YOU MIGHT HAVE heard the urban myth. An unwary business traveller has one drink too many and wakes up with a cracking hangover in a bathtub full of ice. The victim glances up and sees a note taped to the bathroom mirror: 'Call a doctor. You've just had a kidney removed.'
As with all urban myths, the details change with the storyteller, but thanks to the wonders of modern technology, the basic story has been circulated from Saskatchewan to Shenzhen.
Three or four years ago, when it was doing the e-mail rounds in Hong Kong, it caught the attention of scriptwriter Yeung Sin-ling and director Lo Chi-leung, who thought it could make the basis of an interesting horror movie.
'We tried to develop it as a story involving a man who kidnaps a woman, but we got stuck after the first couple of scenes,' says Lo. 'So, we put it to one side and made Inner Senses, instead. Then the head of Filmko [Alex Wong Hoi-fung] suggested the story should revolve around two girls and it suddenly became much easier to write.'
The end result, Koma, is a psychological thriller starring two of Asia's hottest up-and-coming actresses, Lee Sin-je and Karena Lam Ka-yan. Eventually scripted by Susan Chan Suk-yin from a story by Yeung, the film is the second time Lo and Lam have worked together since Inner Senses, a finely crafted, atmospheric horror movie (and the last film made by Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing).
Like Inner Senses, Koma derives as much of its impact from human drama and character development as from shocks and scares. But Lo says it's a very different film in terms of style and genre. 'Inner Senses was set in an old apartment building and had lots of scenes that were shot in the dark,' he says. 'This movie has many scary scenes in daylight and in public places. It's not a ghost story, it's a thriller. So, it's a bit more gory.'