New source of cheap thrills

Beach Rescue Team is among China's biggest Internet-only features this year.

An Internet-only feature is distinguishable from a microfilm－which was in focus a few years ago－not only due to its longer duration but also the source of funding.

While most microfilms are short films backed by advertisers and include strong commercial messages, Internet-only features have to make their money by attracting a large number of eyeballs. Most Internet-only features are around 90 minutes and meet the technical requirements of theaters－yet they still look "cheap". Internet-only features can be compared to B-movies when double features were the norm in the United States, or the direct-to-video releases when the video rental chain Blockbuster held sway.

A few months ago, Beach Rescue Team, an Internet-only feature, held a screening party in a Hangzhou cinema.

The production company says that it cost 2 million yuan to make and that it had earned twice that figure from online proceeds.

Yu Yongyang, its producer, says the movie could have been released in cinemas because it met theater standards. An iQiyi representative attended that event.

Beach Rescue Team sounds very much like Baywatch in Chinese.

Baywatch is an American action-drama series about the lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, starring David Hasselhoff.

As a matter of fact, most Internet-only features seem to be rip-offs or a riff of some known quantity, at least in the title or concept.

One of 2015's biggest Internet-only features is Monk Comes Out of the Mountain, a corruption of Chen Kaige's Monk Comes Down the Mountain.

Another characteristic of Internet-only features is the prevalence of horror titles.