Still "Chinese horror" the most horrible

"Chinese horror" is still popular.

In the recent hit drama "Cang Lan Jue", a wedding in a red candlelight and shadow in the sky made many audiences call it terrible. There are no shortage of sighs of "the most horrible Chinese horror".

In the field of game fields that have brought the concept of "Chinese horror" in recent years, there are several times that have attracted the attention of players throughout the summer. The "Paper Wedding Dress" series "Paper Wedding Dress 4 Red Silk" was launched on the day of the Zhongyuan Festival, and quickly reached the top of the iOS free game list. The download volume exceeded 1 million within a week. Previously, the controversy of the plagiarism of the puzzle variety show of a secret room of a certain file also entered a hot search on Weibo.

In addition, there is a public demonstration from the "Renren Diary" from Lu Xun's novels; the new producer "Three Volume", which has received much attention because of "Fireworks", announced the development of the development of the development; Go online ... If you search for "Chinese Terror" on Taptap, you will find that there are more than a dozen games of the same theme waiting to be launched or open up.

Unconsciously, "Chinese Terror" has gradually known by the public from a relatively niche style, a non -proprietary vocabulary that occasionally appears in the publicity context, and has begun to be systematized.

Poisonous Eye (ID: DOMORDUMOU) found that on the one hand, the "Chinese horror" in the past few years is essentially "flushing", but the main carrier has moved from novels and movies to games. It still has the hidden concern of rapid cooling; on the other hand, it does have potential potential, like mature themes such as Sai Bo Poch and Kusalu, in the "summary concept", it has become a popular cultural collection with internal vitality.

What are we afraid of in "Chinese horror"

The starting point of this round of "Chinese horror" dates back to 2018.

The game "Soul Chips" uses the Republic of China as the background, designed maps such as earth buildings, theaters, etc., which can manipulate characters including zombies and ghost brides. The "horror" in competitive games can only stay at the visual level, and "Soul Chips" only use "Oriental style" and "Chinese style" during publicity.

The limited matching mechanism, plug -in and other issues, this game has not become a "explosion" like "Fifth Personality". Just half a year later, a horror game released by a Taiwan production team surprised many players, but because the problem of the production team did not be spread for a long time.

In 2019, "Paper Man" and "Tan Ling: Night Marriage" made this category start to appear popular, and the quality of the game was recognized worldwide.

The producer of "Biochemical Crisis: Veronica" Mu Yoshang has sent a trial review of more than 6,000 words to the production team of "Paper Man", including "Chinese terrorist elements brought very fresh one brought very fresh one. Feeling "—— As the leader of terrorist puzzle games, the" Biochemical Crisis "series comes from the Japanese company CAPCOM, but undoubtedly, it has a distinctive" western horror "element.

In 2020, "Hong Kong Strange Records" was tried by a number of e -sports anchors. The audience was also happy to watch the exaggerated reaction of the anchor was frightened. "LPL Woman", which allows "Chinese horror" to complete a "out of circle" based on live broadcast platforms and social media.

In 2021, it became a year of harvest of Chinese horror games. The TAPTAP scores of the two "Paper Wedding Dress" reached 9.2 and 9.6, respectively. The Steam praise rate of "Fireworks" reached 98 %. There are more than 4 million playback volume.

Regarding the charm of "horror", the most cited discussion is probably the phrase "the oldest and strongest emotions of human beings is fear", "ancient" does not need to be mentioned, "strong" from emotional Transformation is like a roller coaster is more exciting than simply falling or rising. British writer Monteg Roste James talked about an emotional paradox: on the one hand, people will be disgusting and uncomfortable about things in terrorist works, and on the other hand, they will be transformed into pleasure due to difficulty explanation.

However, traditional research is more developed under Western context. Most of the people who have been scared by Chinese horror will find that Chinese horror has no strong visual impact elements such as broken limbs and plasma, and no disgusting mutant monsters. Appreciating such literary works will not have too much emotional fluctuations. But it will always be caught by a weird sense.

Picture source: Internet

Many netizens have tried to summarize the differences between "Chinese" and "Japanese", "American", "Thai" and other terrorist culture. There are also many examples of image.

For example, some people have mentioned that they are also "wardrobes in the middle of the night". One of the evil spirits with a teeth lay on the top of the cabinet and suddenly rushed down to open your belly, which is "American horror"; After that, it will open quietly, the room screams, and then there will be only messy bedding and blood stains on the ground in a while. This is "Japanese -style horror". The lights are everything, that is, "Chinese horror".

Often used to explain "Chinese horror"

The weird sense must be produced under the comparison of normal situations. In the normal atmosphere, it will make people feel hairy. In the movie "Zombies", a mother -in -law was unwilling to admit that his wife was dead, and dialogue with him every day and asked "the meal is not appetizing" and "don't smoke so much smoke", which is a typical Chinese horror. "Paper Wedding Dress" revolves around the narrative of "Understanding", and the ceremony steps for the wedding wedding are the same as the festive wedding in the Yang. source. "Talk to the dead" and "Wedding for the dead" are derived from the custom of "avoiding taboos" in Chinese culture. This is one of the psychological states of the favor of Chinese horror. It is "folk horror". It is also a significant difference between it and other terrorist culture. This is also here. Europe and the United States and Japan actually have two types of horror expression of modern and folk customs. Modern categories include "serial killing magic" and "urban monster talks". A sort of.

Those representative visual elements such as paper people, underworld coins, coffin, bodhisattva statue, red lantern, embroidered shoes, etc. The object itself is neutral, not to be invented for scary. It is also because they will be associated with the customs, etiquette, and rules of feudal society.

The weird sense of disobedience is the surface and short -lived. The "Chinese horror" experience is more frightening, which is the sense of oppression and depression.

Many works need to put the story stage in the closed space far from modern civilization, such as the ancient house in the late Qing Dynasty in "Paper Man", the mountain village town in "Fireworks", and the "Hong Kong Strange Record" of the city background. In Jiulong City ... In these places, the main clues such as superstition and witchcraft are unfolded. The theme of the story is often the tragedy of people under the feudal rules.

There are also opinions that Chinese horror can also be regarded as a "rule horror". The parental system of the clan for thousands of years, or the many particular superstition parts in folk culture, are extremely powerful rules systems, and individuals are basically in a state of weak confrontation in front of these rules.

"The incense can only be inserted in order" in "Paper Man", and the big that the wife is used as a container possessed as her husband's soul in "Fireworks" ... To some extent, people must be unscientific Under unreasonable rules, it is the essence of Chinese horror narrative, and it is also the root of such works that make the audience shudder.

Regardless of the single clan power or the custom of collective unconsciously, the rules are formulated by people. "The most terrifying is the heart of the human heart".

Analor than other themes such as Sai Bubin, "high -tech and low life" is where its soul lies. The visual violations and visual violations of plaques, papermen and other structures are roughly equivalent to piled neon pollution in the works. The association with folk culture and the description of people's depression may make Chinese horror more prosperous.

How long can Chinese horror "heat" last?

It is easy for people to think that "Chinese horror" is one of the "popular culture" that has emerged in recent years, but the new concept is not the air tower, and it is still based on the existing cognitive foundation. The "Chinese horror" in the broad sense has a long history, and the corresponding works have different connotations and performances in different times.

In ancient my country, horror stories generally participated in ghosts and gods. During the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties, the "Strange Novels" were very prosperous. There were more than 30 species of novels preserved in the Six Dynasties. In "The Biography of the Biography", "the legendary biography involved in the fairy spirit and the ghosts and monsters, especially the ghosts." The "Liao Zhai Zhi Yi" in the Qing Dynasty was the pinnacle of ancient novels. The main purpose was to summarize the time disadvantages, satirical sciences, and anti -contracting marriage.

Although these ancient works are still adapted from time to time, due to various reasons, the horror background has been faded, and it is usually regarded as fantasy and fantasy works for consumption.

Since modern times, a relatively obvious peak has been a zombie type film shot densely in Hong Kong in the 1980s. This is the enlightenment of "horror content" for a generation of mainland audiences.

In 1980, the "Ghost Beat Ghost" produced by Hongjia class ranked third in the Hong Kong film box office list with a score of 5.675 million Hong Kong dollars. In 1985, the same set of teams made up, "Mr. Zombie" starring Lin Zhengying became popular, and the box office reached 200.92 million Hong Kong dollars. The screenwriter Huang Ying wrote in the book "China's First Zombie": "Because" Mr. Zombies, Mr. Zombie " "The success of Hong Kong and Taiwan, then the producers of Hong Kong and Taiwan snatched a shot, with a record, and the seventeen zombie movies were shot at the same time ..."

"Mr. Zombies"

This phenomenon of tie quickly quickly made the audience aesthetic fatigue. Lin Zhengying incorporated the Western vampire into the work in 1989, and directed the film "One Eye Human" for the first time, so that Maoshan and Western monsters were confronted. Essence It can also be seen that Hong Kong zombie films are actually not limited by "Chinese" in the cultural sense and emphasize entertaining.

In fact, the prosperity of the Hong Kong zombie film itself is indeed the result of the integration of Chinese and Western. As early as the 1930s, Hong Kong had a ghost film affected by the Hollywood monster movie in the same period. Another different feature is that the audience can obtain a sense of security from the Taoist and professional ghosts. Watching the corner and emotions of the film and television will also follow such roles, and "horror" is only before the war of the "two sides". Just pave the way. Not only that, in the same period, Hong Kong also gave birth to a comedy movie represented by the "Happy Ghost" series and Zhou Xingchi's "Return to the Soul Night", which made "horror" go to another extreme. "Back to Soul Night"

Around 2005, there was a wave of horror novels in the Mainland. There were best -selling books such as "Face", "Desert Village Apartment", "Hell's 19th Floor" that took the physical publishing route. The network side has platforms such as Tianya's "Lotus Ghost", starting point, and red sleeves. The themes of this period are many themes, with modern cities as the background and the creation of ancient legends as the background.

The last round of the "Chinese horror fever" was the blowout of domestic horror movies. From 2014-2017, the box office of mainland films entered a high-speed growth period. Line frequent customers, some major production companies such as Dongyang produced 6-8 each year.

Many domestic horror movies will also use Chinese horror elements such as ancient houses, lanterns, and papermen, but the best situation is only "no applauding", such as "Beijing No. 81" box office of 412 million, Douban score 4.8, continued "Jingcheng 81 2" continued to decline to 3.7.

In the case of basic and "bad films" impression, domestic terrorist films have decreased sharply in recent years. A total of 69 were released throughout the year in 2016, and in 2018 to 22, only 10 were released this year. Of course, they are not disappearing, but more binding with long video platforms, becoming an important member of the growth of online movies. The more representative "Legend of Xing'an Ridge Hunter" in 2021.

Compared with the "predecessors" of different periods, the game has become an important carrier of "taking over" Chinese horror. There are two advantages that cannot be ignored.

One is that the interactive attributes of the game medium are suitable for terrorist themes. Even the primary technique Jump Scare, because the player needs to put in control, there is no "closed eye" or "jump reading" option, and its scary effect is stronger than the video and text carrier. Many games also provide space for exploration. Players can stay in a single scene for a long time. If you want to lay a weird atmosphere, the game will have more effort.

The second is that the quality of the plot of the representative work is more recognized by the audience. This is relatively obvious in the comparison of Hong Kong zombie films and mainland horror movies. In fact, it is also the prerequisite for a group of games that can "fire". At present, most of them stand out of independent games. The business and entertainment attributes are relatively weak. The production team can focus more on self -expression.

More importantly, it is precisely because the expression of the game of "Paper Man", "Fireworks" and "Paper Wedding Dress" focuses on the focus of concentration that "Chinese horror" has become a proprietary concept of invention and summary. Aesthetic performance is roughly fixed and a certain cultural connotation is derived. Take this new concept to set past creation, you will not only find out some outstanding works that fit their characteristics, but also find that the works produced in some periods will not be "Chinese" or "horrible".

As mentioned earlier, the "Chinese horror" as a cultural collection can bring its own vitality, and its extension may also be enlarged during the spread. For example, some online communities are often referred to as "Chinese horror in daily life or social hot events. "The phenomenon. However, the Chinese horror game as a consumer product must follow the business logic. In the past, signs of recession in Hong Kong zombie films and mainland horror films may also be staged again.

For single producers, the market pressure is relatively small, and this freedom does not need to focus on Chinese horror. The previous work of the producer of "Fireworks" Moonlight cockroaches, "Heisen Town," with Japanese fantasy style, the new work "Three Volume" is also based on suspense. He once told the poisonous eyes: "The focus of the studio is actually not doing it. The horror game is pursuing a good story. "

"Sanfu"

For the company's team, attracting the crowd by the plot has become an obvious double -edged sword. Visual elements are relatively easy to copy, and good stories can hardly copy. This is a hidden concern for the current Chinese horror to spread by games.

Taking the "Paper Wedding Dress" series as an example, "Paper Wedding Dress 4" still scored a high score of 9.1 on TAPTAP. The negative evaluation in the popular comment is basically related to the plot and characters. Development Fangxinzi Entertainment is currently only this IP. Relying on the profit of the game in the game, there is a sequel in about six months. Excessive game word of mouth depends on the quality of the story, which is not a sufficient insurance business model.

At the same time, the mainstream gameplay of Chinese horror games is still very single. Several representative works are puzzle solving games without the threshold of starting. Relying on text and dynamic pictures to promote the process. This is a strong narrative and weak gameplay. form. From the perspective of categories, the homogeneity of gameplay is obviously not conducive to further excavation of the subject matter.

The use of folk elements to "decorate" the game is not without a threshold. A tweet of TAPTAP mentioned that "some paper wedding dresses live games on the market.There is almost no popularity. "The producer of" Paper Wedding Dress "attributed the reason for the combination of folk elements and the function of the game. It was not effective to simply stack it.In other words, no matter how many follow -up products, if there are no batch of works above the average line, you can't talk about the prosperity of the category.On the contrary, it may also consume the audience's interest in the subject matter and embark on the old road of domestic horror movies.

Of course, as long as the spiritual core is established, the "Chinese horror" connected to the genetic gene can continue to evolve.The next time it is touched by it, it may be a game or any other carrier.

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