31 Days of horror movies: The Sadness has great gore and a bit of heart
By Carla Davis
The Sadness – Let’s start with the obvious: this Taiwanese film is SUPER gory, so all of the talk about how gruesome it was is absolutely true. What doesn’t get mentioned as often is how much heart it has.
Yes, it’s a “zombie” film (though it’s really a virus that causes people to erupt into murderous violence), but the two main characters are a young couple trying desperately to find one another when bloody chaos breaks out in their town.
The other poignant touch in this vicious movie is the reason that it’s called The Sadness. As the virus begins to turn people into depraved monsters, the humanity that is still inside them observes their vile actions, and tears stream from their eyes.
The Sadness is jam packed with extreme gore.
Did I mention how violent The Sadness is? The first real violence happens when our hero Jim stops at a café after dropping his girlfriend Kat off at the train station. An older woman stumbles in, obviously sick, and begins assaulting and spitting on the customers. She burns one of the employees with hot cooking oil, and quickly, the other customers begin to turn violent as the virus affects them.
On the train, a creepy guy hits on Kat before two infected men show up, stabbing passengers with knives. What follows is super chaotic and shockingly bloody, as passengers begin quickly contracting the virus and killing one another in the most depraved ways possible. Creepy guy becomes infected and stabs a passenger named Molly in the eye, then Molly and Kat are able to escape.
Note: If you think being stabbed in the eye is the worst thing that can happen to Molly, you are so, so wrong. It really does take a lot to make me cover my eyes in a horror film, but Molly’s ultimate fate had me curled up in a ball on my sofa.
The Sadness is a nearly perfect Halloween horror choice; it’s filled with fast-paced blood and violence. But, please note that is NOT appropriate for children.
The Sadness can be watched on Shudder.
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Is this Sadness one of your picks for Halloween viewing? Tell us why you like it or hate it in the comments section.