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The author of this article is a contributor @Red Panda Movies is survival and life

Two years ago, "About That Time We Became Family with a Ghost" (hereinafter referred to as "Ghost Family") made a stunning debut, breaking the audience's inherent impression of Taiwanese films.

The film combines many elements such as comedy, crime, horror, and thriller. It also explores the marriage and funeral culture and family topics in East Asia through the "ambiguous relationship" between the two protagonists Wu Minghan (played by Xu Guanghan) and Mao Bangyu (played by Lin Bohong).

In the end, "Ghost Family" caused quite a stir on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, becoming a major anomaly and surprise among Chinese-language films in recent years.

After two years, another movie featuring "ghost elements + hilarious comedy" will premiere in Taiwan Province in August.

This is the imaginative genre mashup "The Way of Genius" starring Chen Bolin, Zhang Rongrong and Wang Jing.

In "Ghost Family", only Mao Bangyu, who had unfulfilled wishes, could be considered a ghost. But in the new film "Ghost's Way", it can be said that "a hundred ghosts are parading at night".

The story revolves around a mysterious haunted hotel, Wang Lai Hotel, which is home to many evil spirits who want to become famous by scaring people.

It turns out that in the underworld, there are also so-called "click rates" and "ghost internet celebrities", and they are very competitive with each other.

In order to avoid being eliminated by the ever-changing ghost world, the former queen Catherine (played by Zhang Rongrong) and her "ghost agent" Makoto (played by Chen Bolin) decided to cooperate with a young female ghost classmate (played by Wang Jing) who had just arrived to find a new way to scare people.

Can this combination of "one old and one young" female ghosts become terrifying and create a new urban legend of their own?

Judging from the trailers that have been released so far, the creative "The Way of the Genius" has a strong spirit of spoof deconstruction and horror comedy style. The character modeling and some scenes are full of horror and plasma concentration, but the overall experience gives people an entertaining and relaxing experience.

In fact, as early as 2020, "The Way of Genius" released a six-minute concept short film.

In the short film, director Xu Hanqiang uses the frightened experience of a civilian exploration team to tell the story of how the female ghost Catherine became a "big star in the ghost world."

Among them, the scene where Catherine accepted an exclusive interview with the ghost world was extremely ironic.

Today's "The Way of the Genius" has expanded into a feature film based on the concept short film, and has strengthened this kind of misplaced humor.

For example, the "Golden Ghost Award" derived from the spoof of the "Golden Horse Award", "fancy tribute" to well-known horror films such as "Annabelle", "The Little Girl in Red", and "Girl Bridge";

In the styling of a certain supporting character, director Xu Hanqiang also paid tribute to the image of Mima in "Perfect Ma".

As he said in an interview: "We have created a vivid world view of ghost life, waiting for the audience to enter the theater to experience it, whether it is more difficult to be a human or a ghost."

On the other hand, the cast of "The Way of Genius" is also quite interesting.

Rising star Wang Jing, who had a brilliant performance in the dark horse film "Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils", will team up with the powerful mixed-race actress Zhang Rongrong for the second time. The red-dressed female ghost look that has been exposed shows another side of Wang Jing. This film is also the first time Zhang Rongrong has returned to the Taiwanese film industry after "The Reborn".

The male lead, Chen Bolin, has completely changed his previous image of a handsome and sunny big boy.

In the film, he plays the female ghost agent MAKOTO, who has an exaggerated beard and a retro 90s outfit, making it difficult to associate him with his previous youth film roles.

In recent years, he has intended to broaden his acting range and has achieved good results.

The 2021 horror comedy "Strange Cheats" (directed by Chen Yihan's husband Xu Fuxiang) can be regarded as a turning point in his career in recent years.

In the film, Chen Bolin plays the corrupt policeman Feng Ge, who wanders between his brother Xiao Qiang (Hou Yanxi), villager Xu Bo (Chen Yiwen) and a female ghost (Chen Yihan).

In order to find the stolen diamonds that were stolen by the robbers, Brother Feng came to a remote village, and a series of ridiculous supernatural events happened.

From today's perspective, the story and reputation of "Strange Talk" are relatively average (Douban score of 6.8), and it did not cause any sensation after its release, but it unexpectedly opened up a new acting path for Chen Bolin.

Chen Bolin, who once played the role of "innocent man" in "Fated to Love You" and "Ordinary Road", turns out that he can also be a "handsome uncle" with a lot of bad intentions.

With the successful experience of "Strange Cheats", Chen Bolin once again explored his "bad boy" qualities in the commercial film "Pay Back the Money" released at the beginning of this year.

As the Chinese-language box office champion during the Spring Festival in Taiwan this year, "Pay Back the Money" is undoubtedly comparable to the Korean movie "The Thieves".

The film tells the story of an elite thief group led by Zhang Bojun (played by Chen Bolin) who stole NT$1 billion on Chinese New Year's Eve, but unexpectedly encountered an ambush, forcing them to return the NT$1 billion.

"Pay Back the Money" combines multiple elements such as crime, suspense, action, comedy, etc., representing the new exploration of traditional crime films by Taiwanese filmmakers.

Having mentioned the above cases, perhaps careful viewers have discovered that today's Taiwanese films focus on bold "mix and match" of genre elements and a full spirit of entertainment.

Whether it is "Ghost Family", "The Way of the Ghost", "Strange Talk" or "Pay Back the Money", they all add creative imagination to the classic genre films, giving the audience a sense of surprise of "opening a blind box".

This kind of mix and match has become a popular trend, appearing in more and more Taiwanese film and television works.

For example, "Nightmare of Love", which is currently showing in Taiwanese theaters, is an "experimental product" that incorporates horror and science fiction elements into a romance film.

"Nightmare of Love" was directed by Liao Mingyi, the director of "Freak", and was shot entirely with iPhone 4K.

The film tells the story of a male protagonist played by Lin Bohong who falls in love with his controlling girlfriend. As they get along, the male protagonist begins to doubt his emotional choices. Until he makes a wish in a dream, his wish to change his girlfriend actually comes true...

The pioneering shooting style + the dreamlike story make "Nightmare of Love" sound really different.

In addition, "Zhenggang Branch", which will be launched on August 22, is also a leader in this mashup craze.

The "Zhenggang Branch" is the police station where Xu Guanghan's character in "Ghost Family" works. Because the movie was so popular, the Zhenggang Branch was separated out and made into an independent drama, taking the route of comedy + detective, and supplementing the details that were not covered in the movie.

It is reported that the drama is co-directed by "Ghost Family" director Cheng Weihao ("Witness: The Pursuit of Murder" and "The Soul") and Yin Zhenhao ("When a Man Falls in Love"), and the original crew of the branch, including Xu Guanghan, Wang Jing, Ma Niansian and others will all return.

Whether Mao Bangyu, who has already "passed away", will appear in "Zhenggang Branch" is also a big suspense of the show.

The first official trailer of "Zhenggang Branch" was released this week

In short, this summer's Taiwanese-produced film and television works have achieved a flourishing situation to some extent, allowing audiences to see the creative spirit of Taiwan's filmmakers in breaking through cost constraints and constantly innovating.

Finally, I look forward to "The Way of the Genius" being scheduled for release in mainland China in the future.

Note: Some of the pictures in this article are from Douban and the Internet. If there is any infringement, please contact us.