Invitation Only is a Taiwanese

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

 horror film

Horror film

Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...

 directed by Kevin Ko and released in April 2009. The film was billed as "Taiwan's First-Ever Slasher Horror".

Plot

Wade Chen, who works for a rich and powerful CEO, Mr. Yang, accidentally sees his boss having sex with supermodel Dana. His boss supposedly rewards him by sending him to an exclusive party on company money. Wade's evening at the party includes receiving a new car, dancing, gambling and sex with the boss' mistress Dana. However, leaving the party is a problem and the guests are systematically hunted down and slaughtered by a masked slasher.

Cast

• Bryant Chang
  Bryant Chang
  Bryant Chang is a Taiwanese actor.He won the award for Best New Performer at the 2006 Golden Horse Awards for his performance in Eternal Summer.-Filmography:*Eternal Summer 盛夏光年 *Summer's Tail 夏天的尾巴...
  
   as Wade Chen
• Jerry Huang as Mr. Yang
• Julianne Chu as Hitomi
• Maria Ozawa
  Maria Ozawa
  , who used the name early in her career, is a former Japanese adult video actress known in Japan as an AV idol.-Early life:Ozawa was born in Hokkaidō, Japan. Her mother is Japanese and her father is Canadian. Since she always attended an international school, she claims that her English reading...
  
   as Dana
• Kristian Brodie as Warren
• Joseph Ma as Lin
• Kao Yin-Hsuan as Richard Kao
• Vivi Ho as Holly

Production

Invitation Only marks the debut film for director Kevin Ko. The Love HK Film article describes the production as a "low-budget affair; the film was shot on high-def and the art direction is only a step up from "converted warehouse"

Release

The film was released theatrically in Taiwan on April 17, 2009 and in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

on June 18, 2009. Invitation Only was also released on DVD with English subtitles in 2009.

Reception

Invitation Only has been received relatively poorly. Love HK Film wrote that it is "another film following in the footsteps of the "torture porn" vogue" and that it is an "entertaining if unremarkable thriller". China Post says it is for horror-fans only and that any "merit or message in “Invitation Only” is washed away in the crimson tide of bloodletting that it unleashes" But Ho Yi at the Taipei Times is more positive, calling it a "90-minute ride of guilty thrills that combines graphic violence, repulsive torture and sexually suggestive imagery with bitter commentary on a wealth-obsessed society."