system at work in Hong Kong Horror films. And this plays a large role against the character in A Chinese Ghost Story.

Hong Kong Horror seems to tackle common problems within culture and throw them against the protagonist.

Story lines in Hong Kong Horror are often loose, and as far as narrative structure goes it is kept simple. As well as this there seems to be some kind of blatancy to watching a Hong Kong Horror film, everything is very obvious and there is little ambiguity involved. 

This is because culture-wise, Chinese cinema goers are radically different to western cinema goes. As it is seen as rude to talk or make noise in a theatre in the UK or US, in Hong Kong, cinemas are a social place where people do go to chat and catch up. This means that the attention payed to the films narrative is minimal, and so whilst dropping in and out of conversation, one must be able to grasp and understanding of current event in a few minuets. This can mean that for western viewers, the film seems a little tedious.

In A Chinese Ghost Story, all of these things are touched upon. And like many Hong Kong Horrors, it seems to suffer an identity crisis when it comes to genre. While Hong Kong Horror does apply some generic horror conventions: Zombies, Darkness, Death and sinister undertones. It also mashes it with slap-stick comedy, Romance and classic Martial Arts “Kung Fu”. At face value this combination would not work. And for the majority of western audience it doesn't. It does however work for those with cultural understanding, and a willingness to be open about how a film should be.