RIGOR MORTIS is a Hong Kong horror movie from youthful director Juno Mak that has been devised as a tribute to Hong Kong horror of old, in particular the MR. VAMPIRE franchise. Many old-time stars of this film series have been cast in supporting roles, so there's a nostalgic, warm glow for Hong Kong cinema buffs that sits at odds with the rather grisly and mean-spirited plotting.
The setting is a derelict apartment building of the kind favoured in Japanese ghost cinema such as DARK WATER (it comes as no surprise that Takashi Shimizu, director of JU-ON: THE GRUDGE, is a producer here). Anthony Chan is the newcomer who moves in only to discover that the building is plagued by both a sinister and aggressive vampire as well as twin ghosts. The latter are borrowed straight from THE GRUDGE with the addition of lots of pretty CGI effects.
What follows is an occasionally confusing story with random scenes interspersed out of linear order and occasionally dodgy plotting. It's definitely a case of style over substance, and the whole thing builds to a flashy and brutal fight scene, nothing more. Yet the CGI is pretty decent, and the sight of old-timers like Richard Ng, Fat Chung, and Kara Hui getting their teeth (sometimes literally) into the material is irresistible, and this is a lot of fun if you're in the right mood.
The setting is a derelict apartment building of the kind favoured in Japanese ghost cinema such as DARK WATER (it comes as no surprise that Takashi Shimizu, director of JU-ON: THE GRUDGE, is a producer here). Anthony Chan is the newcomer who moves in only to discover that the building is plagued by both a sinister and aggressive vampire as well as twin ghosts. The latter are borrowed straight from THE GRUDGE with the addition of lots of pretty CGI effects.
What follows is an occasionally confusing story with random scenes interspersed out of linear order and occasionally dodgy plotting. It's definitely a case of style over substance, and the whole thing builds to a flashy and brutal fight scene, nothing more. Yet the CGI is pretty decent, and the sight of old-timers like Richard Ng, Fat Chung, and Kara Hui getting their teeth (sometimes literally) into the material is irresistible, and this is a lot of fun if you're in the right mood.