Thrilling Eve
夜幕惊魂
China, 2013, colour, 2.35:1, 85 mins.
Director: Ding Xiaoyang 丁小洋.
Rating: 4/10.
Comedy horror, set in 1930s Shanghai at an actress’ mansion, is not as funny as it tries hard to be.
STORY
Shanghai, sometime in the 1930s. Three years ago, four people were killed and two injured in a cinema massacre by a deranged fan, Zhu San (Huang Fei); imprisoned, he has now escaped in order to kill actress Xia Sisi (Wu Peici), of whom he is a fan. Xia Sisi has just had a new film released and is to attend a film awards ceremony tomorrow, which could make her a major star. Plainclothes police detective Huo (Lian Jin) reckons the best way to catch Zhu San is to stick close to Xia Sisi. She is driven home from her premiere by a new driver, Han (Zhang Han), who is the only member of staff she has left. That evening, at home in her mansion, she is suddenly visited by three unwelcome suitors, all bearing gifts: Charlie Wang (Zhang Lunshuo), a Chinese American business manager; Beile, aka Uncle Gui (Tao Hai), a Manchurian noble; and Huang Niluo (Chunyu Shanshan), owner of a chain of seafood restaurants. After Xia Sisi has sent Han out for some takeaway food, Huo and his sidekick Xiaozhang (Zheng Chuli) arrive and introduce themselves; as her mansion is in one of Shanghai’s international concessions, they can only observe and not take any direct action. Han comes back with food and finds a body in the kitchen; it’s a fan, Xiaocai (Zhao Yingjun), who followed her home. Xia Sisi manages to keep it hidden from Huo, and he and Xiaozhang then leave. She later confides in Huang Niluo, but the body has now disappeared from the kitchen. It later turns up in her bath. Charlie Wang then comes to her room and accidentally kills himself in her bathroom. He’s followed by Beile, who accidentally chokes to death. Han has the idea of moving the bodies to an adjacent stoor room; this is actually in Chinese territory, as the borderline runs through her property. But Huang then comes to her room, so she sends him off on a wild goose chase. Xia Sisi explains to Han how Xiaocai came to accidentally die in her kitchen, but their plans to hide all the bodies are successively upset by Huang returning via the store room, a funeral company arriving to conduct funeral rites, and Huo thinking he’s recognised Zhu San in disguise.
REVIEW
The directing debut of Sichuan-born scriptwriter Ding Xiaoyang 丁小洋, then 31, who’d previously written office comedy Kill the Boss 小鱼吃大鱼 (2012) and was to go on to co-write the more notable Hunt Down 长安道 (2019) as well as direct sci-fi puzzler Double 双鱼陨石 (2020), Thrilling Eve 夜幕惊魂 is a knockabout comedy of errors set in 1930s Shanghai that’s never as funny as it tries hard to be. The penultimate film (and sole lead role) of now-retired Taiwan actress-model Wu Peici 吴佩慈, it’s an okay time-waster but not much more. Mainland box office was a tiny RMB3 million.
Then in her mid-30s, Wu had been making a minor mark in Mainland rom-com supporting roles (Go Lala Go! 杜拉拉升职记, 2010; The Perfect Match 终极匹配, 2010; A Wedding Invitation 分手合约, 2013) but, though she’s sparky throughout, Thrilling Eve shows she’s not quite up to carrying a comedy in the lead role. As a successful film actress who finds several fans dropping dead at her home one evening, she’s good at playing the simpering star as well as the ambitious one, but it’s not a big enough performance to hold the film together amid all the other over-acting.
With most of the farce-like action set in her large mansion – richly appointed by art director Ma Shiqi 马士棋 (Scheme with Me 双城计中计, 2012) and atmospherically shot by prestigious d.p. Luo Pan 罗攀 – it’s very much an ensemble picture as people rush to and fro and bodies turn up here and there. Mainland actor Zhang Han 张翰, 28, then largely known for TV, brings a touch of calmness as the actress’ well-organised driver; other roles are basically hammy, including a police detective with a Sherlock Holmes pipe. Though the script’s set-up is intriguing, it soon ties itself up in Gordian Knots as it flashes backwards and forwards to explain events; the final half-hour is particularly strung-out, with VFX and various crazed developments, plus even a late-on attempt by Ding and his name co-writers (Zhao Ben 赵犇, Zhao Meng 赵梦) to probe the mentality of demented fandom.
The very generic Chinese title roughly means “Panic at Nightfall”.
CREDITS
Presented by Star Sky (Beijing) Culture Communication (CN), Beijing Tiger Pictures Entertainment (CN). Produced by Star Sky (Beijing) Culture Communication (CN).
Script: Ding Xiaoyang, Zhao Ben, Zhao Meng. Photography: Luo Pan. Editing: Wei Nan. Music: Zhao Yingjun. Art direction: Ma Shiqi. Styling: Liu Shuxia. Costumes: Zhu Runsen. Sound: Wang Shuowei, Chen Yan. Action: Sang Sen. Visual effects: Guai Tou, Jin Ru, Wei Nan, You Tao.
Cast: Wu Peici (Xia Sisi), Zhang Han (Han/Shisan), Lian Jin (Huo, police detective), Chunyu Shanshan (Huang Niluo/Robert), Zhao Yingjun (Xiaocai), Zhang Lunshuo (Charlie Wang), Tao Hai (Beile/Uncle Gui), Min Chunxiao (Zhong), Zheng Chuli (Xiaozhang), Huang Fei (Zhu San), Wang Jun, Jiang Ke (rickshaw drivers), Kurbanjan Samat, Liu Weisen (Indian policemen).
Release: China, 9 Jun 2013.