The Sadness film review
★★★★
Directed by: Rob Jabbaz
Written by: Rob Jabbaz
Starring: Berant Zhu, Regina Lei, Ying-Ru Chen, Tzu-Chiang Wang
Film Review by: Jason Knight
A virus outbreak is taking place in China, turning people into homicidal maniacs.
Jim (Zhu) and Kat (Lei) are a young couple, living a happy life. There is a virus going around called Alvin virus, but it appears to be relatively harmless. Not long after Jim gives Kat a lift to work one day, chaos explodes everywhere. The virus is very dangerous after all, making infected individuals want to carry out the most violent acts imaginable. The city the couple live in quickly becomes overrun by deranged killers and Jim and Kat must find a way to reunite and escape.
It should be pointed out that this ultra-violent horror film is not for the faint-hearted. The violence is extremely brutal and graphic and present almost throughout the entire film. The movie contains countless killings, where the infected mutilate their victims and there are buckets of gore, dead bodies everywhere, covered in blood and almost unwatchable slayings. Atrocities take place in various places such as streets, a train and a hospital. There are also disturbing scenes of sexual violence.
The infected themselves are terrifying. When a person has been taken over by the virus, their eyes turn black and become the personification of evil. All they want to do is commit violent acts and they take great pleasure in killing and raping their victims. They are constantly grinning and laughing and enjoy taunting and torturing. They act by themselves or work in groups. Unlike zombies though, these infected do not rot and although they become pure evil, they maintain the same level of intelligence they had before and know how to think, using any kind of object as a weapon. They can still do things that they could do before, except do good.
The screenplay consists of two storylines: the struggles of Jim and Kat as they attempt to get to each other and reach safety. Both protagonists witness many murders, kill in self-defense and try to save other people.
Jabbaz does a great job as the director, creating wonderful establishing shots. His screenplay contains interesting characters, nail-biting situations and lots and lots of violence. His dark story offers an insight into the brutality mankind is capable of.
The makeup work deserves a great deal of praise. The injuries look very realistic and the blood constantly splashes everywhere, indicating this is how it would look in real life.
Zhu and Lei are convincing in their portrayals of everyday individuals who happened to get caught in the middle of the outbreak. They are decent people, who want to help others but when given no other option are forced to use violence in order to defend themselves. The actors who play infected do a great job in showing that they have become evil psychos, who only want to kill and torture and have forgotten what good is.
This violent, blood-splattered horror film is a must-see for horror fans. Although there are a few silly scenes where people do not make a run for it when they have the chance, this is a rollercoaster ride of blood, edge-of-your-seat moments and massacres.
#JasonKnight
Trailer:
https://youtu.be/tmTtiA29nI0
