Yao ye hui lang (2003)

Director:

Chi Chiu Lee

Writers:

Chi Chiu Lee (novel)
Chi Chiu Lee (written by)

Release Date:

21 August 2003 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot Keywords:

Inner Demon | Goya | Darkness | Painting | Stepfather Adult Stepson Relationship

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Daniel Wu	...	Sam Yuen / Ah Hung
Kara Hui	...	Sam's Mother (as Ying Hung Wai)
Feng Ku	...	Mr. Luk (as Fung Kuk)
Eddy Ko	...	Father Chan
Allan Wu	...	Vincent Sze
Coco Chiang	...	Chan Sau Bing / Girl
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anthony Fernandez	...	Singh - Sam's Stepfather
Chi Chiu Lee	...	Mysterious Man (as Julian Lee)
David Smith	...	Curator

Also Known As:

Night Corridor (Hong Kong: English title)
Yiu yau wooi long (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
Corredor Macabro (Brazil) (festival title) [pt]

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:(Banned) | Hong Kong:III

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Golden Gate Production

Trivia:

Daniel Wu brought his friend Jun Kung in to do the soundtrack.

Pop Culture Take on Old School Stalwarts

When one grisly morning his phone rings, starving artist Sam Yuen (Daniel Wu) couldn't have been less prepared. An unrecognizable voice claims his twin had been severely injured, urging Sam to pack up and leave London for HK. Feeling obligated, the destitute painter somehow makes his way back, only to be informed of the twin's unfortunate demise. As if such grim tidings weren't enough, he finds his alcoholic mom deranged out of her wits.

Understandably stymied by these events of the macabre, Sam seeks answers, stepping into realms of HP Lovecraftian proportions. Everyone he literally bumps into have some dark secret or other dangling over their heads menacingly, including his former school teacher and priest, a classmate turned radio celebrity and a creepy librarian any idiot could tell would be best avoided.

Disturbing facts pertaining to Sam's twin surface, some through an alleged ex-girlfriend (Coco Chiang) who promptly proceeds to engage the new arrival in startling fornication. It transpires the twin was mauled by feral monkeys at a local zoo, but above all else, conflicting information hints at a severe identity crises as Sam begins to wonder which of the two brothers actually died.

Author-director Julian Lee wanted a Gothic, slightly grotesque atmosphere, shooting for one by incorporating sickly elements such as sexual deviance, paranoid delusions and murder. Sadly for him, the end result resembles more those pseudo-scary HK ghost flicks, albeit a very slick one at that. Despite tons of intellectual contrivances and direct references to Henry Fuseli's blunt imagery in his classic painting The Nightmare, Night Corridor doesn't reach lofty heights as did Seven, Twelve Monkeys and Memento, to name a few possible points of inspiration. However, it probably will work to raise Daniel Wu's career from its current mire following mediocre ho-hum appearances in both Love Undercover films, Naked Weapon and the atrocious Peeping.

Scant few locations and a short runtime probably stand as Night Corridor's main asset, not only constructing a viable ambiance but additionally helping put the simple story within an appropriately brief context. Any longer and the whole caboodle would come crashing down.

Rating: * * *