The early-to-mid nineties were a transitional period for Hong Kong cinema. The fortunes of 1994’s THE RETURING (Dang cheuk nei wooi loi), a little-known product of the HK horror industry, appear to have been affected by that transition—and also the fact that the genre as a whole was experiencing a downturn.
THE RETURNING joined THE THIRD FULL MOON/Zheng yue shi wu zhi yi sheng yi shi (1994–a sequel to the previous year’s THOU SHALT NOT SWEAR/Chat yuet sap sei), a spooky sleuth film whose lineage can be traced back to THE CHINESE GHOST STORY/Sien lui yau wan (1987). That seminal film initiated a Hong Kong subgenre that’s still extant today: the Ghostly Romance, into which THE RETURNING fits quite well.
“Single Eyed Cheung” (HK superstar Tony Leung) is a book editor looking to put together an anthology of writings by Siu Lau (Wu Chien-Lien), a reclusive novelist who committed suicide in 1949. Cheung movies into Lau’s house, which is said to be haunted, together with his GF Elaine (Wu Chien-Lien, again). Needless to say, weirdness becomes apparent immediately, with strange noises and ghostly presences plaguing Elaine, and the young daughter of their friend Julia (Sandra Kwan Yue Ng) acting strangely during a night with “auntie” Elaine.
It seems that Lau’s unquiet spirit is extant in the house, and comes to possess the stay-at-home Elaine while Cheung is at work. Even more shocking is the fact that Cheung seems to prefer Elaine-as-Lau to Elaine in her natural state, encouraging her to dress like the dead woman (a la VERTIGO) for a photo shoot. Even Julia comes to notice Cheung’s increasingly aloof, obsessive air, and tries to lure him back to reality. Lau’s spirit, however, is besotted with Cheung, who asks “Do you think possessing someone means you love him?” Apparently so!
The haunted house drama of THE RETURNING’s first half, consisting largely of off-screen banging and moaning, is pretty routine. So too the details of Elaine’s possession by Siu, although the suggestion that Elaine might be pretending to be possessed in order to curry favor with her BF (enhanced by the fact that both possessor and possessed are played by the same actress) adds some originality.
The film is extremely fast paced (although by traditional Hong Kong movie standards it’s fairly stately), and graced with stylish and imaginative blue-filtered visuals. Director Chi Leung ‘Jacob’ Cheung (CAGEMAN) and cinematographer Arthur Wong (ARMOR OF GOD) effectively foreground objects, including a mannequin that memorably assumes center frame in one scene and numerous shots viewed through broken glass and barred windows.
Cheung also works hard to render the formulaic narrative lively and interesting, as in a compound dream sequence in which the protagonist appears to die, and awakens, multiple times. Tony Leung is quite charismatic in a role that makes the most of his movie star status, and a film that works well as an eccentric possession drama, even though it fizzles as a haunted house chiller.
One more thing: the image quality of the RETURNING print currently circulating online (sourced from the 1994 Tai Seng VHS) is horrendous, with soft focus and desaturated color values making it difficult to properly judge the quality of the lighting and special effects. A reappraisal of this film is clearly in order, but a better print will have to be found.
Vital Statistics
THE RETURING
United Filmmakers Organization
Director: Chi Leung ‘Jacob’ Cheung
Producer: Chi-Ngai Lee
Screenplay: Chi Leung ‘Jacob’ Cheung, Chi-Ngai Lee, Raymond To
Cinematography: Arthur Wong
Editing: Siu-Hei Cheung
Cast: Tony Leung, Chien-Lien Wu, Sandra Kwan Yue Ng, Joyce Cheung, Pui-Wah Cheung, Tang Cheung, Alexander Chan, Hau-Sau Chan, Chi Man Ho, Fredric Mao, Tung Cho ‘Joe’ Cheung