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]
Shock Wave is a Hong Kong-Chinese action film written and directed by Herman Yau, produced by and starring Andy Lau. Set for release on 20 April 2017 in Hong Kong and 28 April 2017 in China, the film is Yau and Lau’s third collaboration as director and star respectively after 1991’s Don’t Fool Me and 1999’s Fascination Amour.
Unreleated to the celebrated pork-bun movies, this titled sequel returns to the roots of the original film: a true crime drama with satirical overtones. Inspector Lee (Danny Lee) and his team (including Monica Chan and Cheung Kwok-Keung) look into the mysterious disappearance of a seedy loan shark (Ken Lo), but find no real leads. Amazingly, the culprits fall into their laps. Four young men, led by Wong Wing-Man (Sam Lee) confess to the killing. Apparently, … Read more
In 1978 in Hong Kong, a grisly murder takes place. Eight years later, on a Macao beach, kids discover the severed hands of a fresh victim. A squadron of coarse, happy-go-lucky cops investigate, and suspicion falls on Wong Chi Hang, the new owner of Eight Immortals Restaurant, which serves delicious pork bao. The hands belong to the missing mother of the restaurant’s former owner; he and his family have disappeared; staff at the restaurant continue … Read more
Kai San is a sleazy and despicable bastard of the most epic proportions. After being caught screwing the wife of his boss, he goes on a killing spree and flees Hong Kong. 10 years later, Kai finds himself working as a restaurant chef in South Africa. Overworked, underpaid, berated, and extorted by the restaurant owners who know of his fugitive status, Kai is a ticking time bomb…
“The King of Gore” Herman Yau returns with a gruesome tale that follows the cursed life of a young translator who collaborated with the enemy during Japan’s wartime occupation. He is tormented by guilt after turning his back on the comfort women who were mercilessly murdered. Forty-five years later, his sin comes back to haunt his son, a professor specializing in sleeping disorders who begins a terrible experiment to exorcise his father’s ghost.
In 1985, Cheung Yau-ming (David Lee Sheung-man) was one of five miscreants involved in the brutal murder of a white couple. As he was still a juvenile, the court ordered that he be “detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure,” a clause in British law allowing the government to imprison young offenders for an indefinite period. The film picks up in 1997, with Yau-ming (now 28) being paid a visit by a girl named Cheung Yue-ling (Ai … Read more
TC Lee, a senior policeman whose mounting debts are making headlines in the local press. Lee’s not the only person in trouble at his police station, where a handful of colleagues are paying off the bank or worse, are becoming locked into repayments to gangland debt collectors. When Lee and his colleagues become caught in the loan sharks’ spiraling interest charges and organized pressure tactics, they become vigilantes and fight back.
Hao Dong suffers from insomnia. One night he sees his neighbour across the street getting murdered. But when he arrives at the scene to investigate, the body has disappeared and the apartment turns out to be vacant. His girlfriend Yifan believes lack of sleep is playing tricks on his mind. Then he is witness to yet another murder, this time in his hometown of Nine Mile Village, and once again he appears to have imagined … Read more
A scientist discovers a chemical that can be used to make a great cure or a great virus, and a criminal sends ninjas to steal it and kill him. When they can’t open the container, they go hunting for ‘Copy’, who (unbeknownst to him) holds the key to the box. The scientists’ own ninjas want to stop them by killing Copy first, and only a small peace-loving village of ex-ninja want to stop the bad … Read more
The son of a crooked cop follows in his father’s footsteps. He joins an elite group of cops known as the “Flying Tigers” and there learns the true meaning of justice.