Watch Rigor Mortis

In the 2013 Hong Kong horror film Rigor Mortis, veteran actor Chin Siu-Ho plays himself as a washed-up version of the martial arts superstar he once was. The film takes place in a rundown housing complex where Siu-Ho rents a small apartment, hoping to start anew with his young son after his wife's untimely death. The first half of the movie sets a bleak and sorrowful tone, as Siu-Ho struggles to find work and his past as a celebrity seems all but forgotten.

One day, the ex-star is befriended by some of the residents of the Tenement building. There’s Auntie Mui (Kara Wai), a suspicious but kind-hearted neighbor who cooks for the residents and knows all of the grim secrets of the place; Uncle Yau (Richard Ng), who wants to help Siu-Ho get back on his feet and also shares a curious interest with the supernatural; and finally, two siblings, siblings Gau and Yin (Mo Junjie and Leung Siu-hung), who roam the building and are known as the 'Twin Dragons'. The four soon discover a vacant flat in the building with a haunted past, where one of the former residents died in a gruesome suicide, and then things start to go downhill.

Meanwhile, a strange man in black (Philip Keung) moves into the Tenement building and begins a series of dark rituals involving spells, talismans, and offerings, which awaken some malevolent spirits lurking in the old building. From this point on, the film shifts into overdrive, with the gaudy, medieval-style art direction transforming the Tenement building into a malevolent maze-like lair where the supernatural forces prey upon the living.

Rigor Mortis might be the most melancholic horror movie out there. The visuals are stunning, the acting is top-notch, the themes and topics are difficult and dense, and the film takes you to unexpected and dark places. Moreover, this is a horror movie as much for the fans of the original Hong Kong horror classics as it is for new audiences not familiar with the genre. The movie uses some of the historical tropes of Asian ghost stories and myths, but it does so with such skill that you don't need to know about them beforehand to appreciate the film.

The cinematography and action sequences are remarkably designed with grandeur and artistry. The color palette is bleak and the overall color scheme of the film is sepia-toned, which adds to the bleak atmosphere. The CG effects are minimal and there are some gore scenes which are well-done and satisfy the horror lover's cravings.

The story is divided into several subplots, and while it may be hard to follow for some in the first half of the film, the narrative thickens as it progresses, culminating in a grand finale of the overlapping storylines which pays off all the questions that arose in the previous acts. There’s somewhat of a love triangle between Siu-Ho, Auntie Mui, and the addict, Yau, who is obsessed with the paranormal, but all the stories come together beautifully in the end.

Rigor Mortis is a ghost story to its core, but it is also an homage to the golden age of Hong Kong cinema, particularly martial arts horror films from the 80s and 90s. The film draws on themes of life, death, and karma, but does so in a uniquely iconoclastic way. From the costumes, the music, and the lighting, the film captures the irreplaceable essence of the Hong Kong cinema style that audiences all over the world have come to love.

Overall, Rigor Mortis is an exquisite film that fights against the grain of classic horror films with its melancholic tone and organic visuals. Director Juno Mak has a gripping and suspenseful style, taking the genre on a trip to new places. It is intense, scary, and emotional. The film invites all horror film lovers to look beyond the generic Hollywood offerings and experience something truly unique: a great work of art melding the past, the present, and the future of what horror cinema can achieve.

Rigor Mortis is a 2014 horror movie with a runtime of 1 hour and 41 minutes. It has received moderate reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 6.3 and a MetaScore of 53.