The British horror movies that had a “real effect” on Wong Kar-wai
Beginning his career as a screenwriter for various television shows and movies, Wong Kar-wai eventually made his directorial debut in 1988 with As Tears Go By, taking his first crack at the crime genre. It’s something he has returned to various times throughout his career, although he often weaves crime themes into a wider genre, such as romance. Through his beautifully crafted visual palettes, Wong has made movies that are coveted by cinema lovers, experimenting with form and often centring a core motif of loneliness at the heart.
The director followed up his debut with Days of Being Wild two years later, but it was Chungking Express, released in 1994, that would help Wong’s name be recognised internationally. The movie features various storylines united by specific themes, using striking imagery and repeated musical cues, such as The Mamas and the Papas ‘California Dreamin’. It was significantly acclaimed by critics and remains one of his most popular works.
Just a year later, Wong released Fallen Angels, another classic of his, featuring ethereal visuals which often use bright neon green lighting and extreme close-up shots. However, his 2000 movie In the Mood for Love is perhaps his most acclaimed piece of work, telling the tale of a man and a woman who fall in love. It’s tender and restrained – we don’t even see the couple kiss, the palpable intimacy and longing is simply there, directed masterfully by Wong.
Since then, he has experimented with sci-fi themes and even made a martial arts drama, The Grandmaster, demonstrating the range of his cinematic interests. Yet, the genre that made Wong fall in love with cinema is one that is seemingly far-removed from his own work, and one that he has never explored first-hand.
Talking to Venice Magazine, the director revealed the movies that had a significant influence on him when he was growing up and discovering cinema. He explained: “My mom is actually a crazy movie fan, so she took me every day to the cinema, which was a great education.”
Asked to elucidate on the films he used to watch when he was young, he continued, “I remember the Christopher Lee vampire films, the Hammer films, had a real effect on me. It’s funny though, I’ve always avoided making horror films.”
Hammer horror movies were a staple part of British cinema between the 1950s and 1970s, many of which featured Lee as an iconic horror character, such as Dracula or Frankenstein’s monster. Hammer Film Productions churned out lots of horror movies during this time, often on rather small budgets. These movies were often box office hits, though, and the Frankenstein series was particularly successful, with the first instalment coming in 1957 with The Curse of Frankenstein.
While most of these films are regarded as rather dated in terms of their cinematic merit, hardly gaining the same status as horror movies like The Wicker Man or Halloween, for example, they were still highly impactful on the development of gothic and horror cinema, particularly in Britain.
For Wong, they were enticing, with their cheap scares and frightening atmospheres. While he has never made a horror movie, it’s never too late to give a new genre a go.
