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October Screening:
Legend of the Mountain
This Halloween, we're heading into the haunted mountains with King Hu. Best known for his wuxia masterpieces Dragon Inn and A Touch of Zen, Hu ventured into the supernatural with Legend of the Mountain (1979), a ghost story filled with seductive spirits, Buddhist mysticism, sorcery, and some truly extraordinary drumming.
Date & Time: October 25, 2026 (Sunday) | 5PM PT
Location: The Culver Theater, 9500 Culver Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232
Admission: $15
*3-hour validated parking at INCE Parking Structure (9099 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232)
Legend of the Mountain
山中傳奇（1979）
4K Restoration
Director: King Hu 胡金銣
Hong Kong | Mandrain | 184min
Action/Adventure/Fantasy/Horror
English subtitle
Logline:
A traveling scholar is intent on translating a Buddhist sutra that is said to have power over the creatures of the afterlife. He slowly finds himself entangled in a mysterious plot involving witchcraft, demons, and a battle to preserve his own soul from the attacks of the supernatural underworld.
Trailer
Following the international success of A Touch of Zen, King Hu turned toward something more atmospheric and contemplative. Rather than relying on the rapid swordplay traditionally associated with wuxia cinema, Legend of the Mountain builds its tension through stillness, repetition, sound, and the gradual transformation of an ordinary journey into an encounter with the supernatural. Part ghost story, part philosophical fable, and part visual poem, the film occupies a fascinating place within King Hu's filmography and within the history of Hong Kong cinema.
Hu's extraordinary command of space is central to the experience. Mountains, forests, mist, temple corridors, and waterfalls are not simply beautiful backdrops; they become active forces within the story. His compositions draw on the visual traditions of Chinese landscape painting, while his choreography turns human bodies into moving elements within the landscape.
The film is equally remarkable in the way it uses sound. Music, percussion, chanting, footsteps, wind, and silence constantly reshape our sense of space. At key moments, dialogue becomes almost secondary to image and sound, creating a cinematic experience that is as much felt as it is understood.
Nearly five decades after its original release, Legend of the Mountain remains a singular cinematic experience—one that rewards patience and close attention. Its mystery is not simply something to be solved, but something to enter. On the big screen, Hu's intricate compositions, hypnotic soundscape, and extraordinary landscapes invite us to lose ourselves in a world where the familiar gradually becomes strange.
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