SARS attacks Hong Kong. What is the reality behind the horror distributed by western media. How the virus effects to one of the world’s most vibrant cinema industries. The news wasn’t too good. First of April 2002, Leslie Cheung committed suicide. For the past two decades, he has been a beloved actor and an icon of Hong Kong Canto-pop. This event occurred a couple of days before the Film Festival started. Under normal circumstances one of the most glittering events of the year, took place in a black and somber mood. Also, the 27th Hong Kong Film Festival opened with a minute of silence in memory of Cheung. According to director-producer Peter Chan, the Hong Kong film industry and the audience turned during the last year more and more towards genre films. It seems indeed that police stories and horror flicks dominate the market. The Hong Kong Panorama section reflected this. This year, the horror films were of a variety of types and many of them were quite innovative, or at least interesting.