Invitation Only Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: An average guy is invited by his employer to a party for the super wealthy where all is not as it seems.

Review: Hailed as Taiwan's first slasher movie, many have instead referred to this film as a "Hostel" ripoff or a "Saw" wannabe. While I definitely agree with those assertions, I felt this movie stood on its own enough and presented many plot elements superiorly to the films it's compared to. It's not to say that this film is amazing or anything, but it's not as bad as others would have you believe simply based off the imitation notion. I actually liked the characters more here since they were more likable, and, even though it is completely squandered, it was an interesting idea to address class warfare.

The first thing you will notice, or maybe it's just me, is all the hot chicks everywhere! I was really disappointed that in this little prologue, of sorts, such a hottie dies first. Typically I wouldn't even mention a detail like this since this scene does not contribute to the plot, but that's half the point this time around. Given the events later in the film, this scene has no reason to exist and pretty much contradicts the premise. Oh well, I guess you must start things off with a bang, right? So, the story revolves around Wade who is your typical young guy without much ambition, but he comes off somewhat shy and sometimes amusing in his simplicity; I like Wade because he's a decent guy while not an outright saint so they blended his average joe personality well. Wade is the driver for some douchebag, simply named Mr. Yang, who gives Wade an invitation to an illustrious party where Mr. Yang tells him he can network and pretend to be someone really important; Mr. Yang also gives him clothes, money, etc. to make him appear more respectable. Before going over the party, I have to note that there is this strange, overly upbeat tone to the film for a good half hour which feels so odd given the events of the film and few other reviews have addressed this oddity. Also, let's talk about the single best thing going for this movie: Maria Ozawa, playing some model named Dana. Ms. Ozawa, besides being so unbelievably sexy, is a Japanese pornstar (AV idol if you're feeling formal) that totally steals the show, and let's just say you get a good view of what she's working with during this film! Although, it's kind of weird because she speaks a little Japanese and mostly english in a film where everyone else is speaking Mandarin. Don't care...I'm going with it!

When Wade gets to this little shindig you can tell something is off, but Wade simply thinks it's because they believe he's Mr. Yang's cousin or whatever; oh, and the chicks at the party are smokin' hot as well! The party is headed by some dude named Warren who is American, I think, which is funny because he is yet another character that speaks english the whole movie. Warren claims they will fulfill any dream for a handful of "special" guests which include Wade and four other seemingly wealthy individuals. The five get to talking and they're mostly snobs with the exception of Hitomi who is your overly saintly character but is likable nonetheless and pretty cute. To complete Wade's amazing night, he gets to bang Dana (lucky bastard) and then given his dream of some badass car. Okay, this plot element is so stupid because why would Warren and crew give these people these items when it's clear as day they're going to die? But before the fun can begin, my dear Ms. Ozawa is killed! They never really tell you why, but I guess she was sacrificed since Wade liked her and they don't want a girl who banged a low class guy I'm assuming. I actually thought she'd be in on it considering how much she appears to be stringing Wade along, but I guess not. Surprise surprise, the other four people besides Wade were also pretending to be wealthy people when they, like Wade, merely work for the true rich people. They are now subject to being tortured and killed by Warren and his crew of flunkies. Some people get off a little easy while others have grotesquely painful deaths like some dude getting his balls electrocuted and this chick having her face sliced and diced while salt is poured in the wounds. All of the suffering is viewed in front of an audience of the other partygoers who are a part of this group that get off on this shit. The gore is pretty good and the creativity of the deaths were on par with anything "Hostel" or "Saw" would come up with, but obviously they are stealing ideas to create this movie. The whole hunting club vibe is the same and the reason for why everything is happening is flimsy as hell with some bull about the poor trying to steal from the rich. None of this would explain why they would take the time to give these people so much happiness before they die. If anything, it sounds like kind of a good way to go out which doesn't jive with the absolute hate and disgust supposedly fueling the events to begin with. Lastly, since the goal is to torture these people for amusement, you get now why that girl dying at the beginning made no sense when she could have easily been captured.

After an almost unforgivable amount of shenanigans which includes a lame car chase, among other things, only Wade and Hitomi are left alive with Wade attempting to rescue Hitomi before she is killed by Mr. Yang who had joined the fray of Warren's flunkies earlier on. Speaking of which, after talking a ton of trash, albeit amusing, Warren is finally killed by Wade allowing him to more easily slip back into the party to get Hitomi. In a decent final fight, Hitomi is stabbed, but Wade manages to behead Mr. Yang with an axe. This whole rescue situation does wreak to high heaven of "Hostel," but I just felt the events and conclusion were more satisfying in this film. In the end it is ambiguous whether or not Hitomi survived, but the film ends with Wade working as a mechanic when one of the cars he's working on has the same invitation inside that he had received from Mr. Yang. Oh no, what could this possibly mean?!

Overall, this is a decent movie that's much better than it would appear despite it's obvious sources for material. The acting is pretty good with some personable characters that lighten up the mood even from the killers like Warren. The effects and gore were better than I thought they would be and should satiate people who enjoy these kind of films. Obviously you cannot ignore the show-stealer, Ms. Ozawa, killing it every moment she's on the screen as well as the numerous background babes. On the other hand, the movie definitely borders that fine line between inspiration and ripoff which is up to the viewer to decide which side it falls under. There are some dumb moments and nonsensical plot elements accompanied by a misguided direction regarding the film's message. I do recommend this film in spite of the gripes, but I can tell this will be a love it or hate it situation.

Notable Moment: Probably when the one girl is getting her face slashed up and then salt poured into the wound. It wasn't unbearably graphic, but I had to wince over the sheer thought of the scenario; I can only imagine how painful that would have been.

Final Rating: 6/10

A small taste of the luscious Ms. Ozawa. If you want to see more of her "films" you know how: