Written By: Sam Santiago
When you mention "BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA" to anyone worth a conversation, you'll always end up just spouting one-liners by Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) and drinking. (Just us?) But John Carpenter's energetic direction mixed with the film's blend of action, comedy, fantasy, and martial arts all lends itself to a re-watchable experience for years to come. What often gets overlooked is that beneath all of its pulpy fun lies one of the most disturbing supernatural villains of the 1980s.
Forty years after the film's release on July 2, 1986, Lo Pan remains a horror character hiding in plain sight.
For all the laughs and adventure, Big Trouble in Little China is driven by a curse, black magic, human sacrifice, demonic creatures, and an ancient sorcerer who has spent more than two thousand years searching for a way to become flesh once again. Strip away the comedy, and John Carpenter essentially built a horror film around one of cinema's most memorable occult villains. Lo Pan isn't nice or even understanding, he is determined and let's be honest, lonely. Two thousand years trying to change the past will make anybody a bit cranky.
Lo Pan was portrayed by the legendary James Hong, whose unmistakable voice and commanding screen presence elevated the character far beyond what could have been just another fantasy villain. We loved Hong in this role and in all honesty, didn't realize he was Cassandra's dad in Wayne's World 2 until years later. (Another role he was perfect for.) The costume alone was over 20lbs and Hong has stated that standing upright when he was the full character instead of the old man was tough.
Hong was already one of Hollywood's most respected character actors when he stepped into the role, but Lo Pan would become one of his defining performances. It is a testament to his talent that audiences remember both versions of the character equally well, the frail, ghostly old man drifting through Chinatown and the powerful, seemingly ageless sorcerer restored to his former glory.
WHO WAS LO PAN?
If you pay attention to the film, it runs things down pretty well. Lo Pan was once a ruthless warlord and sorcerer who lived during the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. (Yes, Emperor Qin Shi Huang was absolutely real. He lived from 259 to 210 BC, united the warring states, and founded the Qin Dynasty as the first emperor of a unified China).So Carpenter had to do his research to bring this aspect of the film in line with the story. Amazing bit of history for you buffs out there.
Lo Pan's crimes against the gods earned him an eternal punishment. Cursed to exist as a withered spirit trapped between life and death, Lo Pan could only walk the Earth as a ghostly shell of the man he once was. To break the curse, he needed to sacrifice a green eyed woman to appease the ancient emperor and then marry another green eyed woman to restore both his mortal body and his immortality. This was like a vampire trying to find RHNull blood (Trust us, it's rare.) Dude had to prove himself twice just to get some action, ain't that always the way?
It's a wonderfully bizarre premise, but one rooted in ideas that have existed in Chinese folklore for centuries. As stated in other pieces, we're huge history fans and Chinese mythology has been filled with stories of wandering spirits, Taoist sorcerers, immortals, curses, and the delicate balance between the living and the dead. You really need to look into some of these legends and stories as they can be amazingly dark avenues into new areas of horror.
While Big Trouble in Little China takes enormous creative liberties, Lo Pan feels like a villain assembled from fragments of real supernatural traditions rather than created entirely from fiction.
Steve Johnson applies the legendary old man Lo Pan prosthetics and that unforgettable facial hair during the making of Big Trouble in Little China. Photo courtesy of Vincent Guastini and the Practical Effects Group.
WHY IS HE MEMORABLE
Lo Pan isn't trying to conquer the world. He isn't interested in wealth or power for power's sake. He simply wants to end a curse that has condemned him to over two thousand years of living death. Being stuck between being alive and dead must b e a drag. There is something undeniably tragic about the character, but that tragedy never excuses his cruelty. Over the centuries, he has become willing to kidnap, torture, murder, and sacrifice innocent people without hesitation if it means reclaiming what he believes was stolen from him. Remember all those bodies Jack and his pals get submerged with in the basement of the massage parlor in the film? Those weren't just decorations, folks.
Lo Pan with The Three Storms. Thunder, Lightning, and Wind
The film wastes little time establishing just how frightening he can be. His influence extends throughout San Francisco's Chinatown, where entire criminal organizations answer to him. The Three Storms, Thunder, Rain, and Lightning, function almost like supernatural executioners, carrying out his will while his underground temple becomes the stage for ritual sacrifice, black magic, and ancient ceremonies.
One of the film's most unforgettable moments comes when Lo Pan calmly explains his existence.
"Indeed!"
It is a simple response, yet James Hong delivers it with such confidence that it has become one of the film's most quoted lines. Even more revealing is his explanation of the curse itself.
"I am Lo Pan. I was cursed by the gods."
In only a few words, Carpenter establishes a villain motivated not by simple evil, but by centuries of suffering and obsession.
WATCH THE BEST OF DAVID LO PAN BELOW
WHAT ARE HIS POWERS?
We're talking Chinese Black Magic here folks, so you know we're serious. Throughout the film, Lo Pan demonstrates abilities that feel closer to horror than fantasy. He appears and disappears at will, possesses supernatural strength, manipulates lightning, commands spirits, controls monsters, and performs elaborate blood rituals beneath the streets of Chinatown. The underground temple itself resembles something from an Giallo gothic horror film, complete with hanging corpses, glowing skulls, ancient statues, sacrificial altars, and rivers of green fire.
The influence of black magic runs through nearly every frame of the story. Over 3000 years of history proves that people really did practice this as a religion. Protective spells, ceremonial daggers, possession, magical potions, enchanted guardians, and spiritual rituals are all treated as real within the world Carpenter created. The result is a film that constantly shifts between action adventure and supernatural horror without ever feeling forced.
LO PAN IS A HORROR ICON
He isn't simply another movie monster. He is a ghost. A sorcerer. A cursed emperor's servant. A man whose humanity disappeared centuries ago, leaving behind little more than obsession wrapped in silk robes and ancient magic with some epic nails.
James Hong once transformed what could have been a wonderfully strange fantasy villain into something far more enduring. Lo Pan remains one of John Carpenter's greatest creations and one of the most overlooked supernatural antagonists of the 1980s. On the film's 40th anniversary, he's also a reminder that some of horror's best villains aren't always found in traditional horror movies. Sometimes they're waiting beneath the streets of Chinatown, patiently searching for the next soul willing to open the door.