Text: Samuel Aponte.
Talent: Josie Ho, Conroy Chan, Iman Taheri.
Directors: The Pang Brothers (Oxide Pang & Danny Pang).
Production: 852 Films.
Under the warm sun of Honolulu, 852 Films founder Josie Ho marked a deeply personal milestone as she brought Hong Kong’s supernatural cinema to the Pacific alongside her husband, Conroy Chan, and surgeon-turned-actor Iman Taheri.
For two decades, 852 Films has served as a dedicated haven for curiosity-driven, boundary-pushing Hong Kong genre cinema. The company’s latest release, “The Mage,” directed by legendary horror auteurs the Pang Brothers, pushes that legacy forward by combining procedural crime dynamics with some deep Taoist folklore roots. Yet, when the film got its North American premiere in the “Spotlight on Hong Kong” section at the 46th Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF46), there was more to the whole story beyond what was on the script.
For co-founder and lead actress Josie Ho, walking the festival carpet in Honolulu closed a 20-year circle of missed appointments. Prior obligations kept her from attending with her cult slasher “Dream Home,” and a planned 2022 appearance for “Onpaku” was canceled when her husband and producing partner, Conroy Chan, suffered a life-threatening aortic tear. Returning to HIFF46 with Chan fully recovered, alongside Iman Taheri, the surgeon who helped treat Chan and has since stepped into acting, transformed the premiere into an even more personal and triumphant celebration.
“The Mage” continues 852 Films’ exploration of Hong Kong’s rich spiritual underworld. Ho stars as Lan Pui-ching, a scavenger and former spirit medium who collects discarded objects holding the souls of those who met sudden, violent deaths. When a string of brutal murders matches a sinister ritualistic pattern, Lan is forced into a tense partnership with a skeptical homicide detective, pitting her against both external demonic forces and personal baggage.
Before landing in Honolulu, “The Mage” had already enchanted the international circuit, premiering at South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN). Here was where Jossie Ho became the well-deserved recipient of the Fantastic Icon Award honoring her career-long dedication to raising the cinematic bar in the hemisphere. The Pang Brothers’ thriller subsequently opened the Midnight section at the Bangkok International Film Festival before screening at Spain’s Sitges Film Festival.
Having swept through Asian box offices across Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, and Taiwan, “The Mage” functions as far more than another entry in 852 Films’ catalog of genre cinema. Framed by real-life health trials, shared creative risks, and an unwavering commitment to Hong Kong’s cultural exports, the Honolulu premiere anchored a broader release strategy, validating the studio’s long-term gamble on translating regional folklore and idiosyncrasies into an uniquely valuable cinematic experience.
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