“The Treasure Hunter” (2009) – Taiwanese Martial Art Adventure/ Romance – “Thrilling Adventures!! March 2015″

The month continues and the weather improves hereabouts, so now we’re off to Taiwan for our latest entry in our March “Thrilling Adventures!! Movie Review Festival” and a look at 2009’s “The Treasure Hunter”. It’s East meets West as we take a look a what “Raiders” might be if you spiced it up with a whole lotta Wuxia swordplay storytelling and let it go all crazy… Asian style.

Our synopsis goes like this: “Qiao Fei is a relic expert with a gritty past. When his mentor’s daughter is held hostage over a map with a deadly history, the rugged warrior whips into action. Chaos erupts as he swoops in to the rescue and scours the sands for legendary riches rumored to be buried deep in China’s northwest desert. Chased by the shadowy “Sandstorm Legion” and challenged at every step by countless greedy adversaries, Qiao Fei faces danger at every turn to uncover the lost city – but, perhaps some treasures were never meant to be found…”

Well now. That certainly sounds promising. The Trailer has the right look, and it seems to meet all our Festival requirements, so let’s all give it a look, shall we? This wee lady’s not adverse to a lil’ Kung Fu creeping into my story now and again for fun, and Chinese films are nothing if not over-the-top when it comes to doing the whole “adventure” thing. 😉

“Zombie Fight Club” (2014) – Taiwanese Zombie/ Horror/ Action

A brand spankin’ New Year is upon us, and with the arrival of 2015, it’s time to check back in with the “Zombie Apocalypse” and see what’s up, o’ Gentle Visitors. Don’t want those flesh-eating goons sneaking up on us now do we? 😉 This time out, it’s a return to Taipei with the sequel to writer/director Joe Chien’s 2012 “Zombie 108”, a little slice of Zombie storytelling titled “Zombie Fight Club”.

The synopsis goes like this: “It’s the end of the century, in the slums of Taipei in a building riddled with crime. As the Zombie Apocalypse begins, suddenly everyone in the building has begun to turn into zombies. After Jenny’s boyfriend is killed in a zombie attack, she faces the challenge of surviving in the face of adversity. In order to stay alive she struggles with lone SWAT officer Andy to flee the danger. The originally kind and warm-hearted chemistry teacher, after the chaos has broken out, becomes the zombie leader and has transformed into a cruel, vicious and selfish tyrant. His violent henchmen match prisoners against zombies in a malicious killing game, the good side of humanity has seemingly all but vanished. Now that all order is lost, how will humans create a new century?”

I’ve watched the original “Zombie 108”…. and could have sworn I did a review for it, but the Litterbox tells me it’s nowhere to be found. Hmmmm? Maybe now that I’m a crazy old Cat Lady of 42 I’m just having one of those “senior moments” I’ve heard tell of. Who knows? But, by jiminy… I’m reviewing this one, so if you wanna hear the details, then just “Read On” and find out how it all went down.

“Invitation Only” (2009) – Taiwanese Slasher/ Horror

Our latest Halloween Review finds your Favorite Catgirl in Taiwan, for a look at what is being described as Taiwan’s first homemade slasher flick, “Invitation Only”… their contribution to the recent “torture porn” end of the genre.

Our quick synopsis goes like this: “Ordinary young men and women often dream of the unreachable life of the worlds idle rich. Wade, Richard, Hitomi, Holly and Lin certainly do. They have all received an invitation to an exclusive party held by a group of rich & famous people,obviously addressed to them by mistake.But all the same, they attend. It is the best party ever, a wishing game takes place where their deepest desires materialize. But when they find Richards body brutally killed, the wishing game turns into a killing game in which they are the tortured victims and a rich audience the sadistic spectators. To escape from the party and survive is now their only dream.”

Hmmmm? Sounds grisly…. and you know how that sorta goes down for this lil’ Catgirl…. but it is subtitled, and I can never pass up a chance to snag Asian horror with subtitles. So… hopefully it’ll be more of an over the top spoof than a realistic gore fest…. but somehow I doubt it. I just know I’m gonna have nightmares….