Exploitation and Censorship: The Influence of Hong Kong Cinema in China's Internet Movies

This paper explores the exploitation of the cultural legacy of Hong Kong cinema in China’s Internet movies, a rapidly growing industry since 2014. The argument is that the cultural values generated by Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s and 1990s have been appropriated and adapted in the mainland Internet movie sector. This exploitation and consumption of Hong Kong cinematic elements played a significant role in the early industrial development of China’s Internet film industry. This paper focuses on the Chinese vampire (jiangshi) genre and the success of the film Meet Mr. Vampire (2018). The rise of a new wave of Internet Chinese vampire movies and their market success from 2014 to 2018 motivated filmmakers and streaming platforms to invest in and produce movies that blend supernatural elements with traditional Chinese cultural characteristics. This led to the creation of ten Internet movie instalments (2019–2022) based on the fantasy novel series Ghost Blows Out the Light by Zhang Muye. From vampire movies to this fantasy series, these Internet films navigate the boundaries of Internet censorship and cater to the audience’s desire for superstitious elements that are prohibited under the formal film censorship system. By appropriating popular elements and cinematic ideas from the heyday of Hong Kong cinema, this subgenre of supernatural fantasy films with traditional Chinese cultural characteristics captures and reflects the suppressed and repressed desires of the Chinese audience within the context of Chinese film censorship, highlighting the intricate relationship between public desire and censorship in the realm of Chinese cinema.