Rigor Mortis is a nice smorgasbord for fans of Asian Horror. There's a lot of stuff going on here - ghosts, mysticism/black magic, body horror, vampires (& the requisite vampire hunters), exciting fight scenes, and just good old fashioned murders. But it's all wrapped up in a stylish package that makes it a really exciting watch.
Rigor Mortis starts off with actor Chin Siu-ho who has fallen on hard times, both professionally and personally. He is clearly depressed about the dissolution of his family (he listens to an old recording of his son on his voicemail - although it is never made clear how/why the family broke up), and says he is "tired of smiling" and "I don't want to go on." As we are introduced to him, he is moving into an apartment in a huge, old, decaying building. The florescent lighting, exposed brick, sliding grates in front of the doors, and overwhelming grayness of it all make you think "this would be a great place to kill yourself." Which he promptly sets out to do.
As he hangs himself, we get our first glimpse at the haunted-ness of the building. As the life slips out of him, a demented spirt tries to take over his body. Yau, another resident of the building (who happens to be a retired vampire hunter/mystic) breaks in and cuts him down and fights off the demon. As he goes on with his life, we learn of the ghastly things that have happened in the building which have brought about these evil spirits. Ultimately, Chin Siu-ho and Yau must team up to battle these demonic forces.
This is just the overall gist of the story - there others interwoven in there. There is a lot of focus on Auntie Mui, an elderly woman driven to great extremes while coping with the death of her husband. Also, we have the story of Yeung Feng (Kara Hui) - who was a witness to some of the horrific acts in the building - and her son Pak. Yeung Feng is emotionally scarred and is only living in the building (squatting, more or less) because of the kindness of the building manager.
That sounds like a lot of moving pieces - and it kind of is. In fact, in a lot of way Rigor Mortis plays out more like an anthology, with each of these three stories given time to breathe. But they do all tie together eventually. Ultimately, it's a well told tale and a really good watch.
What I Liked
Director Juno Pak really shot this with style. Even though the building (where the entire movie takes place) is dilapidated and depressing, it's always visually interesting. Every room is very lived in and filled with old dusty knick-knacks or appliances, but there is still a crisp look to things. It's an interesting contrast - one the one hand, the world this takes place in is kind of vibrant and surreal, but on the other it's filled with out-of-date, dying things (in an awesome piece of design work, one character has hundreds and hundreds of dried flowers hanging from her ceiling). It's a tricky balancing act, but the results are great.
There is a ton of legitimately disturbing imagery and ideas in Rigor Mortis. The events that took place in Chin Siu-ho's apartment before he moved in is one of the more troubling violent acts I have come across in a film. And there are some standalone supernatural montages that are incredibly effective (although they are done in a music-video/quick-cut style, so they never really have time to sink in.) Ultimately, it's the balance of real-world and supernatural horrors that really sets Rigor Mortis apart.
The acting was solid across the board too. I loved Anthony Chan as Yau, the old vampire hunter (I hesitate to say retired - he's only not active because there are no vampires around). But he played the grizzled veteran well - his nonchalant, matter-of-fact attitude towards the supernatural was a highlight of the film for me. From looking at imdb it's his first film role in 20 years, and he really seemed to be relishing his time back in the film world. But my favorite was Hee Ching Paw as Auntie Mui - she's got a tough role as an elderly women dealing with the recent loss of her husband. She is driven to do some terrible things, but Paw really sells the raw emotion and the conflict going on inside of her. It's an excellent performance that ends up being the lynchpin for the entire movie.
There's also a mean streak here. *SPOILER* There are a couple deaths that come as a surprise - you kind of think these characters would be "off-limits," or usually are in American movies. But they go there, and rather viciously. Also, the non-supernatural deaths are brutal too. I'm not sure what it is about Asian Horror, but they really have the bludgeoning thing figured out. (Parts of this movie brought to mind I Saw the Devil - the Citizen Kane of bludgeoning to death movies.)
And I didn't realize this until after reading up on it afterwards, but this is essentially a tribute to the Mr. Vampire (1985) and other Hong Kong horror/comedies of that era. You've got many of the same actors, some of whom hadn't been in a film in a long time. I like the meta-ness of it - in fact, lead actor Chin Sio-ho is more or less playing himself in Rigor Mortis (or at least has the same name). Hopefully he isn't as depressed in real life. Not being super familiar with the genre it's hard to say how effective this approach is - but it is certainly another way to honor past films without just making a hard reboot.
What I didn't like
Some of the CGI was a little over the top. Although so much of the film was hyper-stylized, it doesn't stick out too much.
Ultimately
This was just a great horror movie. If you can stomach some pretty twisted stuff and the sort of kitchen-sink approach, I think you'll have a good time with it.
I would highly recommend this movie.
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