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In the mid-2000s, one of the main selling points in mainstream horror was the so-called Torture Porn scene. Emphasizing extreme violence, brutality, and relentless torture and suffering from its victims at the expense of traditional suspense and chills, the scene had a massive amount of mainstream appeal thanks to films like “Saw,” “Hostel,” “Wolf Creek,” and “The Collector” among others bringing about massive financial gain and audience acceptance which brought about numerous attempts throughout the world. After the Japanese effort “Grotesque” started the Asian countries jumping on the trend, Taiwanese director Kevin Ko tackled the genre with his debut feature “Invitation Only” which is now available on physical media from Unearthed Films.

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Attending a lavish party, driver Wade (Ray Chang) is informed by his boss President Yang (Jerry Chih) that his presence there is intended to be on...

'Stick to what you know' is theoretically sound advice that's launched many a promising career, but it's just as often led to aspiring writer/directors crowbarring the familiar in where it doesn't belong. Cheng Yu-Chieh's 2005 debut Do Over expended far too much effort working a mish-mash of garbled sub-plots and disparate visual styles around the central story of a director shooting a film he didn't believe in, and while the production values were fantastic the result was a pretentious mess that failed to make any lasting impact.

For his second feature, Yang Yang, Cheng brings back his most promising cast member - French-Taiwanese actress Sandrine Pinna, impressive in last year's winningly sweet little drama Miao Miao. The plot centres around Yang Yang, a Eurasian girl (like Pinna, half-French) struggling to balance her responsibilities to her new step-family with her inner conflict over her mixed parentage.

The tighter focus and...

Hailed as Taiwan's first ever slasher horror movie, Invitation Only is due out on English subtitled (Hk R3) DVD next week. Director Kevin Ko does a good job of ticking off the sex, blood and gore staple requirements of a splatter fest, with some gratuitous nudity thrown in for good measure. Bryant Chang and TV star Jerry Huang lead the cast, whilst "Adult" movie siren Maria Ozawa shows of her assets (and of course acting skills!) for all she’s worth. Invitation Only is released on September 10th.

NEW YORK -- Indie distributor Picture This! Entertainment has acquired North American rights to the Taiwanese gay-themed drama Eternal Summer from Three Dots Entertainment.

Leste Chen's feature revolves around two college-age childhood friends whose relationship is put to the test when a girl takes an interest in one of them. Her presence causes a conflict that unearths their long-supressed feelings for each other.

Summer is Chen's sophomore feature after his 2005 horror film The Heirloom. It won the best new performer prize for Bryant Chang at Taipei's 2006 Golden Horse Awards.

The film has appeared at the Tokyo International Film Festival and the Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. The distributor said it will screen at North American festivals before a theatrical release this year.

The deal was negotiated by Picture This! president Doug Witkins with producer Michelle Yeh for Three Dots Entertainment.