Hong Kong’s ‘Apartment Horror’ Films Expose the City’s Brutal Property Market

Hong Kong’s notoriously unaffordable housing market has become fertile ground for a wave of ‘apartment horror’ films that use cramped, high-rise living as a stage for supernatural terror and social commentary. In a city where the average home price is over 20 times the median annual income, these movies channel real anxieties about space, status, and survival into genre thrills. Films like ‘The Eye’ and ‘Rigor Mortis’ transform claustrophobic flats and decaying estates into haunted landscapes, reflecting the psychological toll of the city’s property obsession. By blending superstition with the everyday struggle for a home, filmmakers are tapping into a deep well of local fear. This trend matters because it turns a mundane economic crisis into visceral entertainment, giving audiences a way to process the stress of living in one of the world’s most densely populated and expensive cities. As long as the property ladder remains out of reach, expect more ghosts to haunt Hong Kong’s high-rises.