Journey to the West, a Chinese piece of literature written during the Ming dynasty, rich in symbolism, and trials of a spiritual journey, was originally titled Xiang mo pian. This film directed by Stephen Chow and Chi-kin Kwok, depicts the epic tale of a Buddhist hero who attempts to protect his village from three unique demons. The protagonist of this tale Xuan Zang, played by Zhang Wen, religiously practice’s Buddhism during his role as a demon hunter. Xuan, has a compassionate and empathetic attitude toward hunting these demons. This can be explained by the nature of Buddhist doctrine, where it is integral to the nature of enlightened individuals, such that they wish to cause no harm to another individual. This kindness and training to refrain …show more content…
Xuan enters our story explaining that the stingray was in fact not the demon, however it is still present in the form of a demon fish that is terrorizing a local watering hole. The viewer’s imagination could add an additional relevant or irrational level of fear, such as aquaphobia or the fear of water, which would intensify the horrendous image of the demon fish. The demon fish, orange in color, had a powerful tail with a suction ability to ensnare it’s victims, a dragon-like face, razor sharp teeth, and large spines on it’s back. An epic battle ensues, lives are lost, and after the smoke clears, Xuan is able to lull the demon fish back into it’s vulnerable form as a human male, by reciting a specific nursery rhyme. The man looks stunned, such that he was possessed in a sense by a demon and had no control over his activity in the form of the demon fish. The possession of the human form also offers unpredictability into the story, where an individual would likely act in accordance to a predetermined or specified goal, these demons act erratically based upon impulse. Beyond the actions of the demons throughout the story, their grotesque and haunting appearance alone is enough to strike fear in the hearts of the most courageous men. I truly believe the scare element of the story is that comparable to the classic The Exorcist. In our culture being possessed by a demon is a very possible scenario, which causes us to relate to the “based on true events” horror movies, and the stigma/true elements they