Possession Street: A Gripping Descent into Horror
Rating: 3/5 Stars
Possession Street, a chilling zombie thriller, emerges as a fresh entry in the growing list of recent Hong Kong films—joining titles like Back Home and Yum Investigation, both released in 2023. These narratives often revisit familiar locales that once thrived with community spirit, only to be transformed into nightmarish settings rife with chaos and despair. This film serves as the impressive debut for director Jack Lai Chun-lung, who is set to follow this project with the eagerly awaited high-budget fantasy Back to the Past, co-directed alongside Ng Yuen-fai of Warriors of Future fame.
A Disturbing Black-and-White Prelude
The film opens with an evocative black-and-white sequence reminiscent of vintage news reports, presenting a harrowing incident from World War II. During an air raid, unsuspecting civilians find themselves trapped in a bomb shelter; as panic escalates, they resort to unspeakable acts such as murder and cannibalism in their desperate struggle for survival.
Transformation and Terror
Today, the site where this horrifying event unfolded has been repurposed into a dilapidated shopping center that reflects better days gone by. An ancestral prophecy marks this ominous day when vengeful spirits are unleashed from their subterranean prison. Manifesting as an orange mist that envelops the area, these apparitions transform unsuspecting individuals into ravenous zombies eager for flesh.
By reimagining spaces once filled with life and commerce into venues for horror, Possession Street effectively captures how places can embody memories—both haunting and transformative—while also establishing itself within Hong Kong’s cinematic landscape.
