Taoists believe our lives are governed by yin and yang, opposite yet complementary energies. People with “yin yang eyes” are said to be able to see and interact with beings beyond the earthly realm; some can get a glimpse of their past selves or previous incarnations.
The girl’s unsettling power causes her to be able to foretell people’s deaths, and she becomes unable to tell the difference between the living and the dead. The twist comes when Mun travels to Thailand to find out more about her donor, who had the ability to see impending deaths and disasters – which caused others to turn against her.
With its tension-filled score, non-linear storytelling and use of mazelike hallways and claustrophobic lifts, the film invites the viewer to step into a disturbing visual realm.
2. Incantation (2022), directed by Kevin Ko
While visiting a mountain clan that practises esoteric Buddhist rituals in Yunnan, southwest China, the lead female character, Li Ronan (played by Tsai Hsuan-yen), and her ghost-hunting team break a taboo and are cursed by the clan’s mysterious deity, the Mother Buddha.
After her six-year-old child shows signs of being cursed, Li returns to the strange clan to try to lift the curse. What follows is a horrifyingly dark quest that examines religious practices that veer towards the occult, such as human sacrifices, the carving of runes on flesh and hypnotic chanting.
The film, based on the real story of a family in Taiwan that claimed to be possessed by demons in 2005, plays on the use of fear in superstition – particularly the idea that one can relieve one’s fears by spiritual means and “expelling demons”.
3. Mr Vampire (1985), directed by Ricky Lau
About a village reburial that accidentally resurrects a jiangshi, and the Taoist priest (played by Lam Ching-ying) who sets out to take it down, Mr Vampire combines horror and slapstick comedy.
It spawned a whole genre of jiangshi films, from dramas such as Lam Ching-ying’s Vampire vs. Vampire (1989) to more recent films such as Juno Mak’s Rigor Mortis (2013) – see below.
4. A Chinese Ghost Story (1987), directed by Tony Ching Siu-tung
After Cheung’s character, Ning Choi-san, stays in a haunted temple for a night, he encounters the otherworldly and attractive ghost Nip Siu-sin (Wong).
At first, he does not believe what he has seen, but he is eventually drawn back to the ghostly woman and falls in love with her. After learning that dark forces might be threatening her, he devises a plan with a Taoist priest (Wu Ma) to save her.
The film blends genres such as fantasy, horror, romance and martial arts to weave a spellbinding narrative, and shows how romance can transcend individual stubbornness.
5. Rigor Mortis (2013), directed by Juno Mak
Rigor Mortis director Juno Mak, who admitted in an interview to enjoying the Mr Vampire franchise as a child, casts various actors from the series in his film.
The setting – a haunted mansion filled with ghouls, Taoist exorcists and jiangshi – is nothing groundbreaking and contains references to popular films like The Shining (1980). Nevertheless, Mak’s film offers a nuanced commentary on human nature; the story revolves around a husband (Chin Siu-ho) who turns suicidal after his wife’s death and explores loss and grief, and how they can drive a person insane.