Why an APA Horror Film?
The first thing people generally ask when I tell them I’m preparing to write and direct an Asian Pacific American horror film is — Why a horror film?
It isn’t that they are against the idea of an APA horror film, it’s more that the idea of such a thing isn’t really within their realm of comprehension. After all, when was the last time you saw an APA horror film at your local multiplex? There is a long and rich tradition of great horror films (and stories) from Asia, but somehow it hasn’t carried over to our communities here in America.
So back to the question — Why an APA horror film?
The first and most obvious answer is that I love the genre. I grew up watching scary movies. I was mesmerized by them. I couldn’t get enough of them. From the old Universal monster movies featuring such greats as Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s Monster to the 1970s exploitation flicks by filmmakers like Larry Cohen and Roger Corman, these movies kept me up all night huddled under my covers with a crucifix and a baseball bat at my side for protection.
The quality of the film itself wasn’t even an issue. Whether it was something as sublime as The Exorcist or a piece of B-movie schlock like When A Stranger Calls, it didn’t matter to me. They were all equally cool in my book.
The second reason for choosing this genre has to do with the realities of Hollywood and the business of filmmaking. I want to make Asian Pacific American films. I want to tell APA stories that are compelling, interesting and non-stereotypical. But what it comes down to is this — very few APA films have been able to “break through” and succeed.
What was the last APA film that had a significant impact on our cultural landscape (and I don’t mean foreign Asian films or ones like Three Seasons, which though made by APA filmmakers, take place in Asia.)? Probably The Joy Luck Club. And that was almost 10 years ago.
The general perception is that APA films do not make money. They are not commercial. They do not cross over. APA audiences are too small or too apathetic or too whatever to have any clout at the box office. Whereas the African American community will go out and support African American films in large numbers (i.e. the massive box office for films like Barbershop).
Now there are some flaws with this position, but let’s say for the sake of argument that it is true; that traditionally there is no market for an APA film. That puts us in a Catch-22. No one will take a chance on an APA film because of the perceived lack of commercial potential so therefore we have little or no opportunity to prove this idea wrong by showing that APA films can be commercial; that they can find an audience.
This is something that I have given much thought to as I try to navigate the often-choppy waters of Hollywood and I’ve come up with certain ideas and theories of how to get around this problem. One possible solution is doing an APA genre film.
Genres (horror, comedy, action, science fiction, etc...) tend to embrace the more “commercial” requirements of filmmaking. These are the films that generally make up the bread and butter of the movie industry. My theory is this — if someone can make a great film featuring APA characters in one of these familiar genres, the strength of the genre itself could possibly be enough to help the film cross over and break through to general audiences.
In other words, if you make a comedy with APA characters, and the film is absolutely side-splittingly hilarious and great, mainstream audiences will respond to the film and it doesn’t matter that the characters on the screen have Asian features because if it’s funny, it’s funny and that’s what’s important.
I chose the horror genre because that was the one I felt I could do the most with; the one I felt most comfortable in because of my love for those films. The idea is that if I can make a really scary film with a mostly APA cast, it can have the potential to be successful because the genre elements will be what sells the film: Scare the daylights out of audiences and they will come. We’ll soon see if this theory holds water or not.
Check out: www.childreninthemirror.com for more info on Philip W. Chung’s upcoming APA horror film Children in the Mirror.
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