Ebola Syndrome

Rating:
Summary: Wow.
Review: Ebola Syndrome
directed by Herman Yau
1996, ?? mins

Back when I got really interested in horror/gore movies (I'd always loved horror, but when I was a kid I couldn't stomach those hardcore movies), I read a lot about which were the most gruesome ones around, and along with the Guinea Pig series, Men Behind The Sun, August Underground's Mordum, and Saló, Ebola Syndrome was always mentioned as one of the most extreme movies ever (along with some other Wong/Yau movies, such as Bunman: The Untold Story). Therefore, I couldn't believe my luck when I came across this DVD here in Holland. I, of course, immediately bought it, and watched it that very night. I'd been expecting a lot, but Ebola Syndrome turned out to be quite something different than what I'd heard.

---minor spoilers---

Sure, it was extreme, bloody, gory, politically incorrect, definitely, but above all, I laughed my 'rse off. Anthony Wong portrays Ah Kai, the ultimate loser. He makes out with his boss's wife, but when the two get caught, and the woman blames Kai for assaulting her, the boss and his servant start beating up Kai. Kai goes crazy and kills the servant, the boss, and the boss's wife. After being walked in on when he's trying to set the boss's daughter on fire, Kai flees. Next scenery: South Africa. Kai now works in a burger restaurant, and he's still the loser he ever was. However, the daughter of the boss he killed back in Hong Kong accidentily visits the restaurants and recognises him, after which she warns the police. But of course, they do nothing.

On a field trip with his boss (when they're out to buy some pigs), Kai rapes some woman who is just dying of ebola, and thus Kai gets infected. However, after experiencing some severe sickness, Kai heals magically. Apparently, he is immune, although he now is a carrier of the ebola virus. Kai goes on a rampage again, and now he rapes his boss's wife (who constantly insults him). His boss walks in on them (déja-vu) and, surprise, Kai kills both of them. The boss's cousin comes around too and Kai kills him as well. After having slaughtered all of them, he makes them into burgers. However, the burgers have the ebola virus in them and half of South Africa is soon ebola infected. Kai has, in the meantime, stolen the boss's money and is off to Hong Kong again. There the police do start hunting Kai and it all ends in some bloody and farfetched scenes.

---end of spoilers---

Despite 'Ebola Syndrome' being terribly funny (I've seen it several times now and still love it), it's also very extreme, very graphic, and very nasty. The gore scenes look quite fake, but are sometimes gut-wrenching (mainly the autopsy). Some animal slaughter scenes are also featured, one in which some frogs get cut up (for a meal), and one where a couple of chickens are beheaded for the sake of some tribe-ritual (during the trip to the jungle). These scenes are 100% real and hard to stomach for most people. I found those scenes a bit too much and quite cruel, since I am a vegetarian myself, but this movie is still great. Don't watch it though if you are quickly offended or shocked. Rape, gore, murder, it's all there. Wow.

mos says:

Scares? 0/10
Gore? 9/10
Animals slaughtered for the sake of the movie? Too many/10
Fun factor? 10/10
I've-heard-all-Chinese-swear-words-by-now? 11/10