THE CULT OF KIM NEWMAN
The critic and novelist selects the month’s weirdest home-ent releases
IT’S BE-CAREFUL-what-youwish-for/run-from-thespooky-curse month.
Illustration: Neil Edwards
David Verbeek’s Taiwanset Dead & Beautiful is not your average vampire movie, but is your average exploration-of-the-empty-lives of-the-mega-rich movie — torn between condemning the hijinx of oligarch offspring and being in awe of how gorgeous it is (and they are). Five monied Asia-Pacific scions regularly have bashes that involve cruel practical jokes — like jumping out of the cake at one’s own fake funeral. The most thoughtful of the gang (Aviis Zhong) takes them into the jungle for a spiritual experience — only they pass out and wake up to find they’ve all grown fangs. The film is glossy and witty, but it is an issue that these very pretty people are horrible from the outset, and becoming undead predators can scarcely make them much worse. The last act, however, has some surprises.