Rigor Mortis

The movie "Rigor Mortis" is a Hong Kong horror film from 2013 that pays homage to the eccentric, campy, and supernatural horror films of the East. Juno Mak, a musician turned filmmaker, makes his directorial debut with this film, delivering an unexpectedly fresh and subtly allusive piece of horror cinema.

The film's protagonist is a washed-up actor named Chin Siu-ho (played by himself), who, after a life full of escalating personal trials and tribulations, moves into a gloomily atmospheric public housing estate. This dilapidated complex, with its maze of identical, run-down apartments and eerie inhabitants, serves as the backdrop for the actor’s life and the strange happenings that follow.

The narrative of "Rigor Mortis" hinges on grief, isolation and the supernatural, entwining Chinese folklore and spellbinding visuals. This isn't your typical vampire flick; it unfolds more like a macabre nightmare, defying conventional narrative structures and creating an unsettling film landscape of its own. The movie creates an ambience that's packed with disturbance as well as spiritual allegory, inviting viewers into a world where reality and supernatural horror are blurred.

When the despondent Chin decides to end his life in his new apartment, the suicide attempt is disrupted by the mysterious intervention of Yau (Anthony Chan), a fellow resident and retired vampire hunter. Miraculously spared, Chin becomes drawn into the dark, disturbing world that envelops the building and its occupants. The distraught actor soon realizes that his neighbors are far from normal; they are, in fact, caught in the torment of supernatural forces.

With Kara Hui playing a spiritually powerful woman and Chin Si Po as a supernatural entity, alongside Paw Hee-Ching portraying a grieving widow, Mak injects an all-encompassing horror ambiance into the plot of "Rigor Mortis". Yau takes on the protagonist’s mentor role, attempting to navigate him through a series of chilling sequences of spiritual thrills, cryptic encounters, and horrifying occurrences. These include encounters with the realms of the undead, in particular, jiangshis - hopping corpses in popular Chinese folklore. The public housing estate essentially becomes a haunted house on an epic scale, full of spirits and reanimated bodies, gradually transforming into a supernatural battleground.

The visual metaphors in "Rigor Mortis" are powerfully used to explore themes of death, existence and forms of purgatory through atmospherics, particularly evoking feelings of loss and redemption. Mak’s direction and stylistic proficiency track back to the classic Hong Kong vampire films of the 1980s, showcasing an eerie combination of humor, terror, and tragedy in a spectral narrative.

The cinematography, visual effects, and set design are hauntingly beautiful, capturing the somber mood of the film with perfect precision. Every inch of the screen is awash with an ethereal glow, which further adds to the supernatural and deathly themes of the film. The film's dark palette and atmospheric tension are well accented by eerie silence and strategic use of sound effects.

Arguably, what sets "Rigor Mortis" apart is its ability to subvert conventional Western vampire tropes and reinterpret traditional Asian folklore with a modern, gothic twist. The film is steeped in a melancholic meditation on death, loneliness, and the tormented souls that could linger in our world. While it could be genuinely alarming at certain points, it's also sprinkled with sorrow, reminding us that beneath the terror, there are always tales of tragedy and grief.

“Rigor Mortis” may not fit the typical mold of Western horror cinema, but it's rich in its unique blend of Asian folklore, sumptuous visuals, and layered narrative. This may be Juno Mak's first swing at the genre, but "Rigor Mortis" proves him to be a discerning storyteller with an aptitude for the eerie, and a deep-rooted understanding of what makes a horror film tick, especially within the context of his native Hong Kong. It’s an offbeat, riveting movie that offers a gloomy but imaginative exploration for the fans of supernatural genre cinema. With a starring cast that performs admirably, this unique and mindful tribute to Hong Kong's vampire genre stands as a testament to the depth of Asian supernatural folklore.