Ghosts are a recurrent theme in Hong Kong movies due to Chinese culture’s animistic beliefs and practices. While the Chinese Communist Party repressed supernaturalism because of its perceived incompatibility with materialist ideology, the territories could flourish in the film industry with this subject. Particularly in Hong Kong, the ordinary but dense apartments constitute a place where a large number of both the living and the dead cohabit. Asian apartment horror films share the characteristics of also alienating the urban lifestyle as ghosts stand out from the living, but both of them display signs of loneliness and isolation. The ghosts represent at the same time the failed dream of economic success of migrating from rural areas to the city. The latter’s housing can be especially isolating, considering how tenants are renting on a short-term lease and how landlords treat their buildings as a source of income only. Therefore, people lose the vital sense of community even amid the presence of so many others.
Miriam Xia, 3036110916
More attention comparing the senses of loneliness and isolation of the ‘ghosts’ and the living would certainly enhance the coherence of your writing. You may also explain why the ‘ghosts’ represent the failed dreams of economic and social prosperity.