Ask for an ancient China horror film.

Sing at midnight! Last century! It is said that its promo also scared a little girl to death. . . . China's first horror movie

I think it was taken in Shanghai 1937. The bonfire in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression has burned all over China, but the concession area here is still in a corner because of Japanese fear of Europe and America, and the gates of the bustling cinemas are still crowded. On this day, a movie named "China's First Exciting and Horrible Movie" was released, and words such as "gloomy" and "fine hair" filled the film's description. Although we all know that this is another advertising stunt of Zhang Shankun, the boss of Xinhua Film Company, we still can't help but go to the gate of the cinema to find out-it doesn't matter, and it will kill us: between the New World and the International Hotel in the city center, there is an eight-story huge poster of this film. On the poster screen, the hero and heroine are holding hands with their eyes wide open. At the bottom of the picture, there is an old man with a chicken skin and a crane hair, hunched over and holding a candle. What is even more frightening is that it didn't take long for the lower corner of the poster to crack. When the wind blows, the old man holding the candle shakes back and forth, as if he had life. It is said that a girl who passed by at that time was scared out of her wits and soon died (a mother and son)-the truth of the news can't be verified, but folk rumors have already been raging. Of course, this has once again saved a lot of publicity funds for Zhang Shankun (from this point of view, Zhang Shankun can be called the originator of Deng Jianguo and Song Zude). This movie is not red. It sold out as soon as it was released, and became the highest-grossing domestic film of the year, setting a miracle in the film history of China.

This film is the pioneering work of China's horror film-Midnight Singing.

A Midnight Song by Weibang Ma Xu is a remake of Phantom of the Opera starring Lon Chaney. Weibang Ma Xu never evaded this point, but he recreated the film with genius, which is recognized as the "author film" in Weibang Ma Xu's film history.

The birth of "Midnight Singing" was not smooth sailing. First of all, the film censors of the Kuomintang government at that time strictly controlled such works involving horror and monsters. For example, a number of world-renowned horror films at that time, such as Frankenstein (directed by james will), The Secret of the Wax Museum (directed by Michael cortese) and Vampire (directed by Carl Dreyer), were all overwhelmed by the censors, and some films even encountered difficulties. In order to better adapt to China's national conditions, this "Oriental Langnaique" has traveled back and forth to Tian Han by train many times, in order to let the playwright polish the script better. Musically, Weibang Ma Xu found a later "people's musician" Xi Xinghai to compose music, which made the three episodes of the movie "Midnight Singing", "Hot Blood" and "Yellow River Love" all sung for a while, and the lyrics were "People accompany lonely lights, and bangzi knocks midnight. Who will wait for the dawn with me in this long night? Only your eyes can see through my life, and only your heart can understand my heart ... "This became a common phrase in young love books at that time.

The plot of "Singing at Midnight" has made considerable changes to the plot and dialogue of the characters. Wei Bang tells us a human tragedy about the life and death of love with its skillful oriental sentiment: Song Danping, the hero of the play, fell in love with Li, the daughter of the big landlord, but was blocked by his father and framed by the bully Tang Jun, who also instructed someone to burn his face with sulfuric acid. From then on, Song Danping had no face to see anyone, so he had to hide in the top floor of the theater and find someone to lie about his death to cut off Xiao Xia's thoughts. However, after Li learned that he was insane, the two could never meet again. However, although Song Danping's face was ruined, her voice remained the same. Every night, she can't help singing, and Li, who lingers in the theater, often gets comfort from her singing. Ten years later, the young actor Sun Xiaoou met Song Danping, who not only helped Sun Xiaoou in art, but also instructed him to comfort Xiao Xia. Soon Tang Jun insulted and shot the troupe actress Green Butterfly in the theater, and Song Danping jumped from the upstairs to fight with it. Tang slipped and died, and Song Danping was swallowed up by the flame. ...

After the film was released, it won a huge box office, but it was mixed in the critics. At that time, many film critics thought that this film not only copied Lon Chaney's Phantom of the Opera in the plot (it is estimated that none of these film critics have seen Lon Chaney's version, and the difference between the two films can never be suspected of plagiarism), but also imitated another film "The Mystery of the Mansion" in the modeling and action design of the heroine Xiao Xia (it is not surprising that women in both films are crazy and their behaviors are similar). As for the part where Song Danping finally died in the fire, he directly copied the part where Boris Clive was burned to death by angry villagers in Frankenstein (God knows what these critics think, can all the movie characters in the last movie only be drowned? )。 However, these criticisms did not drown out the real value of this film. Weibang Ma Xu has been working with a serious attitude in Singing at Midnight. He didn't use those supernatural forces to simply create the horror atmosphere of the whole movie, but gave the movie greater social significance. Through the love tragedy of young men and women, he reflected the feudal forces' imprisonment and strangulation of free thought. What is more noteworthy is that when the film was released-in fact, there was a huge wave of horror films in the European and American film markets throughout the 1930s. Judging from the audience's psychology, this wave is naturally inseparable from the tension of the current situation-the plot of "Midnight Singing" only metaphorically reflects the ferocious face of the Japanese invaders, and Song Danping's heroic struggle and Sun Xiaoou's awakening and growth coincide with the people's anti-Japanese consciousness.

Jinshan, the star of the film, also contributed. Originally, Weibang Ma Xu planned to play Song Danping himself, but one thing, the boss Zhang Shankun firmly opposed it. Secondly, he tried several times in front of the mirror, but it was always unsatisfactory. Finally, he had to find the drama actor Jinshan. Jinshan's performance in the film can be described as superb and complete. Although his face was horribly distorted by the director (Weibang Ma Xu carefully created this horrible shape with candle oil), his inner purity and kindness were clearly conveyed to the screen through body language, which made the audience get more spiritual shock from the role.

The success of "Singing at Midnight" indicates that horror movies as a genre have officially entered the forest of China movies. Although there have been some horror movies in the domestic film circle before, it is difficult to be classified as a complete horror movie. It should be said that horror movies really established a genre in China film circle from the beginning of "Midnight Singing".

The success of Midnight Singing has brought great fame to Weibang Ma Xu. Since then, under the title of "the great director of horror films", he has successively filmed The Walking Dead in My Old House (1938), Leng Yue's Poetic Soul (1938), Leprosy Girl (1939) and Yuanyang. Especially in 194 1, Weibang Ma Xu also directed the sequel to Midnight Singing, which continued the story of midnight singing in a new way. However, many of Weibang Ma Xu's works were shot during the "isolated island" period (after the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and before the outbreak of the Pacific War) and the occupation period, which became an excuse for many people to accuse him after the war. In addition, his later films such as Haitang were not popular, so Weibang Ma Xu immigrated to Hong Kong on 1947. Since then, although he directed several films, the response was mediocre. Later, it was even more bleak, and it was reduced to living on welfare.

However, as an excellent theme, midnight song has never been forgotten by the latecomers. As early as 1962 and 1963, Hong Kong Shaw Company successively remake the Nocturnal and the sequel of Nocturnal directed by Chiu Feng Yuan. In the list of two remakes, Weibang Ma Xu's name was written directly in the screenwriter column. In 1985, Yang Yanjin is the director and Zhai Naishe plays Song Danping. I believe many friends over the age of 30 have left unforgettable horror memories for this film. Today, the most influential and well-made "Midnight Singing" is of course the 1995 version directed by Yu Rentai and starring Leslie Cheung. Yu Rentai has always been known as a genius, and his kung fu in making horror movies has even attracted Hollywood's attention, especially the director "Midnight Singing". Generally speaking, the editing of the film "Midnight Singing" is very smooth, and the use of light is natural and harmonious. In particular, the performance of many dark scenes reveals an unspeakable sense of tension in exquisiteness. The profound scenes and the flow of the plot complement each other, and the whole film is done in one go. When it is scary, it will scare your hair, and when it is moving, it will make you cry. It can be said that under the guidance of director Yu Rentai, the sound, light and color of "A Midnight Song" are perfectly combined.

Of course, my brother's wonderful performance is indispensable. In addition to playing the leading role of Song Danping, my brother also personally served as the executive producer of this film, which shows his deep love for this film. The natural tragic temperament in Brother coincides with that of Song Danping, which makes people suspect that Tian Han's book was written to him more than 50 years ago. With the help of modern technology, my brother can perform more easily. My brother is a multi-pronged attack of film, film and song. He can perform and sing in a work, which is even more hearty. You know, my brother had already bid farewell to the music scene for many years. For those fans who are eager to wear it, this is a rare music feast. Whenever Song Danping's songs echo in the theater, it's like watching his brother's concert clips, his feelings, scenery and people. The beauty and elegance of my brother also reflect the temperament of Song Danping from the inner level of the characters. In fact, for the perfect effect, my brother recorded live in Mandarin during the performance, which is really rare in Hong Kong movies. And my brother's clear eyes, even when the close-up shot is close-up to Song Danping's face, let the audience feel the sadness and helplessness from the depths of the soul after the initial panic. In addition, both Du Yunyan (original Li) and Wei Qing's Huang Lei (original Sun Xiaoou) gave the audience an unforgettable and amazing glimpse, while the sad side showed Du Yunyan's misfortune. Huang Lei, a college graduate, is full of books, just in line with the identity of Wei Qing, a cutting-edge theater actor. I remember when Mr. Huang was young, his long hair was fluttering, and he was not lost when he stood beside his brother. Song Danping chose Wei Qing as his spokesperson, and naturally the actor who played the latter should not be too weak. At this point alone, Mr. Huang's performance is excellent.

196 1 year, Weibang Ma Xu, who was down and out, walked across a street as usual, but heard a strange sound. At this time, the old director hesitated and suddenly saw a tram coming, and the poor generation of horror film directors died. And his death, his auditory hallucinations, whether it was suicide or accident, is still a mystery.

On April Fool's Day in 2003, my brother jumped off the roof, and his true feelings have been revealed so far, which is puzzling. Since then, not only has no one been able to reproduce the beauty and gracefulness of Song Danping (Ping) on the big screen, but even a great director's work has not found a suitable candidate-think about the finished Duke of the North and Mei Lanfang being filmed, which one is not tailored for my brother?