Ma-Xu Weibang, a director best known for his work in the horror genre, made the Chinese film Song of Midnight (aka Midnight Song)
Often referred to as the first Chinese horror film, or as the first horror-musical, Song at Midnight was influenced by the 1923 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame, as well as the 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera (Le Fantôme de l’Opéra) by Gaston Leroux and its 1925 film adaptation.
Song at Midnight was released five months prior to the Second Sino-Japanese War in China. The film concerns the activities of Chinese leftist revolutionaries, and did not easily evade the film censorship of Kuomintang, along with its serious punishment to films dealing with themes of horror, gods, spirits, or “superstition and heresy” at that time.
In order to circumvent China’s censorship laws at the time, director Ma-Xu Weibang visited “Yiyong jun jinxing gu” (March of the Volunteers) writer Tian Han while writing the script. They met to ensure that the script would be approved under censorship.
One dark and stormy night in 1926, a group of itinerant actors—known as the Angel Theatre Troupe—arrive at abandoned theatre slated for demolition, which the troupe has rented to put on a play.
While initially daunted by the building’s unkempt nature, the actors set about rehearsing. One night, the play’s lead, Sun Xiao’ou, has trouble with the lines for the play’s titular number, “Romance of the Yellow River,” and requests to be alone in the theatre. As he continues to rehearse, a mysterious and disembodied voice begins to sing the lines along with Xiao’ou, effectively teaching him the part.
Upon inquiring with the theatre’s haggard caretaker, Xiao’ou learns that the voice belongs to a once famous actor long thought to be deceased – Song Danping. The voice of Danping teaches Xiao’ou the song, and the play is a great success.
After the show, the young Xiao’ou hopes to thank Danping for his help, and follows his voice to a room atop the theatre, where Danping sits in a baggy robe and large hood. After some prodding, Xiao’ou convinces Danping to tell his story.
