Shi cheng

I'm not sure what Shi Cheng means exactly (not that it matters now, after watching it), but I'm sure it doesn't translate into "Zombie Fight Club". I'm not even sure (or wasn't most of the time), why they chose that title. Apart from making this appealing title wise to some viewers (?), I reckon.

But even after understanding somehow, why they chose that title, it's kind of lame. But let's get back to the movie, that has scantily dressed women in it (there's a bit of nudity during a sex scene too, in case you were wondering) and some fighting and shooting in it too. There's a bit of an attempt to make some zombie jokes and other things to that effect, that either kind of work or are annoying. Depending on your taste. The action scenes (stunts) are pretty decent and the actors are pretty ... if that helps

A building riddled with a menagerie of working girls, criminals and loners find the corridors of their apartment block infested with zombies.

Oh my have things have progressed since Junk Shiryōgari (2000) and Versus (2000) (certainly in the effects department), Zombie Fight Club (2014) is better than the influx of recent DTV walking dead movies globally produced, in contrast to most Asian dead movies its light on humour, tonally it's reminiscent of The Horde (2009), Rammbock/Berlin Dead (2010) mixed with Joe Chien's own twisted incoherent Zombie 108 (2012).

Chien's zombie offering is packed with action, actually wall to wall bloodshed, excellent make-up effects and an abundance of practical and CGI blood which puts some American modest budget zombie films to shame. It's colour palette is dark, accompanied by a pumping soundtrack, it's undeniably fast paced. Oddly it inexplicably interchanges between English and Mandarin and it's a film of unorthodox two halves with no third act.

When it does slowdown it has a fistful of creepy moments but these are few and far between as buxom beauty Jenny played by Jessica Cambensy witnesses her boyfriend, his crew of rappers and strippers come toe to toe with growing army of zombies. After a flash forward a year after the outbreak Jenny has gone all zombie killer sporting a new hair cut and an even tighter costume (yes there's the shameless objectification of women but no more than The Resident Evil franchise tries to gloss over).

What it lacks in plot it makes up for with its kick-ass female and male characters, soldiers and loads of zombie kills, impalement, bullets and action setups. Yes the characters are at times cartoonish and its gratuitous but it's a solid addition to the Asian live action zombie market, if you're in to it.

Zombie Fight Club is not the sort of movie that would win an awards. However, as a fan of campy B movie horror action I enjoyed this quite a bit. Now, there are some flaws for sure and the film is a bit disjointed and falls apart a bit in the second half. But, I digress Zombie Fight Club is a non stop action packed gorefest like Raid Redemption with zombies. As far as that goes this film delivers the blood splattered goods in spades here with a level of carnage that goes past eleven. The people who review and rate this movie on here must not be horror fans or action movie lovers. There are a enough bullets, blood and brutal beatdowns to make the most ardent of action fans wince. The fight choreography is great and Andy On is good as leading man and takes down an army of the undead with guns, sharp and blunt objects as well as using his kung fu skills as well. In Hong Kong cinema this kind of movie is extremely rare and is the 1st movie I have seen like this from there since Bio Zombie. Zombie Fight Club is not as well made as Bio Zombie, but far surpasses it for extreme violence, gore and sheer action. The best/worse actor in Hong Kong Michael Wong appears and is actually decent in this. To see what I'm talking about, check out his awkward performance in Beast Cops. Also, there is a Taiwanese rapper called Mc Hotdog(I plan on looking him up later) and lots of gorgeous skantly clad Chinese woman to take this already insane movie over the top. I thought this is good for what it is and for this type of craziness, I'm all in.

This film essentially begins about 30 minutes prior to a zombie outbreak with three separate groups of people congregating at different levels of a large apartment complex. The first group consists of some kidnappers who are holding a wealthy man hostage pending a ransom. The second involves a rap musician and his followers who are in the process of having an orgy. The third group comprises several law enforcement members who are about to break down the door of a drug lab. The focus then shifts to the second group where a new drug is being introduced which consists of ingredients used to make bath salts. And not only does death quickly follow those who take it, but they are also quickly transformed into raging zombies who subsequently proceed to wreak havoc upon everybody within the apartment complex-to include the other two groups just mentioned. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film had plenty of action and CGI which might appeal to those interested in these specific qualities. It also featured a number of attractive actresses which included Sharon Hsu (as the "female courier"), Una Lu ("Yi-Yi") and Candy Yuen (as the "female prison leader"). Unfortunately, the CGI was rather second-rate, and the constant action hindered the necessary plot and character development. That being said, while it definitely had some potential, it failed to live up to it and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Below average.

A zombie outbreak leaves the residents of a tower block fighting for their lives. One year later, and survivors Jenny (Jessica Cambensy) and Andy (Andy On) find themselves at the mercy of a schoolteacher turned tyrant who pits the living against the dead in a gladiatorial arena.

According to the quote on the DVD cover, Zombie Fight Club is The Raid meets Dawn of the Dead. Yeah, and I'm Iko Uwais' personal trainer. The fact is-as if you really need to be told-that this Taiwanese action/horror hybrid is nowhere near as good as either of the aforementioned classics. It's got an uneven structure, unlikable characters that it's hard to give a damn about, unimpressive fight action, and lots and lots of gore, the vast majority of which is CGI.

It's not all bad news though: some of the zombie makeup is fairly impressive, there are quite a few very attractive ladies wearing sexy outfits, and we get one sequence that is so audacious that it cannot fail to entertain: while a crippled old man fights zombies with the help of hydraulic power-legs and a chainsaw, Jenny and Andy drive his BMW-parked conveniently in the middle of the apartment building-at speed down a corridor and through an external wall, falling several storeys, both somehow surviving the impact.