The Sadness is pure Asian Horror

By RodneyHatfieldJr for Movies

I was wondering when the average person would get a chance to watch The Sadness. Having been over a year after release, we have learned that it will finally be coming to VOD. The Taiwanese horror film has made its rounds at most film festivals. And the reviews are completely mixed on this one. Apparently, it depends on what kind of horror you are into. If it is anything like the comic, then the average horror fan may want to skip this one. This is strictly a gorehound film.


Everything about the premise of writer/director Rob Jabbaz’s feature debut is another formulaic zombie or outbreak horror that usually becomes overly familiar, except this one mimics our real-time pandemic. It realizes that The Sadness refuses to adhere to the average horror movie. Jabbaz keeps a death grip on the pulse of the current social climate, delivering a rage-filled story that aims to tick off every cinematic taboo (and gag reflex). It’s gore horror of the highest, most aggressive order.


The synopsis for The Sadness goes like this:


The city of Taipei suddenly erupts into bloody chaos as ordinary people are compulsively driven to enact the cruelest and ghastly things they can imagine. Murder, torture, and mutilation are only the beginning. A young couple is pushed to the limits of sanity as they try to reunite amid the violence and depravity. The age of civility and order is no more.


The virus is more than just mimicking rabies. The virus represses the id and gives in to our darkest impulses. Spotlighting on dark; every taboo gets touched upon here. Anything that can happen will happen in the most disturbing ways. Jabbaz ramps up the danger and depravity at a steady, rapid clip, testing the boundaries of taste at every turn.


NEWSFLASH: The Sadness is not for everyone. However, if you like to push the limits of horror in all sorts of disturbing ways, then this one is for you. Don’t say you were not warned. The film stars Regina Lei (76 Horror Bookstore), Berant Zhu (We Are Champions, How to Train Our Dragon), Tzu-Chiang Wang (It’s Drizzling), and In-Ru Chen in a film by Rob Jabbaz. The Sadness arrives on VOD on May 12.


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