陽顛倒物應猜──1980年代香港殭屍電影美術設計中的道具研究

Magical Mystery Tool: The Props in the Production Design of Jiangshi Films of Hong Kong in the 1980s

1985年香港導演劉觀偉的《殭屍先生》引領了港臺兩地爭相拍攝殭屍類型電影的風潮。這種有別於西方吸血鬼與僵屍電影的中國民俗特色主題，可以上溯至1979年的邵氏電影《茅山殭屍拳》，而自1980年後許鞍華的新浪潮鬼片《撞到正》和洪金寶的《鬼打鬼》系列電影後，逐漸確立香港殭屍電影的敘事模式。臺灣殭屍電影顯然受到《殭屍先生》的影響，從1986年起開始製作的《殭屍小子》系列，甚至外銷日本，深遠影響當地影視文化界，其重要性不下於劉觀偉接續拍攝的殭屍系列。藉由內佩特所提出的設計學與符號學分析架構，本文以香港殭屍類型電影中的道具為考察對象，特別是面對劇中超自然現象所採取對應措施下的物件，如日常生活中米、墨斗和雞血等互動使用方式，因而有下列兩點發現。首先是道士所使用之物具有二元性，這兩組對立物質文化揭示出相應的時間、空間和階級等劇情設定，為討論殭屍電影所具有的「中國／傳統／鄉村」與「西方／現代／都市」等文化隱喻，提供了具體化的研究材料與步驟。其次則是以物質文化研究的途徑，分析了香港殭屍電影中道具設計的發展與模式，並據此確認其作為一種可辨識的類型電影。

In 1985, Hong Kong director Liu Guanwei’ Mr. Vampire led the trend of Hong Kong and Taiwan competing to shoot Chinese folk themed jiangshi films, which were essentially different from Western vampire and zombie movies. Since the 1979 Shaw Brothers film Spiritual Boxer, Part II, through Ann Hui’s The Spooky Bunch, to Sammo Hung’s ghost movies in the early 1980s, the narrative mode of Hong Kong jiangshi films gradually established. Taiwanese jiangshi films were undoubtedly inspired and influenced by Liu’s Mr. Vampire. Sensationally popular in Japan, Hello Dracula of 1986 was the very first Taiwanese jiangshi movie whose sequels were no less competitive than Liu’s Mr. Vampire series. With Carl Knappett’s analysis framework of design studies and semiotics, this paper investigates the props in the production design of jiangshi films, especially the everyday objects applied to resolve the supernatural crisis, such as rice, Chinese ink pots and chicken blood, with the following two findings. Firstly, the things operated by Taoist masters are twofold, referring to two sets of opposing material cultures which reveal corresponding plots of time, space, and class. This analysis provides concrete research materials and procedures for expounding the cultural metaphors of “Chinese-traditionalrural” and “Western-modern-urban” in jiangshi movies. Secondly, by means of material culture studies, this paper analyzes the development and mode of props used in the Hong Kong jiangshi movies, and thus confirms it as a distinctive film genre.