Zombies — they're just like us
What if the bloody enemies were lascivious, as well as carnivorous?
The Sadness, a first feature from writer-director Rob Jabbaz, asks the question: What if zombies were smart and depraved, as well as just hungry and violent? And then it answers that question in blood.
This writ-large Pandemic Metaphor Movie opens with young lovers Kat and Jim (Regina Lei, Berant Zhu), waking up in their Taipei apartment. He gives her a lift to the subway, but on his way home encounters the first victims of the Alvin Virus, which we've heard mentioned briefly.
Hate to think what the Simon and Theodore variants will do, because those who come down with Alvin start attacking others with whatever's at hand — boiling oil, umbrellas, garden shears, their teeth. What's more, they have sexual urges to match their murderous ones. They're creative on both fronts. And they'll tell you about it as long as you live — which won't be long.
Jabbaz doesn't skimp on any of it. In fact, where most directors would cut away from the more intense moments of sex and violence, he cuts into them. And then through them. Word is the effects team spent three months preparing heads that could spray blood, melt or explode, all for a four-week shoot. 28 Days Later, eat your heart out — while it's still beating.
The bare-bones plot involves Jim and Kat trying to reunite. He's hampered by having had two fingers cut off by his once-friendly neighbour.
She's being stalked by a businessman (Tzu-chiang Wang), who was creepy even before he caught the virus.
The Sadness received rave reviews at various horror festivals, and won best first feature at Montreal's Fantasia fest last summer. In terms of sexual turpitude and violent acts per minutes, it's hard to beat. As a commentary on the current pandemic, it's a little too debauched to really function as satire. A rare quiet moment late in the film in which a virologist explains that no one would listen to him is too on-the-nose. And the rest of time it's all noses off.
This viewer couldn't stomach the scenes of rape and murder. I've learned to appreciate a good scare at the movies, but gross-out horror leaves me queasy. Faint of heart, you've been warned.