A film which will fare well with fans of the Asian folklore horror genre.
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Inspired by one of Taiwan’s scariest urban legends from the 1970s, Mountain Gremlins, director Tsai Chia Ying explores the rich folklore to deliver a hauntingly terrifying film with layered narrative on love, grief and emotional burdens of the living and lingering obsessive spirits with unfinished business seeking vengeance. Jasper Liu did well in his leading role, conveying the anguish and psychological burden of someone who repeatedly witnesses tragedy, supported by Angela Yuen bringing vulnerability to her character, and Tsao Yu-Ning as the missing friend adding emotional undertone to the mystery.
Haunted Mountains: The Yellow Taboo opens with picturesque scenes of lush mountains shrouded in misty fog. Next, we see a young man, Zhang An-wei (Tsao) lost deep in the mountains–exhausted, thirsty and desperate to escape from the mist-cloaked environment. In agony, he starts to peel off his clothing and run towards a mysterious beckoning figure in a yellow raincoat emerging from the fog. Trusting the unknown in desperation, An-wei follows the figure as it silently gestures a way out. An-wei sees a house in the distance and runs towards it, pounding on the door for safety. Before the door could open, An-wei is brutally taken by the mysterious figure and vanishes without a trace.
Fast forward to scenes of a seemingly happy couple, Cheng Jia-ming (Liu) and Song Yu-xin (Yuen) at a hikers’ lodge at the foot of the Mountains. This trip is meant to fulfil Jia-ming’s long awaiting romantic dream. With an engagement ring tucked away, he is ready for the perfect moment to propose to Yu-xin. But the mountain has its own plans. As they leave the lodge, they see the authorities retrieving the body of a man who supposedly fell to his death in a case of suicide, mourned by his grieving wife.
At this juncture, the film begins to drip-feed backstory throughout. We soon learn that Jia-ming has unsuccessfully proposed before. Yu-xin has been struggling emotionally because she misses An-wei, her ex-boyfriend who went missing in the mountains 5 years ago. She is also frustrated by Jia-ming's inability to share his thoughts and feelings with her. Jia-ming is unsure about her feelings for him and the weight of proposing to her on the fifth anniversary of losing An-wei, his best friend and Yu-xin’s ex-boyfriend, on a hike in these same mountains.
As the couple question their relationship and the weight of their past events, they realise they are lost, having made wrong turns. The mountains and trees take on an eerie setting, creepy sound and deepening fog, heightening our fear of what will come next. Ignoring warning and trusting the beckoning gestures of the mysterious figure in yellow raincoat, their romantic dream getaway shattered and turns into a hellish nightmare beyond comprehension – Yu-xin dies brutally in Jia-ming’s arms. Before grief can even consume him, Jia-ming awakes back in the lodge, like nothing has happened. Was it a nightmare or … wasn’t it?
The day repeats itself, trapping Jia-ming in a twisted time loop that forces him to relive his lover’s death over and over again. No matter what Jia-ming does, he loses. Each time Yu-xin still dies violently in his care. It becomes evident the couple is caught in a deadly time loop where Jia-ming faces his personal hell of being powerless in saving his beloved Yu-xin. With every reset, the truth becomes harder to ignore, and pieces of clues are unveiled. Jia-ming must decipher the mystery to break the chain of events and save Yu-xin. The answers lie buried in a hiking trip 5 years ago, in the same mountains where An-wei vanished mysteriously.
As the truth unfolds with Jia-ming’s increasing frantic attempts to change the outcome, we are introduced to the eerie shamanistic rituals of appeasing the dead and lingering spirits of the mountains to bring lost loved ones back home safely. Of course, a deadly price is to be paid by those who unwittingly dishonour or disrupt such rituals.
Will Jia-ming come to grip with the sins of his past and let go of his guilt and uncertainty? Will he make the ultimate sacrifice to break the deadly time loop and save Yu-xin? No spoilers except the warning to stay for the intriguing mid-credit scene.
Tsai, in his feature directorial debut, delivers a compelling and emotional film which blends spiritual folklore, personal grief and time-loop mechanics into an excellent haunting tale where the horror moments are restrained but effectively placed throughout the story to deliver a punch when it arrives. The cinematography is commendable as it further elevates the story presentation especially the beautifully shot scenes in fog-shrouded woods amidst the backdrop of vast mountains.
Haunted Mountains: The Yellow Taboo has spooked me enough to give evening hikes at Bukit Timah a miss for the time being, in the event of a chance encounter with a mysterious figure in yellow raincoat beckoning me down the wrong path.
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