76 Horror Bookstore is a 2020 Taiwanese film. Directed by David Chuang (The Victim’s Game, The Tag Along: Devil Fish) and Hung Tze Peng (Possession, Radio! Ready Oh!). The movie stars Annie Chen (More Than Blue, My Goddess), Zhang Shu Wei (The Accidental Robber), and Esther Huang (See You In Time, As We Like It).
It is based off the popular series, “Canned Fears,” also known as “Tin of Fear” and is split into four mini-films. Each chapter is about twenty-five minutes long, so a quick watch, if you want to just watch one at a time.
**WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD**
Here’s a quick breakdown of each chapter:
Chapter One: Rent
A woman rents out a cheap one bedroom apartment for her job. She left her family but hopes to be reunited soon and calls her daughter nightly. The landlord of the apartment is hiding quite a monstrous secret. The woman suspects something is wrong while staying there and starts investigating. Soon, she discovers why the apartment was available so cheaply. The whole chapter mainly relies on grossness over fear factors.
Chapter Two: Hunger
What would you do if one day you woke up and found out that food was illegal? A petty thief has woke up in a parallel universe where exactly that has happened. Food is only available for sale a few times throughout the year. And whenever the thief mentions food to people, they freak out. The episode takes place over five days. It becomes a game of survival for the thief and his need to feed.
Chapter Three: Hide and Seek
Kids. Creepy abandoned house. Playing a game in the dark. Check. Check. And check. A group of friends decide to go to an abandoned house and play hide and seek. Later on in the night, one member of the group goes missing and the rest of the gang agrees to go and look for him. The place where they chose to play their game, might have a few games of its own to play. Out of all of the chapters, this one is the scariest.
Chapter Four: Taxi
The least scary of all four chapters and slightly confusing at the same time. A taxi driver committed suicide and cannot find peace in his afterlife. His family has been left with nowhere to turn, especially his daughter. The taxi driver lives in agony and guilt, and constantly returns to the mortal world to beg his daughter for forgiveness. This chapter has more of a psychological theme rather than horror.
While there are four seperate chapters that equals to about a two-hour movie, none of the chapters really link together. There was no connection from one story to the next. The cinematography is nice and sets the tone for each chapter. Also, the stories are interesting in terms of newness for a horror movie (even though a couple could have been slighly longer.)
As a fan of Asian horror, and IMHO, I must say I was somewhat let down and did not really experience the fear factor I was expecting. Two out of the four chapters felt incomplete. I kept waiting for more and the next thing you know, the story was over and it left me feeling like I missed a part of the movie.
On the plus side, if you are not really a fan of horror but want to begin watching horror movies, this would be a great start. There are some scenes of gore and blood, but it doesn’t follow all the chapters throughout the film. It’s a good movie to stream and take your time to watch at your own pace.
Rating: 7/10
76 Horror Bookstore now streaming on Rakuten Viki.
Watch The Trailer Here:
Which chapter was your favorite? Let me know in the comments below!
