[1] Few figures are as synonymous with Hong Kong horror films as Helena Law Lan, who has been a household name for over half a century. Unlike typical “scream queens” who gain popularity playing damsels in distress, 91-year-old Law has been the city’s on-screen spirit medium for over three decades. For years, she has served as the Halloween ambassador for Hong Kong’s Ocean Park.
[2] Law, whose real name is Lo Yin-ying, was born in Hong Kong on November 13, 1934. Her career began in 1950, when she was 15, during a visit to a film set. A crew member asked her to play an unnamed factory worker in The Kid, with a nine-year-old Bruce Lee in his first leading role.
[3] Over time, Law’s strong, well-defined facial features led her to be cast in villain roles. She was also given the stage name “Law Lan” to evoke a glamorous “bad woman” image. In a 2020 interview with Hong Kong news outlet HK01, she said: “I’d never thought I’d be the lead.”
[4] In 1971, when she was in her mid-thirties, Law signed with TVB. The 1970s saw Law become a daily fixture in local living rooms as she took on numerous supporting roles in television dramas. A bigger TV role came in 1983 when she played the facially deformed villain Kau Chin-chak in The Return of the Condor Heroes, starring Andy Lau Tak-wah and Idy Chan Yuk-lin as lovelorn martial artists – a role Law reprised in the 1995 remake.
[5] While many of Law’s contemporary female entertainers were concerned with maintaining a conventionally beautiful appearance, Law embraced her unconventional casting. “My look was quite terrifying, but many viewers remembered it,” she told HK01 in 2018. “As an actor, my job is to do justice to the script.”
[6] In 1993, Law played her most iconic role to date: supernatural medium Lung Po (or “Dragon Granny”) in Thou Shalt Not Swear, a horror comedy about the Hungry Ghost Festival. Law’s performance bagged her a best supporting actress nomination at the 13th Hong Kong Film Awards. Her turn in the 1996 sequel July 13th, which focused more on her character, earned her another nod in the same category.
[7] Gradually, Law became a pop culture icon. She went on to play the same creepy, spiritual old lady with a piercing gaze and unnerving coldness in numerous films, such as the Troublesome Night series (1997-2003), Big Fortune Hotel (2015) and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change! (2019). Law had a career high when she won best actress at the 19th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2000 for her role in the crime drama Bullets Over Summer. At 65, she became the oldest actress to receive that honour. In 2002, she won a Life Achievement Award at the TVB Anniversary Awards.
[8] From 2010 to 2019, Law served as Ocean Park Hong Kong’s official Halloween Fest ambassador, playing a series of eerie characters in the theme park’s annual promotional videos. She resumed the collaboration earlier this month for a special Halloween meet-and-greet event.
Source: South China Morning Post, September 25
