3 of Twilight of the Warriors director Soi Cheang’s early horror films that show his gift
Soi Cheang Pou-soi’s first horror films were very low-budget and relied on clever use of cameras and cuts instead of special effects
We recall three of the director’s notable early releases.
1. Horror Hotline … Big Head Monster
Cheang had garnered some attention with the idiosyncratic, ultra-low-budget horror film Diamond Hill in 2000, but it was 2001’s Horror Hotline … Big Head Monster that made his name.
It impressed Hong Kong critics because it was a straight-up horror that did not feel the need to mix genres. There was no romance and, most noticeably, none of the distracting comedy often used between scary scenes.
Taking his cue from US horror films like The Blair Witch Project, which he frequently references, Cheang’s only aim was to shock.
In spite of the strange goings on, the film takes its cue from an urban myth surrounding a mythical mutant baby with a massive head that was allegedly concealed from the Hong Kong public by British colonial authorities.