Síndrome de Ebola

This flick derives much of its grasping force from what has to be, if not the most explicit, at least somewhat the most sickening gore ever.

Some scenes are rather innovative : decapitation through the use of a ping-pong table, Kai blowing his load in a steak, corpses being chopped up into hamburger meat with a saw, eyes chewed out of a living head and lots of ebola-related bodily fluids.

Ebola syndrome would not be the same without the psychological profile of its main character.If we were given an insight on Kais childhood, it is likely to be a miserable one, full of abuse and rejection. Thus would explain his disturbed sexual attitude (he does not seem to be able to perform without constant oral stimulation) and his loser nature. Let's face it, most of his aggression originates from a lack of self-esteem, for which he tends to overcompensate once he disposes of financial powers and/or the opportunity to deploy physical force. It makes for a violent person, but not a threatening one, compared to Hannibal Lecter or the maniac from Maniac. Kai is, in a way, a personification of the virus, which searches for power and immortality through the devastation of other life forms, not realizing his actions will eventually lead to his own extinction.

Together, the gore and Wong hold together a remarkable modern piece of exploitation, with an honesty that most of its contemporaries do not dare to show, but which also demands the right mood, otherwise it feels cheap. In either case, see a schrink if this turns you on.

Hong Kong's extreme Category III rating allows producers and directors to cater to the sickest desires of their audiences by focusing on violence, sex, sexual violence and scenes of depravity normally not found in mainstream cinema. During the 1990s, there was a boom in such productions, with the most popular inevitably starring Anthony Wong as some kind of crazed killer or pervert.

THE EBOLA SYNDROME is one of the best-known of its kind and that's no surprise; this is one hell of a ride of a film, chock-full of bad taste scenes in which the writer tries to go out of his way to offend everybody watching. The protagonist, played by Wong, is a guy who goes around raping women and eventually contracting and spreading the Ebola virus, which leads to much unpleasantness.

From the opening set-piece you know what you're in for with this one: tons of bad language, naked women and gross gore effects. The directors throws in animal dissection, autopsies and all kinds of sickening stuff involving food production that's guaranteed to turn your stomach. Rape and murder are commonplace, and yet at the same time there's daft comedy to offset the darkness. It's all portrayed so over the top and ridiculously that none of it is disturbing.

What surprised me most about THE EBOLA SYNDROME is that it's a well made movie comparable with other Hong Kong films of the 1990s. The technical values are strong and the acting isn't too shabby either; Wong is a commanding actor and you can see why he's enjoyed mainstream as well as cult success. Yes, this is an unpleasant and sometimes childish film in the way it seeks out one depravity after another, but at the same time it's undeniably entertaining and it goes down avenues that Hollywood wouldn't dare. The ending rampage is by far my favourite part of the movie and has to be seen to be believed.

Back in the early 90s, I recall widespread concern about incurable diseases such as the Ebola virus, and Hollywood taking the premise and churning out movies such as Outbreak and the such. In Hong Kong cinema, director Herman Yau cemented his cult status for films with excessive graphic depiction of sex and violence with this movie - Ebola Syndrome.

As compared to the other cult hit The Untold Story, you can spot various similarities in terms of presentation style, and certain plot elements and development. Again the lead role, Kai San, is played by Anthony Wong, this time with long frizzy hair, and begins the movie with both sex (with his boss' wife) and violence (yet another gruesome massacre played out in full on screen, coupled with sexual violence). Naturally he becomes a fugitive and escapes to outside Hong Kong - this time to South Africa, and becomes an employee at a local Chinese restaurant.

The similarities do not end there. You just cannot wait for the next dismemberment and the making of the new "char siew bao", now termed African Buns for local flavour. Expect more hard unflinching violence, and this time too with the camera unmoved from the decapitation of animals like chickens and frogs - heart still pumping, and the slicing out of innards, or the chopping off of legs. Sure puts you off your next bowl of frog leg porridge. And serving as another reminder, is not to offend your cook, as he has the power to include unwanted ingredients, including bodily fluids! Rapid fire profane dialogue is a standard, and sometimes comical as the characters rattle off combinations of vulgarities with ease. But just in case you wonder if Ebola Syndrome is The Untold Story rehashed in a different setting, rest assure that only the good gory bits from Untold get squeezed into the first half of Ebola. Unfortunately the second half seemed to want to move away tangentially from its predecessor, and kept its focus on the contact with, and spreading of the disease.

Stemming from Kai San's inability to keep his pants on, he takes advantage of a comatose African tribe woman, who unknowing to him, is a victim of the Ebola virus. With an incredible stroke of luck, he survives the infection and becomes a virus carrier, spreading the disease in South Africa no thanks to his African Buns, and amongst prostitutes when he returns to Hong Kong. The rest of the movie becomes a comedy somewhat with the police attempts to contain the virus as well as to apprehend Kai San. Nothing too fancy in its second half treatment.

One more thing, look out carefully at the cameos and extras!

What can I say about a film which is directed by the director of the most brutal and undescribable Hongkong horror of all time, The Untold Story, and starred by Anthony Wong, who also starred in The Untold Story. These two films are very different, and this, Ebola Syndrome is the funnier/trashier of these two. In other words, a kind of sicko gore film that will never be equalled in Western cinema.

Story tells us the journeys of Kai (Wong) who rapes, kills and f*cks people (and beefs!) and owns a restaurant, too! What a nice cook we got here! He lives in Africa and is hiding from police, who is on his tail for a multi murder he committed in Hong Kong. At one point, he becomes infected with the notorious and deadly Ebola virus and then the "fun" begins..and thus the title.

The whole film is as twisted as possible as we are shown acts of murder, masturbation, rape and cannibalism in safe Hongkong style! There is no point in trying to review this as some kind of a "serious" film because this is pure trash and b-level horror/gore film. The violence is brutal and scenes involving ebola virus are disgusting as our hero infects other people with the disease. At some points the film is so vile and over-the-top that I couldn't do nothing but laugh in amazement. It is also shocking in non-laughing manner but for most of the time, this cannot be taken seriously, although this kind of film is banned in about every country. It is too bad that all versions available (Euro DVD and HK VCD) are censored pretty badly and I've heard that the director has stated that the uncut version doesn't even exist anymore. It would be more than interesting to see the full director's vision of this film!

So this is great experience for trash and sicko cinema lovers, but others stay away! You'll feel nothing but sick if you try to watch this! I think that most of the people who like this (and make these!) are considered seriously ill, but that doesn't worry me, because those people who consider lovers of this kind of cinema sick, understand nothing about marginal and alternative cinema.

If someone expects this to be some over-the-top violence show, a disappointment will follow, because it's not THAT bad. It is pretty sick but not too gory/violent. And keep in mind that the versions out there are censored and are not the director's final cut. Hongkong Laserdisc may be uncut but I really don't know for sure because I haven't ever bought/collected LDs. As I mentioned, HK VCD is cut for sure so it may be the case with that LD, too..

Excellent HK nasty/sicko/comedy(yeah!) but only for the right audience! 8/10 and without a doubt one of its kind.

What can I say about this wonderfully demented Category III classic, it goes beyond the boundaries of most Cat III films (which involve usually uninspired sex and violence) and goes for the jugular without flinching once.

Anthony Wong plays our demented anti-hero, even thou our introduction to him is himself getting a blow job off his boss's prostitute wife, while the kid waits outside. The boss returns and is unimpressed to say the least and after beating up our hero has the tables turned on him and is killed along with his wife and lackey.

10 years on and were in South Africa, our hero works in a filthy restaurant, gets bullied all day and resents everything living. Soon enough he is back to his own ways and after raping a unconscious woman, who spews a frothy broth of Ebola into his face he becomes infected with this nasty little disease, and the story has not even got up to speed yet.

A darkly comic tale that does not mind pushing the barriers of what is deemed acceptable, I loved it. Every home should have a corner for Ebola.