Movie Box Review

Shawn Yue Man Lok and Kitty Zhang Yuqi worked together for the first time on a romantic mystery thriller CURSE OF THE DESERTED (FONG CHUEN GUNG YU). They shot on location in Beijing in the dead of winter. Ah Lok toughed out the cold for months as they shot in the mountains. During the period they ran into supernatural events, but he joked, "I was more afraid of the cold and the exhaustion than ghost!"

CURSE's director Law Chi Leung directed KOMA (GAU MING) and INNER SENSES (YI DOH HUNG GAN). Ah Lok revealed that he took the role completely because of Director Law. "I saw INNER and really liked his production style. Working with new people you never know what the result will be like, the feeling is a lot of fun!"

The shoot in Beijing last Winter had Ah Lok begging for mercy. "We lived in the remote mountains, for over a month I stared at the same mountain, the same goat, and the same abandoned house! The weather was cold, even two pairs of wool pants were useless. The dry climate triggered reactions from my trachea and nose, sometimes I even had nosebleeds! When we had our rice boxes, the cold rice could be poked with chopsticks and picked up. Really people could go mad, everyday we counted down to the completion!"

Ah Lok toughed it out but felt that lead actress Zhang Yuqi was even more professional. "In one scene she had to jump down a well. The well went up to the chest. Since I didn't have to go in I tested the water temperature with my finger and the chill already went into my spine! She jumped in without complaining at all and got it done in one take!" Someone joked that they could warm up with intimate scenes. Ah Lok joked, "In the film we only had a peck, if we had to take off our clothes for the intimate scenes, wouldn't we be even colder?"

Aside from the cold, Ah Lok also ran into a supernatural event. "At first when we shot on location, the camera was out of order for no reason. After lighting incenses it was immediately fine! During the first few nights at the hotel, the door locked on its own. I told 'it', 'I came to make a movie and would be in this room for over a month, sorry for the trouble!' then I was fine again! I am used to seeing the strange and not be surprised. Actually I was more afraid of the cold and the exhaustion than the ghost!"

CURSE opened earlier in the Mainland, its box office put Ah Lok at ease. "I know that after 3 days in release it already accumulated 30 million in the Mainland box office. Subjects like CURSE have already had poor response in the Mainland. This performance was enough for me and the director."

The Law Chi Leung directed, Manfred Wong (Man Jun) produced CURSE OF THE DESERTED (FONG CHUEN GUNG YU), a thriller based on a Mainland hit horror novel, will open on August 26 in Hong Kong. Shawn Yue Man Lok in the film played a younger writer who published a thrilling novel titled ABANDONED VILLAGE. Four young people according to the book's instructions went to look for this location and swept into a horrifying and sad love story. Yue Man Lok and Kitty Zhang Yuqi played a former couple who due to the abandoned village ran into each other again.

The film was shot in Beijing in the severe cold, which made director Law Chi Leung and Yue Man Lok begging for mercy. Yue Man Lok was very scared of the cold and truly had a tough time during the shoot. The temperature was only several degrees Celsius below zero, wearing more layers felt just like not wearing them. The most memorable was in one scene when they went into a cave. The cave was very humid and the location was already very horrifying without any created atmosphere. The ending was shot in a real cave outside Beijing, the cave entrance was narrow and low. Transporting the equipment inside already took two hours. Zhang Yuqi even had to be in the water in the cave a dozen or so degree Celsius below zero. Director Law Chi Leung after every take could ask Zhang Yuqi to get out of the water and rest, but Zhang Yuqi would rather wait in the water. She said that the diving suit was useless as it was truly deadly cold. If she left the water though the shoot would have taken longer. Since everyone was braving the cold, she would rather tough it out until all the shooting was completed.

This was Zhang Yuqi's first horror film. She pointed out that making a horror film was even more horrifying than watching a horror film. Because they shot inside that house and a cave that has been abandoned for years, she was truly very afraid. The most horrifying was strange noises could often be heard during the shoot and she was scared out of her wits. Director Law Chi Leung said that he made the strange noises, she did not know whether the director was trying to comfort her. She pointed out that this shoot was very tough. While shooting in the remote mountain region, the location was far from the hotel and had no facilities. However when she saw how hard everyone was working, it was worth all the hardship.

Yue Man Lok and Zhang Yuqi stated that they did not run into anything supernatural, but Zhang Yuqi while shooting the poster accidentally ran into a pole. At the time her eyes were filled with blood but she still had to shoot the poster. Director Law Chi Leung told her to pose with red eyes. Thus her blood shot eyes in the poster were real, the result looked very good and very scary.