The Sadness is an extreme horror movie from Taiwan that should leave its mark on the zombie apocalypse genre like Train to Busan did several years ago. Please note that the movie is graphic and deals with topics such as sexual abuse that are not easy to digest. This film should only be watched by adults who know their own limits.

Once you have come to the conclusion that you might like this kind of movie, you should certainly enjoy many parts of it. The film has several links to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic with a dangerous virus that is underestimated by poorly educated loud minorities who call politicians and scientists liars and those who protect themselves accurately sheep that follow the masses. One day, a new variant of the virus breaks out in Taiwan's capital Taipei and stimulates the patients' desire for human blood and endless sexual intercourse. This movie follows a young adult couple with Jim and Kat who simply want to have breakfast and go to work. However, Jim notices his neighbour's strange behaviour and soon gets attacked in the restaurant while Kat feels uncomfortable in the subway just before a violent bloodbath breaks out. The two lovers try to survive, get together and find a way out of the city as they are watching more and more infected patients going crazy.

This horror movie convinces on several levels. First and foremost, the film has fast pace, entertains from start to finish and features no unnecessary lengths at all.

Up next, the locations have overall been chosen very well and vary from closed environments such as subway trains and hospitals to more open environments such as the streets in downtown Taipei and an abandoned school area in the nearby hills.

The two lead characters are rather sympathetic and easy to empathize with since they are just regular citizens who are suddenly overwhelmed by the rapid chain of terrible events happening around them. They are no superheroes and certainly won't find an easy way out of this madness.

The different villains are also quite memorable such as the involuntary celibate businessman and the abusive doctor who hides a dark secret. Finding such intriguing villains in a zombie horror movie is quite rare and one of the film's most outstanding strengths.

Even the side characters have enough depth to be memorable such as the perverted security guard with his childish manners or the sweet lady on the train who gets brutally injured and tries to survive with Kat.

The only reasons why this movie doesn't get an even higher rating is because a few scenes are a little bit less gripping, especially Jim's ride through downtown Taipei and his detour to the hills and because the plot is overall rather predictable. Other than those elements, this movie offers everything a horror movie fan could possibly crave for and then some.

A special shoutout goes out to the grindcore song ''Crying City'' by Ashen, taken from their debut album This World Is Not Ours that kicks in as the credits start to roll. The credits could not have had a more fitting song than this one. This song alone made me want to check out the whole album and offered a pleasant new discovery.

As you can read, if you like horror movies and are able to tolerate graphic footage, you should certainly appreciate The Sadness as one of the greatest genre films thus far in this decade.

Deception of the Novelist is a very intriguing psychological thriller that gets to the point in ninety minutes and convinces with a twisted story rather than overemphasized atmosphere.

The plot revolves around Tsui, a renowned healing author who describes how to maintain healthy romantic relationships and who also works as a realtor in downtown Hongkong. Behind his outstanding reputation hide a few demons. Tsui has cheated on his wife once at a party and was humiliated by her in front of several friends and colleagues. Ever since, his wife has been keeping her eyes on Tsui and their marriage has been getting worse every single year. Tsui only stays with his jealous wife to continue his career as a relationship counseling author. Things however spiral out of control when a mysterious woman wants to rent one of Tsui's apartments. She quickly breaches her contract as she is unable to pay rent and tries to seduce Tsui instead. Soon enough, the mysterious woman is blackmailing the unfaithful husband while his wife is getting suspicious about his increasingly nervous behaviour. The tense situation pushes Tsui to find a radical way to solve all his problems at once.

This great psychological thriller convinces on numerous levels. First of all, the movie gets to the point in ninety minutes and has swift pace that should captivate genre fans from start to finish.

Up next, the acting performances are very convincing. The unfaithful husband with his numerous dark secrets, the aggressive, controlling and jealous wife and the clever femme fatale who has her very own sinister agenda are portrayed credibly by an excellent cast.

The plot is this film's absolute highlight. Viewers will make up numerous theories about what is really happening in this film but each time one might come to a possible theory, the movie smoothly introduces new hints, turns and twists that will keep the audience watching until the very end.

To keep it short, Deception of the Novelist is one of the cleverest psychological thrillers in recent memory and deserves much attention from genre fans all around the world.

A Snake of June is an erotic drama written and directed by Tsukamoto Shinya who has created films like bizarre dystopian horror movie Tetsuo: The Iron Man and gloomy romantic drama Vital. He also plays the role of a mentally unstable stalker, along with veteran actor Kotari Yuji as aging husband with obsessive-compulsive disorder and versatile actress Kurosawa Asuka as suicide prevention counselor with explicit erotic fantasies. The messages of this movie that Tsukamoto Shinya had been planning to make for about two decades are to be in love with oneself and to live life to the fullest.

The plot revolves around suicide prevention counselor Rinko who has an unhappy marriage with her older husband Shigehiko who is obsessed with his job as businessman and cleaning their luxurious but cold apartment in some dystopian concrete metropolis. One day, Rinko receives a mysterious letter with photographs showing her wearing sexy clothing and masturbating. The young woman is shocked and confused but gets a call from her stalker before she can think of talking to her husband or calling the police. It turns out that the mysterious stalker is a man whose life she saved by telling him to find purpose in life and do whatever he feels like doing. The stalker now wants to pay the counselor back by making her rediscover her sexuality and live out her most intimate phantasies. He promises her to hand out all the negatives of the explicit pictures he has taken once the counselor has followed his advice and guidance towards sexual freedom and mental well-being step by step. Rinko feels angry and disgusted at first but soon discovers a sense of confidence and liberty that she hadn't felt in many years. Things however take a more complicated turn when her stalker reveals that he is dying, when her husband gets suspicious of her secret activities and when she realizes that she has to take a life-changing decision.

This movie convinces on numerous levels. First of all, the film's cinematography is absolutely outstanding, The movie was shot in black and white before a metallic blue colour tone was added in post-production. This gives the film a gloomy mood that complements the sinister settings in a soulless metropolis and the constantly depressing weather as there is heavy rainfall throughout the entire film.

Up next, the movie has a strong surreal touch that sparks much creativity in the final third as the lines between reality and dream are blurred more than once. A memorable highlight is the mysterious show of sex and violence organized in some anonymous basement. Another strong scene is the photo session on some downtown construction site in the middle of the night. The movie however culminates in the final ten minutes when mystery, violence and sex collide in equal parts.

One also has to point out the excellent acting performances in this courageous film. Lead actress Kurosawa Asuka is absolutely stunning as she convincingly portrays a caring counselor, a loving wife and a passionate woman on a quest for freedom. Kotari Yuji manages to give his character a creepy vibe as the professional businessman and polite husband also has a selfish and sinister side. Tsukamoto Shinya convinces as a character going through changes from having suicidal thoughts over wanting to help his counselor in a shockingly inappropriate way to becoming obsessed with his saviour and protecting her by any means necessary.

Another detail that adds much to the movie is the moody soundtrack that has the elegance, intensity and power of classical music while sounding absolutely timeless and never old-fashioned. The soundtrack makes the gloomier passages even more sinister, the mysterious scenes even more puzzling and the violent sections even more intense.

A Snake of June also offers much food for thought. This film might be over after seventy-six minutes already but leaves several questions unanswered. I have my very own theory about what has happened in this movie but numerous other theories also have their reasons to be. My suggestion would be to watch this movie alone and without having read about any spoilers to spark your own creativity and develop your personal point of view.

At the end of the day, A Snake of June is an erotic mystery drama for adults that has been crafted with great care, detail and imagination that should spark interesting discussions and could justify multiple viewings. Most importantly, this movie is one of its kind while still retaining some of the trademarks of other Tsukamoto Shinya movies. If you want to discover a movie that boldly walks off the beaten path, give this hidden gem a fair chance.

A Writer's Odyssey is a Chinese fantasy movie that follows two distinct story lines that intertwine on several occasions. In the real world, there is a young and gifted author who is targeted to be assassinated by a desperate father whose daughter has been kidnapped by pitiless human traffickers. In the world of the author's epic novel, a young hero tries to overthrow tyrannical ruler Redmane who manipulates peoples into attacking one another while secretly establishing a reign of terror with his powerful army.

This movie convinces on many levels. First of all, both story lines are quite intense and make viewers root for the clumsy, innocent and naive author and his courageous, desperate and resilient assassin as well as for the agile, determined and intelligent hero and his young female companion who oozes with creativity, flexibility and wit. The movie features stunning special effects that add a gloomy touch to the real world and a magical element to the fantastic world. The action sequences deserve to be praised separately as the showdown in the real world at an old library and in the fantastic world in the court of a mysterious castle leave lasting positive impressions.

There are only a few minor elements that could have been improved to make a perfect movie out of a very good one. First and foremost, the film has a few lengths in the middle section that could have been cut for a more dynamic viewing experience. Lastly, some character development could have been a little bit better such as for the antagonist in the real world who doesn't leave a lasting impression.

At the end of the day, A Writer's Odyssey is a creative, entertaining and quirky fantasy movie that is certainly more captivating than the endless prequels, remakes and sequels involving the usual Hollywood superheroes and supervillains. This movie deserves attention and acclaim and should have gotten a world-wide cinematic release if it had not been for the inconveniences of the ongoing pandemic. Make sure to watch this film on a legal streaming platform or to purchase it physically in store to support truly imaginative fantasy cinema.

Spiritwalker is a South-Korean science-fiction thriller that looks very promising on paper but fails to deliver the goods as a cinematic experience. While the main idea is promising and the cinematography is up to the highest contemporary standards, the movie has a few lengths and the story is overall rather unconvincing.

The movie revolves around a man suffering from amnesia after a car crash who is found by a homeless man who is trying to loot his vehicle. The man gets transported to the nearest hospital where police officers are confused when the victim is unable to recall much of his past. He gets discharged from the hospital and soon seems to find out where he has been living and working. Just as things seem to become clearer, he suddenly has a strange seizure and awakes as a different man who is having lunch with his mother. He storms out of the restaurant and is trying to understand what has been happening to him. However, he soon realizes that he is in danger since members of a shady organization are tracking him down and attempting to arrest and even assassinate him. The stranger is able to ward off his opponents as he comes to the conclusion that he must have been some sort of special agent. As he is switching bodies every twelve hours, the protagonist is trying to find out what relates these different people with the help of the homeless man who found him and a mysterious woman who could have been his professional and personal partner in the past.

This film convinces on several levels. First of all, the main idea of the story is really intriguing and offers dystopian science-fiction at its very best. Up next, the cinematography of this film is excellent with precise camera work, dynamic lighting techniques and spectacular stunts. The martial arts sequences of this movie deserve to be mentioned separately as they stand out with much dynamism.

However, this movie also has several flaws. After an exciting first thirty minutes, the movie fails to progress and the story falls flat. The exchangeable acting performances lack identity as the protagonist is portrayed by numerous different actors throughout the film. The movie's conclusion is filled with great action sequences but the intellectual side suffers quite a lot.

Overall, Spiritwalker doesn't live up to its hype and qualifies as barely above average science-fiction thriller. This movie had the potential to be a true highlight with a cleverer script and better actors. This is why this movie's downfall is particularly disappointing. Here's hope that a movie with a similar plot but a more intellectual twist might one day see the light of day.