Hong Kong pop singer turned actor, Juno Mak, has spent the last year working on his directorial debut, the horror film Rigor Mortis. Now an eerie yet beautiful teaser trailer has finally been released.

From Kudos Films, Rigor Mortis is a tribute to the Chinese hopping vampire (Jiangshi) films of the 1980s. As well as being written by Mak, one of the producers is the Japanese horror maestro of The Grudge, Takashi Shimizu.

If you’ve seen the classic Mr. Vampire then not only will you recognise a few familiar sights (notably a hopping vampire, long nails and an ofuda in use), but the trailer also features one of the stars of that film, Chin Siu-ho, as well as using a somewhat haunting version the song Gwai San Neung (Ghost Bride) playing in the background. Whereas that film was a light blend of comedy and horror, Rigor Mortis is dropping the laughs in favour of gore and scares.

Chin Siu-ho stars as a former vampire-hunting actor, a washed-up star who has reached the end of the line. Down on his luck and with barely a dollar to his name, he checks into a housing estate, room 2442. Intending to end his life, Siu-ho finds himself interrupted by the other inhabitants of the estate, such as the Taoist master-exorcist Yau (Anthony Chan), the housewife with a tragic past Yeung (Kara Hui), as well as the kind elderly woman Mui (Nina Paw), who for some reason has an empty coffin hanging in the middle of her apartment. Siu-ho soon finds himself fighting for his life, dealing not only with the living, but also the dead, in the guise of ghosts, vampires and zombies.

With a considerable amount of gore this trailer may be considered quite disturbing for some, so watch at your own discretion.

Rigor Mortis will be released in Hong Kong later this year, with Fortissimo Films having picked up the rights to distribute the film internationally.

Source: via Twitch

Originally published on MCM Buzz on 29 June 2013.