Chapter 00134: Deadly Curve (Votes, All Kinds of Votes)
# Deadly Curve (Votes, All Kinds of Votes)
Chapter 134
Novel: 1979 Golden Age
Chapter 134: Deadly Curve (Votes, All Kinds of Votes)
Liu Xuehua was from Beijing and moved to Hong Kong when she was five.
She joined the Great Wall Actors Training Class and debuted alongside a few other girls, acting in several films but never quite making it big.
She didn’t understand why back then, but now she knew—there was no future in leftist companies.
Her contract was set to expire next year, and she had no intention of renewing it.
Standing at 170 cm tall and only 21 years old, Liu Xuehua had a fresh and charming appearance.
Her looks could convey both sorrow and strength, but she had been typecast due to her many roles in Qiong Yao dramas, leaving a lasting impression of fragility.
"Xuehua, come over here!"
At the entrance of the Southern Theater, Shi Hui waved her over, smiling.
"You look stunning today. That dress is beautiful."
"I just bought it."
"You should wear dresses more often. You’re tall and can pull them off, unlike me—I’m too short."
Today was the premiere of Deadly Curve.
It wasn’t a grand event, with only a few guests like Fu Qi and Shi Hui in attendance, along with the main creative team.
The director, Mou Dunfei, used a pseudonym for this film.
As a Shaw Brothers employee, he couldn’t openly show up, so he wasn’t present.
This guy later joined the leftists and directed Black Sun 731.
The group entered and headed to a private box on the second floor.
Liu Xuehua sat for a while, noticing the sparse audience and sighed inwardly.
The Great Wall Studio was under pressure, and their new films barely made a splash.
She really couldn’t stay here any longer.
She glanced at Shi Hui, whom she respected deeply, but couldn’t bring herself to say anything.
Fu Qi and Shi Hui also looked at the low attendance with resignation.
Without funds for promotion and the audience’s negative perception of leftist films, their recent works hadn’t done well.
Breaking 2 million at the box office was already a stretch.
"Are you crazy? Why are we here watching this? Are you trying to join the communists?"
"It’s a horror movie! It’s different!"
"What kind of horror movie can Great Wall make? It’s just a gimmick, a waste of money!"
"We’re already here, so shut up!"
Down below, some young people were arguing.
Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Lau Kar-leung were too busy to care.
Who even watched leftist films these days? Only the old-timers from the mainland, who were practically fossils, still bothered.
Watching local films, listening to Cantonese songs, speaking English, and eating Western food were the trends now.
The theater, which could seat over a thousand people, was only about a third full.
Soon, the lights dimmed, and the screen lit up.
The Hong Kong-exclusive version of Deadly Curve began!
The film opened with a photographer heading to an island for inspiration.
The actor was unknown but good-looking and physically fit.
Despite Hong Kong’s small size, it had plenty of rural areas, farmland, forests, and countless small islands.
The protagonist stopped at a small gas station to ask for directions.
The people there were strange, speaking in an incomprehensible dialect.
He noticed a map on the wall with a red line marking a small path and decided to follow it.
As he drove down the path, he spotted a dead animal by the roadside, its throat slit and blood dried.
While examining it, he crashed into another car blocking the road.
It turned out to be a group of young, attractive men and women camping on the island.
Their tire had been punctured by a nail.
"Wow, what a beauty!"
"She’s gorgeous—fair skin, pretty face, and long legs!"
The young audience pointed at Liu Xuehua on the screen, while the other supporting actors were also good-looking.
The essential elements of a horror movie had been perfectly summarized in a film called The Cabin in the Woods: a virgin heroine, a promiscuous side character, a muscular guy, a disposable character, and a crazy, rambling individual.
In horror movies, you should always believe what the crazy person says!
Deadly Curve followed a similar setup.
Liu Xuehua played the virgin heroine, alongside a promiscuous couple, a disposable character, an unstable, rambling guy, and the male lead—a strong but intelligent man.
Both cars were damaged and couldn’t move.
The group decided to leave the couple behind to watch the cars while the other four went ahead to seek help.
The couple, being promiscuous, soon engaged in some vigorous activity.
A minute later, the woman rested in the car while the man wandered outside.
When the woman noticed he was gone, she went into the woods to look for him and found a bloody ear.
The audience gasped, but before the gasp could fully escape their throats, the first mutated cannibal appeared behind her.
Holding a piece of wire, the cannibal looped it around her mouth and yanked it back hard.
Her mouth stretched grotesquely to the sides, her tongue dripping with blood as she struggled desperately before being dragged away.
In such films, the first thing to watch for is the tension—the hidden killer never shows their face, hunting the protagonists like prey.
The second is the variety of gruesome deaths.
This cannibal didn’t reveal their face, only showing their body.
"Holy crap!"
"That’s brutal!"
"Leftists actually made something like this? Look at her mouth!"
The audience’s initial gasp was stifled, rolling in their throats before bursting out again.
They stared wide-eyed, utterly shocked.
Meanwhile, the other four discovered a small cabin.
Inside, it was filthy and rundown, with a large pot of unknown food simmering and jars filled with what looked like organs.
The heroine found a photo of what seemed to be a couple and their children, but the children looked abnormal.
"The people in this photo are so strange!"
"What’s wrong?"
"I can’t explain it, but they’re just weird!"
The director, Chen Qi, had sprinkled in various details hinting that the cannibals were descendants of Japanese soldiers—like the broken helmet inside and the sushi molds.
He had his own twisted sense of humor, adding many such elements.
Feeling something was off, the four tried to escape, but the cannibal returned in a Japanese military truck, carrying two "prey"—the couple.
The four hid, watching as the cannibal prepared a dark feast: human sushi!
"Wow!"
The audience’s reactions grew more intense.
For the time, this kind of film was beyond their comprehension.
Some had already guessed: "Are they Japanese?"
"Definitely! Only they could be so twisted!"
"Sushi! Damn!"
After the cannibal ate and fell asleep, the four tried to escape but accidentally woke it up, triggering a chase and a series of brutal killings.
One by one, the protagonists fell, leaving only the male and female leads.
In another room, they discovered documents, photos, and diaries revealing that this place was a biochemical research base set up by the Japanese during their occupation of Hong Kong.
When Japan surrendered, they tried to destroy the evidence and kill the researchers.
However, a man and woman survived, though their bodies had mutated.
They hid here, had children, and those children engaged in incest, producing an 8-year-old giant child.
"See? I told you they were Japanese!"
"Such twisted stuff fits them perfectly!"
Some even cursed in Mandarin or mainland dialects: "Screw those Japanese devils!"
The male and female leads of Deadly Curve were rare in that they were both brave and resourceful.
Together, they killed two of the cannibals, leaving only the 8-year-old giant child.
Liu Xuehua broke away from her usual fragile roles, driving the car and ramming the cannibal into a wall repeatedly.
The male lead picked up an old Japanese rifle and shot the gas tank.
Boom!
To save costs, there was no grand explosion, but it was still satisfying.
Finally, the two defeated their enemies and escaped.
The 90-minute film was short but packed with tension, one thrilling moment after another, leaving no time to catch a breath.
As it ended, the audience exhaled, their excitement still buzzing in their brains.
In short: they were thoroughly entertained!
"That was an awesome movie!"
"See? I told you it’d be worth it. Next time, bring your girlfriend!"
"That was too gross. I don’t want to watch it again!"
"I thought it was great! Really thrilling! Great Wall did well this time. Their previous stuff was so preachy. I watch movies to be entertained, not lectured."
The audience left in small groups.
Fu Qi watched from above.
Though the turnout was still low, he had a feeling this film would make money.
Western-style horror films weren’t hugely popular in Hong Kong, but they had a dedicated fanbase.
Given the low production costs, the returns could be substantial.
"Xuehua, you were amazing!"
Shi Hui held Liu Xuehua’s hand, praising her generously.
"This is what they mean by 'plum blossoms bloom through hardship.' This film will definitely make you famous."
"I…"
Liu Xuehua hesitated.
She wanted to say she was leaving, but given the situation, she decided to wait and see.
After all, her contract wasn’t up until next year.
...
In the latter half of 1980, the leftists made an unexpected comeback in Hong Kong’s film industry and media.
Local newspapers used exaggerated phrases like "the world turned upside down" to describe it.
"Great Wall, known for its moralizing films, has finally wised up. The blood is three feet deep, the killings are expertly crafted, the cannibals are oddly endearing, and the leads are smart. A promising commercial film with a bright future!"
"The leftists have stopped making propaganda films and switched to horror. It seems the mainland’s atmosphere has truly changed!"
"The essence is the same—they’re still blaming the Japanese. Not that they’re wrong—I despise the Japanese too!"
Even Wong Jim, a former rightist who later turned leftist, chimed in:
"The film pushes boundaries further than local productions, leaning toward an American style that fits the mainland’s current climate. Despite some roughness due to budget constraints, it’s a quality piece."
Wong Jim, who had written My Chinese Heart, had once been part of a rightist organization but left after realizing their so-called "freedom and democracy" was a farce.
Regardless, Deadly Curve became a modest hit.
Ten days after its release, the box office had already surpassed 2 million, the best performance for a leftist film in years.
They didn’t expect Jackie Chan-level success, but reaching 4 or 5 million would be more than enough.
"That young comrade has given us a great gift!"
(Thanks to Chen Jinyan’s絮言 for being a patron…
That’s it!)
(End of Chapter)