BIO ZOMBIE (aka SANG DUT SAU SHUT)
PLOT-A couple slacker video store clerks are forced to do battle with zombies when an experimental soft drink causes people in a shopping mall to transform into flesh-eating undead monsters.
VIOLENCE-A decently large amount of gore is shown. Heads are crushed, chopped off, and beaten in. Limbs are hacked off, people are shot several times. And who could forget the zombies chewing people up? Cool.
SEX/NUDITY-None (this film is Chinese, not Japanese). All you get in the way of skin is a brief shot of one character in her bra.
WHY I LIKED IT-When most people think of Hong Kong films these days, they think of John Woo's bullet-ballets, Jackie Chan's death-defying stunts, or the astonishing fight coreography of Woo Ping. Little is said about their comedies or their horror films, because they generally aren't that good (and let's face it, Japan has dominated the horror genre in the past few years, releasing some truly terrifying films). One thing is for certain, BIO ZOMBIE truly is a standout Hong Kong production. The story is great, the camera work is insane, the actors are FUNNY, and the scares are intense. If Peter Jackson re-made DAWN OF THE DEAD using BILL & TED as the leads, it might have come out something like this. It's one of those rare movies that you just want to watch again and again. It has a great energy, it moves, it's fun. Director Wilson Yip has certainly given us a classic in the horror/comedy genre (and there aren't many). The title sequence alone is highly original, and the movie is so well-constructed that you get to know the characters well BEFORE the mayhem begins, elevating it above the cartoon-like splatterfests that we see so often. There are hilarious moments, tender moments, highly dramatic moments, and action-packed moments. And the ending is just incredible. Again, a true classic.
DOWNSIDE-The copy I watched was a VHS dub of a DVD (lent to me by my pal Santiago), and the picture quality was pretty crappy. I hope that somewhere out there exists a nice digital transfer that's prettier than what I saw. I'll gladly pay top dollar for one if I ever run across it. Other than some questionable makeup FX, there's nothing wrong with this film. It rocks.
MEMORABLE SCENES-So many...hmmm. A guy hides behind a soda machine, trying to escape a zombie. Instead of running away, the zombie begins beating on the machine trying to get a soda out, repeatedly squishing the poor guy against a wall.
NOTES-Media Blasters (Tokyo Shock) released this film on DVD in April of 2001 (the actual film was made in 1998). I'm not sure if the dub i saw was of this edition or if it was an import of some kind. I'd hope that Media Blasters would be selling a nicer version since theirs costs $25 and has NO extras other than the English subtitles..