Taboo Terror of Going Back
午夜惊魂路
China, 2017, colour, 2.35:1, 73 mins.
Director: Wang Liang 王良.
Associate director: Liu Qingqing 刘情情.
Rating: 4/10.
Potentially interesting village mystery doesn’t take its set-up to the next level.
STORY
A mountain village in north China, the present day. After a spell in the military, Cai Kang (Zeng Shuai) returns to his home village after hearing from younger brother Cai Zhen (Wang Liang) that their father Cai Yong (Zhang Linsheng) disappeared five days ago. The locals say it’s due to a curse, as the main road through the village used to be a battlefield on which many died; even Cai Yong’s wife (Sun Wen) believes the legend. Cai Kang is engaged to villager Liu Dan (Miao Qing) but, unknown to him, she and Cai Zhen, who grew up together, have been in a relationship during his absence. One night in the woods Cai Kang meets a man, Ma Dong (Lv Yan), who is looking for his missing younger sister (Wu Hongyan). When an unseen thief attacks Cai Qin (Liu Jing), the brothers’ autistic younger sister, Cai Zhen is quick to blame Ding Yuan (Zhuo Fan), a family friend who especially likes their mother. Ding Yuan strongly denies it but, unknown to the brothers, he also has an even closer relationship to their family. Cai Kang and Ma Dong agree the same person kidnapped both their relatives, and because of his military training Cai Kang is appointed by the village head (Zhu Conggang) to methodically search the area. After that throws up nothing, Liu Dan’s actress cousin (Liu Jingran) volunteers to dress up as a wealthy visitor in order to flush out the kidnapper-cum-thief.
REVIEW
A good set-up is thrown away in the second half of Taboo Terror of Going Back 午夜惊魂路, a village drama-cum-ghost story by actor-director Wang Liang 王良. Shandong-born Wang, 26, is a one-man film-making machine who had some half-dozen features released during 2016-17, mostly horror movies but also a student comedy-drama (同学，合租吗？, 2016), a gay drama (Alternative Love 另类爱情, 2016) and a war-veteran film (Soldier Grandpa 我的老兵爷爷, 2017). Taboo is a significant improvement on Wang’s first horror 
outing – the good-looking but rather lethargic haunted-dress drama Red Cheongsam 恐怖禁忌之红旗袍 (2016, see poster left) – and has properly laid-out characters and a dramatically more promising screenplay. But Wang and co-writer Gao Guobin 高国斌 have no idea how to develop the material and take it to the next level.
As in Cheongsam, there’s a welcome lack of flash to Wang’s direction, which is very traditional and relies on short scenes separated by fades. The atmosphere of the small mountain village is succinctly established as an elder brother comes back to solve the mystery of his father’s sudden disappearance that the locals attribute to a curse. But Wang’s unshowy technique throws a big burden on the script and acting, neither of which are strong enough to carry the movie. Wang, who always casts himself in his own films, is a weak, inexpressive performer; as the childhood sweetheart involved with two men, regular actress Miao Qing 苗青, 25, is more simpatico but lacks real screen presence. Another Wang regular, Zeng Shuai 曾帅, 28, is low wattage as the returning brother who should drive the story.
The film was shot around Wang’s native Laiwu, Shandong province, by d.p. Liu Qingqing 刘情情, who also gets an “associate director” credit and gave some visual bounce to Wang’s Spirit Touch Seventh Sense 七月半3 灵触第七感 (2017). The Chinese title means “Midnight Fright Road”.
CREDITS
Presented by Zhongyi Yingna Pictures (Beijing) (CN), Shandong Acre Culture & Media (CN), Shanghai Xiaoshan Pictures & Media (CN), Shandong CNHK Communication (CN).
Script: Gao Guobin, Wang Liang. Photography: Liu Qingqing. Editing: Li Jian, Liu Na. Music: uncredited. Art direction: Zhang Linsheng. Styling advice: Wang Hai. Sound: Zheng Yasheng, Rui Dapeng. Executive direction: Chen Zhexi.
Cast: Zeng Shuai (Cai Kang, older brother), Wang Liang (Cai Zhen, younger brother), Zhuo Fan (Ding Yuan), Miao Qing (Liu Dan), Wang Yi (Liu An), Lv Yan (Ma Dong), Wu Hongyan (Ma Xin, Ma Dong’s younger sister), Liu Jing (Cai Qin, younger sister), Liu Jingran (Sun Mei, Liu Dan’s cousin), Zhang Linsheng (Cai Yong, father), Sun Wen (Cai Yong’s wife), Zhu Conggang (village head).
Release: China, 28 Apr 2017.