INVITATION ONLY
Sub-Genre- Slasher/Torture Porn
In Attendance- Me
Cast Members of Note- Bryant Chang, Jerry Huang, Kristian Brodie, Viv Ho, and the crazy hot Maria Ozawa.
What's it About?- A Taiwan guy named Wade (a name common in Taiwan, I'm sure), catches his a-hole CEO boss screwing the hottest chick on the planet, and is offered a bribe to keep his mouth shut. What's the bribe you ask? A pass to an exclusive "invitation only" party that's held only for the elite members of society. Since Wade is a loser, he gladly accepts.
To make him fit in amongst the high society crown, the a-hole boss gives him clothes and money to gamble with, and Wade wastes no time playing Pai Gow, making fancy new friends, and wishing for a Ferrari. In the best twist ever, the hot chick he caught his boss screwing shows up, drinks some dirty whore juice, and has sex with Wade too!
Too bad it's all a set up, with Wade and his new friends being nothing more than pawns in some rich man's sick torture club's scheme to torture poor people because they're poor. I mean I'd roll a hobo, maybe stab him to death, and who wouldn't, but isn't this going just a bit too far, rich people? What did they ever do to deserve... oh. You have videotape. I see. Carry on then.
Murder, torture, and random facial reconstruction ensues. I won't spoil what comes next here, but suffice it to say that things get very nasty, very quickly, and being poor terrifies me even more than it did before.
The Good- The Taiwanese version of Hostel; that's just about what this is, and it's not bad for a first effort. Everything a good slasher flick needs is present here, including: hapless victims, hot slutty chicks, and plenty of pick em' off one-by-one style violence. Where Invitation Only differs from most slashers though is in the fact that it all feels more adult than most American slashers, and it definitely delves into the Torture Porn realm.
There is no new ground broken here, but then again it's a horror flick, and very seldom is new ground broken anymore. At least this movie makes retreading familiar ground fun and wince inducing. I was actually pulling for Wade, our hero, because what a nice kid he is.
The Bad- Why is the only white man in the movie the orchestrator of such horrible torture and Hostel-like acts? I resent that, Asia!
The Downright Horrendous- Why was the hottest chick in the movie, and maybe ever, used so sparingly? No bath scene, no lesbian scene, no extended "lotioning" scene... Maybe she could have been drinking milk or something, and a cat could have knocked into the glass and made some dribble down her chin? Why not have her do something like, oh I don't know, touch herself for like 20-30 minutes? Nice going Taiwan, you slasher flick rookie!
The Gory- Throat slashing, ankle cutting, mouse murder, car battery to nut-sack, fresh cuts packed with rock salt, face stapling, battle ax violence... this one is not shy with the gore.
The Naked- The Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous, Japanese porn star Maria Ozawa get's naked and does the nasty. It is quite a sight to behold. If you like hot chicks, go ahead and Google her, click on images at the top, and enjoy. *Note- If you do not like bukkake, pee, lesbianism, group fellatio, or any other kind of porn, don't Google her.
Best Line- "You, You! Are a loser with a capital L" or "She want's to be beautiful. Let's give that to her."
What did we learn?- Never trust your boss. Also, rich people hate the poor, and want to murder them.
Rating- C+ (6.5/10) For a first outing into the slasher genre, Invitation Only is pretty good. It's bloody, sexy, tense, dark, and pretty creepy when things are all said and done. I look forward to more horror from Taiwan, and I definitely want to see more movies starring Japanese porn chicks. Check it.
Final Thoughts- If you like this picture, then look below...
