For Hong Kong movies, 1980 is a year worth remembering. This year, a groundbreaking film was born, that is, "Ghost Fighting", written, directed and starred by Sammo Hung, with a box office of more than 5.6 million, ranking among It ranked among the top four of the year, setting a

For Hong Kong movies, 1980 is a year worth remembering. A groundbreaking film was born in this year, that is "Ghost Fighting Ghost " written, directed and starred by Sammo Hung , 560 With a box office of over RMB 10,000, it ranked among the top four of the year, setting a box office record for Hong Kong horror films.

"Ghostbusters" was groundbreaking not only in terms of box office. The most important significance of this "hodgepodge" horror film is that it spawned a sub-genre of horror films, which has been popular for several years and has produced many classics. Zombie movie.

1, Baohe Company's "test work"

1980 was a turning point for Sammo Hung: before that, he worked for Jiahe Company , and had multiple identities as a martial arts instructor, actor, and director. Now with the support of Jiahe Company Under this circumstance, Sammo Hung was able to establish Baohe Film Company, which was regarded as the realization of a long-cherished wish for many years.

When many film companies were first established, they often "tested the waters" with horror films and comedies with relatively small investments. Everyone was happy with the profits and the losses were not too miserable. "Ghost Fighting Ghost" is Baohe's first film. The movie is Sammo Hung's "testing the waters".

Before the appearance of "Ghostbusters", Hong Kong horror films followed the routine of traditional horror films, which were often more scary than entertaining. It was difficult to attract a wide audience and had always been a niche genre.

Sammo Hung saw this, so he chose to go eccentric, and creatively blended horror films with popular genres such as kung fu films and comedies in "Ghostbusters" to create seemingly unrelated films. The mix and match successfully made horror movies "break the circle".

"Ghost Fighting" has many creepy scenes. The abominable female ghost in the mirror and the rotting corpse crawling with maggots are both an inheritance of the routines of traditional horror films and a strong cult atmosphere.

At the same time, Sammo Hung uses a gag comedy style to dispel the horror. For example, Sammo Hung’s classic red boy look is from this film. Sammo Hung, who is tall and round, can actually act as a cute and cute child. It must be said that his acting skills are amazing.

It is worth mentioning that many horror films in Hollywood during the same period also used a "comedy + horror" genre mix, such as "The Living Zombie", "The Evil Dead", etc. This also proves that it is known as "Oriental Hollywood" Hong Kong movies do have something in common with Hollywood.

The success of "Ghost Fighting" won Baohe Company's reputation. Since then, it has produced " People Scare Ghosts ", " Mr. Zombie ", " Oriental Condor ", " Summer Lucky Star " and other films. , clearly reflects Baohe's strategy of combining kung fu movies and zombie movies, and has made a mark in the Hong Kong film industry.

2. Golden Supporting Cast

As a "old actor" who has been working hard for many years, Sammo Hung has accumulated a lot of prestige in the industry, so this "Ghost Fighting" also attracted many stars.

Zhong Fa, who plays Mr. Xu Zhenren, Zhang DaDa’s master, is a member of the "Hong Family Class". He is also a fellow student with Lin Zhengying. has been in movies for many years and has basically only appeared in supporting roles, especially those villains, who have basically become Zhong Fa. The character ID issued.

In 2013, Chung Fat, who had been retired for many years, played the role of "Uncle Nine" in Mak Jun Long 's " Zombie ", which was undoubtedly a tribute to the legend of zombie movies, Lin Zhengying.

Lin Zhengying also stars in "Ghost Fighting Ghost", but at this time he is not the famous Jiu Shu, but a sinister and vicious policeman.

Lin Zhengying in the film is completely a villain. He colludes with Mr. Tan in an attempt to murder Zhang Dazhen. However, he seems to be cold and cruel, but he is actually a paper tiger who is tough on the outside and soft on the inside. In the end, he is beaten by officers and soldiers controlled by Xu Zhenren.

But among the golden supporting roles, the most surprising one is that the actor is Yuan Biao. The rotting corpse in the film is played by him. It is a completely "disfigured performance", which is enough to compete with "Mr. Zombie" The in Yuanhua is comparable.

3. Smooth action scenes

In addition to the horror and comedy elements in the film, in fact, the most commendable thing about "Ghost Fighting" is the exquisite action scenes.

Hong Jiaban escorted the film's action scenes. The fight scenes in the film were all beautifully and solidly executed, and every move was a true kung fu showdown, making people watch it heartily.

In the Ma family ancestral hall, the showdown between Sammo Hung and zombies is a classic. One person and one corpse come and go, and the "zombie-like" movements are sharp and somewhat funny, adding a humorous atmosphere to this thrilling fight.

There is also a scene of fighting with officers and soldiers in a tavern. Sammo Hung holds a bench against the swords of the officers and soldiers, and makes the clumsy bench move smoothly, which is very pleasing to the eye.

As professionals say, "Ghost Fighting" is disguised as a horror film, but it is actually a variant of a kung fu film. In an era when traditional kung fu films are declining, such an innovative combination will undoubtedly inject more possibilities into Hong Kong films.

4. Create a brilliant zombie movie

As the first of zombie movies, "Ghost Fighting" laid many classic models for subsequent zombie movies, such as the strange talk about strange powers and chaotic gods and the magic of Qimen to escape armor, especially the costumes in the film Zombies in official uniforms of the Qing Dynasty have become the "standard feature" of zombie movies.

Even Sammo Hung would never have imagined that his "test of the waters" would make zombie movies so popular in the next ten years. After seeing the box office success of "Ghostbusters", many film companies have joined the zombie movie industry. in the process of creation.

For example, the " Happy Ghost " series produced by New Art City company also focuses on comedy elements. Huang Baiming 's Happy Ghost broke the "brutal" impression of zombies with its kind and cute image. The first part of the series received as much as 17 million After the box office hit, this series was filmed for four more films until it came to an end in 1991.

But the most classic ones are the series of zombie films starring Lin Zhengying. He took over the mantle of zombie films from Sammo Hung and carried it forward. Even later, during the most difficult period of zombie films, he single-handedly supported the afterglow of this genre. This skill is very powerful. The ghost hunter is an indispensable "soul figure" in zombie movies.

Although today's Sammo Hung is no longer young, and the zombie movies he pioneered have long since declined, he and his classic works will not fade after all, and will evoke people's beautiful memories of Hong Kong movies at any time. (Written by Pipi Xia)