Herman Yau Lai-To (Chinese: 邱禮濤), born 1961 in Hong Kong is a horror film director, scriptwriter known for movies like Ebola Syndrome and the Untold Story franchise.
A Chiuchow by origin, Yau studied film at The Department of Communications, Hong Kong Baptist College from 1981 to 1984 where he spent much of his early days hanging out with music lovers and making independent films.
Upon leaving school, Yau devoted most of his time working in the film industry, and writing for a number of magazine and newspapers as a columnist and freelance writer. Yau has also participated in a number of productions including music videos for Chang Kuan, Jie Cheng-jiang, Anthony Wong, Jacky Cheung, Andy Hui and the American jazz player Eric Marienthal. He has also produced TV commercials and promos for the Hong Kong Film Awards.
From 1997 to 1998, Yau participated in the filming of a TV series produced by Radio Television Hong Kong. In 2003, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Independent Committee Against Corruption, the ICAC produced a television drama series and invited Yau to direct one of the episodes.
Yau is also one of the founders of the cultural newspaper, Chinese Youth Weekly, and two movie magazines (these three periodicals have stopped releasing). Yau has also published two books of his own. Yau has produced and directed over 70 movies, which include The Untold Story, The Untold Story III, War of the Underworld, Walk In, Ebola Syndrome, Master Q 2001, From the Queen to the Chief Executive and the Troublesome Night series.
Yau’s films have also been shown in the Hong Kong International Film Festival and film festivals in Europe and the United States. The Untold Story and Ebola Syndrome were praised as “cult classics” (Yau himself considers Ebola Syndrome as his most achieved work). From the Queen to the Chief Executive was awarded the Golden Torch Award by the International Catholic Organization for Cinema and Audiovisual.
In 1997, together with a group of people coming from different fields who share the same belief in writing and the power of words, Herman founded Step Forward which specialises in publication.
In 1999, Hong Kong Polytechnic University invited Herman as their first “Artist-in-Residence”. For seven years, from 1996 to 2002, the Hong Kong Art Centre invited Herman to be a member of the jury for the “Hong Kong Independent Short Film and Video Awards”.
In 2002 and 2003, Herman was invited as a consultant for the “Master Degree Programme in Multimedia and Entertainment Technology” and Art Consultant for the Hong Kong Art Development Board. [Wikipedia]
All the CHEN family want is a quiet life but as daughter Lucy’s behavior changes from strange to violent, they are forced to confront dark secrets they have hidden for years. One by one, their desperate poverty, the mother’s rape and the father’s revenge by murder return to haunt them…until a searing TRUTH no one knew is revealed. Will this truth give them a second chance to right the wrongs in their lives or destroy … Read more
An unruly and spoiled girl Nancy is sent to the Physical Education College, which cultivates students into sports elites with strict regulations. Although her cousin Ken tries to help her get used to the ascetic life there, it doesn’t turn out as he intended. In order to pursue the handsome captain Tom, Nancy quits her favorite volleyball, but joins the Kung Fu team. What really annoys her is another girl Tina, who sees Nancy’s crush … Read more
Laughing is judged guilty of murdering gang lord Michael So and is sentenced to life imprisonment. Locked up behind bars, he meets the seemingly benign inmate Fok Tin Yam, a university professor in criminal psychology who is jailed for drug possession. Highly intelligent and manipulative, Fok reveals the power of his mind games by effortlessly subduing the violent prison bully. He also deduces that Laughing is sent to the prison on an undercover mission to … Read more
The remarkable true story of the early life of Ip Man, the formidable kung fu genius who would become Bruce Lee’s mentor; beginning at the start of his journey from his initial training through to the ultimate battle to become supreme master of the art of Wing Chun.
When the women of her time had their feet bound to please men, Qiu Jin was already questioning the sexual inequality of feudal traditions. Free-spirited and well-educated, she grew up practicing martial arts and was as well versed in poetry as she was in sword-fighting. When this rebellious girl moved to Beijing with her husband, she witnessed how her country was raided and ravaged by foreign powers. With the encouragement of her neighbor Wu Zhiying, … Read more
Princess Pearl of Flowerland is sent to Midland at a young age to learn her ceremonials duties. Her mother, the Queen Mother misses her daughter very much that the King orders his sister, the princess, to return home. However, the princess has fallen in love with General Wing of the Midland army and is reluctant to part from him. As their boat approaches the Flowerland border, Pearl and Wing save the life of a girl … Read more
In a district within Hong Kong five gangs have an uneasy truce as they all work within the area. Chaos then ensues when triad leader Jimmy is shot. Jimmy’s wife Cheung Wah then appoints his bodyguard Po as the temporary leader of the gang over Jimmy’s #2 man Blackie. Po must now find the assassin, control the seething Blackie, and keep their rival gangs at bay before all hell breaks loose…
Unemployed comic book artist Luk (6 Wing) is not having a good day. His girlfriend (Charmaine Fong) just left him, and he’s off to pitch his latest work to a publisher that turns out be very sketchy. The editor (MC Jin) wants Luk to add more gratuitous violence and deaths to his story, which he does in amusing manner. After the meeting, Luk goes about his business as normal, but he finds that everywhere he … Read more
A young mother and runs from her abusive husband with her daughter only to discover that their new apartment may be haunted by the spirit of a woman who suffered a similar fate.
Ying is a single parent who’s having a tough time disciplining his wild teenage daughter Ellen.
Seven friends plan a reunion on a remote island and end up killed in bizarre incidents.
A police officer (Andy Hui) and his partner (Simon Loui) get persecuted by the local triad due to the unpaid loans of the latter. After an incident involving all of them, things get lot worse to the point that the two policemen must run for their lifes.
Back in 2001, action director Sam Wong Ming-Sing shepherded a young group of lower-class dancers into the semi-big leagues. Thanks to great effort and timely sponsorship, the troupe was able to display their hip-hop street dance stylings as back-up dancers in Andy Lau’s summer concert.
“Master Q” is a popular comic book series character in Hong Kong. Each comic book is usually made up of many different situational stories, with 8 frmaes making up a story in 1 page. In short, it is like the newspaper comics that you see in America but in a book form. The movie is about how Master Q and his 2 friends Mr. Chung and Potato are out looking for jobs but accidentally cause … Read more
Two cops, one young and tough, the other nearing retirement, are after a ruthless vigilante who kidnaps and tortures acquitted criminals.
Lau is a spoiled playboy who’s on fiancée number 8 – and makes sport of getting rid of them. With his entourage (including an amusing Anthony Wong) in tow, he boards the cruise ship Fascination with the intent of ridding himself of his latest set-up. However, he didn’t count on falling for heiress Sandy who is – no surprise here – the only girl who can withstand his “money buys all” attitude. Things aren’t that … Read more
This Chinese ghost film centers on the theme of the haunted streets in Hong Kong, where four loosely connected stories are depicted. A group of young friends go on a camping trip in the countryside, where Ken encounters a mysterious woman near a grave. Afterward, Ken’s life is changed forever as he becomes a victim of ghost meddling. As the friends journey back to Hong Kong without Ken, another sinister story takes place. Mrs. To … Read more
Four reporters from a tabloid magazine stalks a model for their gossip column. The model, having breaking up with her rich boyfriend, later commits suicide to escape all the pressure. The reporters relentlessly post the photos of suicide aftermath in their tabloid magazines. Years later, the reporters begin to fester and die violent deaths, and an inspector is assigned to track down the perpetrator. In addition, the inspector claims he has seen the model at … Read more
The fifth chapter of the “Troublesome Night” series, this movie is an anthology of three connected stories. Taxi Driver Cheung runs into bad luck when he encounters strange and mysterious customers during his night shift. That same night, his friend and colleague Fat moves to a new home with his wife and son to hide from loan sharks, and his luck turns when he discovers his new home is haunted by a demon, who promises … Read more
The fourth installment in the “Troublesome Night” series. As in the previous films, the film winds together an anthology of comedic horror tales all loosely linked together. In this one, all the stories involve tourists from Hong Kong visiting the Philippines on holiday.
The second chapter of the “Troublesome Night” series, this movie consists of three stories. The first story is about a girl that called a radio show for advice and comfort after her boyfriend died tragically. One of the station DJs unconsciously suggested that she should commit suicide if she wants to be reunited with her beau. Unfortunately, the girl takes the suggestion and the DJ becomes racked with guilt as the girl’s ghost returns to … Read more
Two Cops, one young and hotheaded, the other aging and by-the-book, are teamed up to break a case involving a series of Jewel heists by a ruthless young gangster and his illegal immigrant gang.
An erotic mystery about widower seeks revenge to the man whose wife had an affair before her apparent suicide, however things soon turns complicated when the widower having a relationship with the man’s wife and the whole truth would reveals.
Anthony Wong plays a traffic cop who is obsessed with action films. He wants to be a real life hero and gets his chance when he becomes involved in a botched bank robbery case.
The prequel to Taylor Wong’s With or Without You finds Prince being raised as a trained assassin by his “father.” Meanwhile, he falls in love with Tweedy, a singer who teaches him how to love.
Kin (Anthony Wong) is a hard-working insurance salesman with a very pregnant wife. When his wife starts haemorrhaging, he calls a taxi, but it leaves when someone else offers more money. After his wife dies, Kin vows to get revenge on all taxi drivers by taking them out one at a time.
After suffering life changing injuries in the line of duty, bomb disposal officer Fung turns his back on the police. But when a devastating series of bombings sweep Hong Kong, the police suspect their former ally may be involved after he is found unconscious at a crime scene. Now faced with memory loss and recalling only fragments of his former life, Fung sets out to uncover the truth and find out who he really is.
In postwar Hong Kong, legendary Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man is reluctantly called into action once more, when what begin as simple challenges from rival kung fu styles soon draw him into the dark and dangerous underworld of the Triads. Now, to defend life and honor, he has no choice but to fight one last time…
In order to preserve the value of his assets, the Lo’s family a patriarch (Francis Ng) spends all his saving’s and his father’s retirements pensions to purchase an old-age flat in the middle of a noisy neighborhood, cohabiting with his neurotic wife (Anita Yuen), unemployed son (Ng Siu-hin), daughter (Jocelyn Choi) who is going through puberty and his elderly, disabled father (Cheung Tat-ming).
Sequel of the 2013 film “The White Storm”. In the quadripartite drug market in Hong Kong, drug dealer Jizo (Louis Koo) gradually expands in collaboration with some Mexican drug lords across the border, followed by a chain of dog-eat-dog events which shock and bring the whole trade on high alert. On the other hand, Yu Shun-tin (Andy Lau), a former triad member who is now a philanthropist and financial tycoon, witnessed his father being consumed … Read more
The New King of Comedy (新喜剧之王) is a 2019 Chinese comedy film directed, written, and produced by Stephen Chow. The film tells the story of an young woman who is dreaming and striving to pursue the actors’ dream. It was released in China on 5 February 2019 during the Lunar New Year 2019.
The story revolves around two women in the grassroots of Hong Kong society, struggling to survive and haunted by demons in their respective pasts. The literal translation of the Chinese film title is “I do not sell my body, I sell my uterus”.
The film centers around a Malaysian pharmaceutical company using a new virus to generate an epidemic. A secret organization, known as “The Leaker”, discloses this information. After the suicide of the pharmaceutical company’s son and a local reporter, the wife of the pharmaceutical company’s owner leaves for Hong Kong. A Malaysian police chief , Hong Kong police officer, and journalist work together to locate her whereabouts.
Every three years, the five leading gangs elect a representative to stand for election to be the mobfather of the underworld. Each of the candidates has his strength and his weaknesses, and there is understandably a decided lack of trust amongst the gangs. With each fighting for his gang’s own vested interests, what will be the outcome?
After working as an undercover in a triad for 8 years, Sheng (Nick Cheung) finally arrests the triad leader (Francis Ng) and resumes his duties as a police officer. However, life does not return to normal as he is faced with suspicions colleagues and even trailed by the investigations team. One day, he meets some triad members whom he has earlier befriended as an undercover. Sheng forced into a corner when asked to collaborate with … Read more
Inspired by interviews with real-life prostitutes, Herman Yau’s sexy but socially conscious film revolves around a social worker seeking to unionize sex workers, and depicts a variety of tawdry experiences from the seedy underbelly of Hong Kong.
