MovieChat Forums > Geung see (2014) Discussion > Sorry ... stupid American here. Question...

Sorry ... stupid American here. Questions.


So the dark Taoist monk said that he had been smoking the unborn, and that he'd made his choice - was that what caused the cancer? Or was it prolonging his life? I agree with the posters who said that faceless, child ghost was the spirit of the unborn. Unless anyone has any other ideas:) Why did he want to "harness" the twins' ghosts in the old man's body?

What happened to the actor's family? Were they dead or did the wife just leave him?

Was the man who raped/murdered the twin(s) Feng's husband? Or was it just her house?

Was there a significance to Pak's (the little blonde boy) hair?

Was the vampire spirit in the old man all along? Was it his own spirit, turned evil, or was he a body without a soul? And when they went over the ritual that Gsu was doing, the vampire man was already standing and seemed to be made of stone or mummified, but at the same time he mentioned putting him in the coffin and waiting 7 days - did I miss something about the time line?

Auntie Mai (I think?) seemed like such a kind, gentle soul - so, basically, choosing black magic caused her to choose evil (letting her husband hurt other people). Right? Or was she bad all along?

I thought this movie was beautiful, and very entertaining. The ending really threw me for a loop though - I would probably rate it higher if I understood it better. Not being super familiar with Eastern Asian mythology, sometimes I don't know how to rate these gorgeous movies because I hold them to a different standard than Western ones (where I expect to be able to know what the hell is going on).




They're coming to get you, Barbara!

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Don't be modest ^^

Anyways, as I'm not Chinese I cannot give you an in-depth cultural answer as I lack first-hand knowledge of Chinese philosophies and folklore.

But I believe, regarding the first question about the Dark Taoist Monk, it's about personal choices. Some people are just drawn to control and he was one of them. The yin to yang.
Encounters of the Spooky Kind, another movie in the same vein as Rigor Mortis, explores this ying-yang concept by depicting two Taoist Monks hailing from the same Master but taking opposing sides - one for personal gains, the other for spiritual morality. I guess for the dark Taoist Monk in Rigor Mortis, he made his choice because he wanted to do something significant - this selfish act. At least that's my take on it. I mean here are all a bunch of washed-up professionals who are no longer in demand, and perhaps itching to do something. And this was a way for him, if not some of them, to feel (or feeling) back into life or a life as they once remembered.

Maybe I've seen a fair few Chinese Horror films, but the ones I've seen from the 80s contain characters that just want to control spirits for their personal gains. I'm not knowledgeable in Chinese folklore but according to belief, some people use their knowledge of the supernatural to gain something back i.e. money, prestige, etc. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_supernatural_beings_in_Chinese_folklore - this is just a page regarding Chinese ghosts in folklore)

The fact that what the dark Taoist Monk, Gau (Fat Chung is an alumni of Spooky Encounters), wanted isn't clearly specified means it's up for personal interpretation and open discussion. I just gave you my personal interpretation.

About harnessing the Twin's power comes down to, I think, amplifying the Jiangzhi's power. I read somewhere that in Chinese folklore that a Ghost can become a Jiang (I think that's right, I can't remember clearly right now), which apparently means a Ghost of a Ghost. So in a sense there's a possibility that a Ghost can become an amplifier for another Ghost by possessing it. (Kind of like Stephen King's Rose Red, come to think of it). Also, I think Gau kind of explains this in the movie.

Second question, again open to interpretation. What I gathered is that Chin carries heavy regrets from his past, particularly surrounding his family. It's such a burden for him, these memories and feelings of regrets, that they literally feel like sucking the life out of him. Whatever happened to his family is never specified but they are, to him at least, ghosts. Never really there physically but still haunting him.

Third question. Again, this is open to interpretation. When I saw the back-story to the woman, I immediately linked it to the Korean film Lady Vengeance. In this case, however, she doesn't feel revenged. She carries that horror around, much like her child is a permanent reminder of this past. Not to mention the anomaly in the child's look emphasizes this malevolent act.

Regarding Pak's hair, I can't tell you what the Chinese significance is as, like I mentioned, I'm not Chinese. But albinos appear in quite a few folklore, they are often regarded, if I remember from my own upbringing, as special. I can't be 100% sure. I'm Asian btw and I think in my culture, remembering back old wives tales, that albinos were regarded as evil, or beings that will embody something un-pure. Of course these are just folklore.

About the old man who turns into a Vampire, you can look up the lore on Jiangshi. There's a few information published online regarding these, it's a bit long to explain it in this post.

As for the last question: this is a good board to read http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2771800/board/nest/229936387?ref_=tt_bd_1


Edit: Just as Taoist can be used for good, it can also be learnt for evil. Much in the same way as any religion really, let alone weapons or things. In the end they are just tools or means and it's down to the person in whatever way they choose to use them.

Re-Edit: Re-watching the film and I realized that Uncle Tung (Richard Ng) didn't die because he came upon the ghost of a boy. He died because he had a fight with Gau who presumably pushed him over the railings of the stairs and into his death. In Chinese Folklore, some of the legends surrounding Jiangzhi is that they are people who died because of malpractice, murder, etc. and are looking for revenge. This kind of makes Gau a bit complicated because you don't really know if he accidently or intently killed Uncle Tung. If it was an accident, then it would mean that at first his intentions were good and that he indeed wanted to help Auntie Mui but then his nature took over him in the process. Or, if he did intentionally kill Uncle Tung, this would make him a dangerous unhinged killer-in-waiting.

Also, I linked Pak's mother to being one of the Twins for some reason. I don't know why... Anyways, in many cultures you know Twins are seen as powerful beings or omens. Just look it up if you're fascinated by lores, myths and legends.

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Hope I can help you here as I am a fan of jiangshi movies.

Gao is suffering from lung cancer and is going to die, so he smokes ashes to prolong his life. But this method is not very effective. Then coincidentally he found Dong and the twins dead. One without soul, one without bodies. So he wants to use an evil method (dark Tao art) to forge a corpse with soul, in order to prolong his life by cheating the 4 reapers. If the reapers take jiangshi away, Gao will survive.

Dong's jiangshi body is the perfect vessel for the powerful twins' spirits. He tricks Dong's wife, Mui, to help him forge the corpse into jiangshi. But he cheats Mui that her husband will return in 7 days. But...impatient to wait, Mui takes the extreme method by feeding the jiangshi and takes off his mask, which Gao doesn't expect.

There is the ending thread discussing the actor's family. You can take a look.

The rapist is Feng's husband.

Pak is albino...

jiangshi is a body without soul.

Mui is a kind woman but her love towards her husband makes her taking the extremes and becomes a devil...Her method is wrong...

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Hope I can help you here as I am a fan of jiangshi movies.

Gao is suffering from lung cancer and is going to die, so he smokes ashes to prolong his life. But this method is not very effective. Then coincidentally he found Dong and the twins dead. One without soul, one without bodies. So he wants to use an evil method (dark Tao art) to forge a corpse with soul, in order to prolong his life by cheating the 4 reapers. The 4 reapers will mistaken Gao's soul to be another soul so they won't come again if successful. The twins share only 1 soul (according to Taoist), that's why it's very powerful like a vortex and need a vessel to contain.

Dong's jiangshi body is the perfect vessel for the powerful twins' spirits. He tricks Dong's wife, Mui, to help him forge the corpse into jiangshi. But he cheats Mui that her husband will return in 7 days. But...impatient to wait, Mui takes the extreme method by feeding the jiangshi and takes off his mask, which Gao doesn't expect. Jiangshi itself is harmless but with some wrong triggers, it will become an unstoppable killing machine...which Gao isn't ready for that.

There is the ending thread discussing the actor's family. You can take a look.

The rapist is Feng's husband.

Pak is albino...

jiangshi is a body without soul.

Mui is a kind woman but her love towards her husband makes her taking the extremes and becomes a devil...Her method is wrong...

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How were they feeding the jiangshi with crows blood? Just letting it run through the mask? Why had it not attacked anyone until she put the boy in the bathroom? The mask might have been removed but why had it not attacked her even with its mask on? Surely it should have been able to jump out of that flimsy bathroom door and stab things with its nails before the boy meal....

Or did that coin mask do more than simply operate as a muzzle and dampen its power?

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Didn't the dark-priest say something about it taking a specific number of days before the vampire would fully wake up? Maybe just coincidence that the white haired boy was put in the bathroom when the vampire was able to be awoken finally and the fresh blood triggered him off. As for how they were feeding him I don't know the lore there, your idea sounds as good as any. :-)

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