[Weekly Update] October 24, 2021

First, a quick announcement.

Our next video is about the Korean film Silenced (2011), in which we'll be discussing topics of abuse against children in many form. While the video stay respectful, I understand some of you may be sensitive to this topic. If you would like to remove your name from the upcoming video, let me know.

Also, if you'd to be credited with a different name, also let me know!

CHANNEL UPDATE

• Editing for our video on Silenced has begun, and should be up within the week.
• Afterward, we have a video about what equipments you should buy to start filmmaking. I know there are a lot of this kind of videos, but I promise, ours will be different.
• Between November and January, our upload will slow down to one video per month. This will allow me to focus on another big project I'm working on, as well as allow me to do bigger videos that I wanted to do, but never have the time to.
• One such video is a retrospective on Makoto Shinkai's animated films. Often regarded as the new height of Japanese original animated features, Makoto Shinkai's films are poetic and dreamy, in ways very similar to that of early Wong Kar-wai films.
• By slowing down our output, I can finally spend the time to watch and rewatch all of his films, and craft a satisfying thesis to do a video on. Stay tuned!
• Oh and, I'm making a Kung Fu short film this weekend. Follow me on Twitter for some behind the scenes fun stuff, coming soon!

MEDIA TALK

• Because of video length limitation, I didn't actually talk about the individual horror films I watched for our Chinese horror video.
• And I suffered for it so, I'm not about to let that go to waste. Let's talk about it! Maybe you'll get some sleazy enjoyment out of it.
• The House That Never Dies (2014)  its sequel are, if I recalled correctly, the highest grossing horror films in China. It tells the story of a famous haunted house in China, where a family tragedy during the Republic Era causes the house to be cursed. And the rest its a cheesy love story.
• This is the most technically competent movie. The curse is mostly left ambiguous, with logical explanations that you can take or leave. It is, however, also the least charming of all horror movies I watched. It's not good enough to be watchable, but not bad enough to be fun.
• 3/5 in terms of quality, 1/5 in terms of watchability.
• Mid-July Days (2015) is a college dorm room horror. It's a sub-genre popular in China. It tells the story of a haunted dorm room, where supernatural events keeps happening. It plays out more like a detective thriller, with the main characters trying to deduce what happened to the dorm in the past, and what causes all the hallucinations.
• While the final ending has a bit of a sting, the explanation for the curse is absolutely stupid. It's genuinely a frustrating watch.
• 2/5 for quality. 2/5 for watchability.
• Who Under the Bed (2011) is one of the rare films where it reveals the premise of a fake ghost right from the beginning. Instead of a supernatural horror, this is a killer story. In the film, a cheating boyfriend and his lover are pretending to be ghosts to drive a mentally unstable girl into insanity, in hope of gaining the wealth she possesses.
• The film has a neat premise, and some decent cinematography. The ending is unsatisfying, but inoffensive.
• 2/5 for quality. 3/5 for watchability.
• Mysterious Face (2013) is one movie where I remember very little of. That probably means it's not worth watching. Except I remember the ending. When the mandatory Scooby Doo twist comes in, it comes in hard, and it is bonkers cheesy.
• I think the story is about a group of friends going into a village to search for a disappeared friend. If you can get a friend to watch a bad movie with you, this might give you a decent pay off.
• 2/5 for quality. 3/5 for watchability.
• Midnight Hair (2014) is has the same sort of "murder my girlfriend for her money" plot as Under the Bed, but not as fun. What it makes up with, is all the ridiculous over the top scares, and loads of sex scenes, all of which are extremely tame and also somehow really offensive...
• 1/5 for quality. 4/5 for so bad it's getting good.
• Bunshinsaba (2017) is already talked about in the video. But honestly, this movie, while having no effort behind it, at least shows the lives of people in small town China. Framing the story behind a land ownership dispute is great, because that is one thing a lot of Chinese people have to worry about.
• This film seems somewhat self-aware, but not aware enough to be funny. If you aren't familiar with the state of the genre, you may not find it that fun. But if you have seen Sadako vs. Kayako, this might give you some laughs.
• 2/5 for quality. 4/5 for being kinda fun.
• The Haunted Graduation Photo (2017) is a lazy and sleazy movie. It is intentionally made to be mocked. I don't remember what the story is about, but I do remember there's one scene, where the main character hides behind a commercial cut out standee, with her face sticking out, in order to hide from a ghost hunting for her...
• Depending on your taste, this is either a 5/5 hilarious movie, or a 1/5 extremely insulting movie.
• Blood Stained Shoes (2012) is undoubtedly the best movies of the pile. I already explained the story in the video, so I won't go into details here. If you have to watch one Chinese horror movie, give this one a try.
• 4/5 for quality. 3/5 for enjoyability.
• Mysterious Island (2011) is watchable if you are a fan of Yang Mi. Being a Chinese-Hong Kong coproduction, this film has all the sleaziness of 2000s Hong Kong horror films written all over it. The camera work is over the top, the plot is kinda dumb, and the characters are even dumber.
• Honestly, unless you really like tank tops, just skip this one. 3/5 for quality.
• Finally, In the Girls (2014), the movie I used for the thumbnail. If you want to watch some girls in skirts and slightly translucent tops being tied up... Well, it does happen at the end, so the movie isn't lying.
• But if you can stay with the plot to that point, you have my respect. Just go watch some JAV, it'll save you a lot of time and brain cells.
• 1/5 for story. 4/5 for sleaze.

And that's the update! Blood Stained Shoes is definitely the movie you should watch if you want good movie. But if you want a funny bad, either Midnight Hair, or Haunted Graduation Photo, depending on if you want it to be unintentionally funny, or stupid.

A lot of these films are straight up available (legally, no less) for free on YouTube. Some of them have English subs. So give it a shot, if you want something really different for this Halloween!

I'll see you in a few days with a new video!