Sars War

Sheer unadulterated genius. SARS WARS is a gut-wrenchingly funny, utterly deranged, deliriously original, absurdist zom-com from Thailand.

A team of thugs kidnap pretty schoolgirl Liu and hold her hostage in an apartment block. Little do they know, a zombie outbreak is taking place in the very same apartment, a giant snake is on the loose, and the government have set a timer to blow up the building to contain the outbreak. Think that sounds crazy? We haven't met the good guys yet: Khun Khrabii, a stoic hero sent to rescue Liu, his master Thep, a balding lecher with a battery-powered light sabre, and sexy scientist Dr. Diana, creator of an antiviral shot that has a 25 in 26 chance of accidentally making the patient's head explode. And then there's the bad guys...

Director Taweewat Wantha and his team of writers have crafted something akin to the fevered imagination of Peter Jackson's BRAINDEAD, combined with the wild "mo-lei-tau" surreal/spoof humour of Hong Kong's Stephen Chow. The actual zombie and horror-themed content is surprisingly well realised, with excellent make-up effects, some great CGI sequences, and a real sense of tension; but its in the ridiculous send-ups of everything from Japanimation to John Woo to Star Wars to The Crying Game that the movie really takes off.

Thoroughly self-aware, characters constantly make references to the film's attempts to "make money, not win awards": a little unfair, because there is far more craft and ability on view in this film than in a hundred Hollywood blockbusters put together. Certainly none of the recent crop of zombie films pouring out of Hollywood come close. Even Stephen Chow, the acknowledged king of this style of comedy, should feel threatened: this is a better film than KUNG FU HUSTLE, and is possibly even better than SHAOLIN SOCCER too.

"Sars Wars," is a fast paced and highly enjoyable Thai zombie comedy. At its core, this is a film that revels in absurdity. The action and gore is more than enough to satiate the hardened zombie buff. The zany comedy is both internal and chips away at the fourth wall. A potential problem with this film is the fact that it is stylized for a niche audience. Essentially, this is a film that one either enjoys or passes off as a ho-hum addition to the horror genre. Additionally, the very aspects that make this film wonderful for some, may also make it a turkey for others.

SW diverges from typical Thai film in one distinctive way. Overall, Thai film uses the landscapes or urban settings of Thailand as an integral feature of the film. The pristine nature or bustling streets are unique enough to set a film apart as distinctly Thai. SW breaks from this standard and is set within an unspectacular high rise building. This change of scenery has led to several assumptions by the film makers. First, SW is more akin to an amusement ride than a standard horror/comedy story. Basically, the coherence of the plot arch is sacrificed for over the top visuals and slap stick comedy. The assumption is that the audience will give up all expectations and surrender to the ride. As hinted at above, this is either wonderful or dreadful depending on taste. SW offers no commentary on life, people, or the human condition. Rather, the film throws the audience into an absurd situation confronted by caricatures of stock characters. The effect is a fast paced horror comedy devoid of any seriousness. Second, the use of cheap SFX and CGI is clearly done for humor value. The assumption here is that the audience will embrace the over the top absurdity and appropriately poor effects. This assumption is again open to criticism. Some may find the poor effects bog down the film and remove any sense of reality. Others, like myself, enjoyed the humor of the purposeful low quality.

The film as a whole is well paced, competently shot, and technically professional. The characters, as mentioned above, are caricatures of well known stock types. The benefit is that the brief character development needed allows for more action oriented sequences. The drawback is that this film offers very little new in the department of "zombie fighters." On the whole, SW is not trying to break new ground or provide clever innovation. Rather, this is a film that exploits highly visual Thai humor within the context of a zombie story. If one enjoys their horror with a hearty helping of incoherent absurdity, then this is a film to be sought out.

On a personal note, I will definitely be recommending this film to friends. The style of humor, topics of mockery, and goofy gory action make this a film that is enjoyable by a diverse audience. This is a much better than average pizza and beer movie night film. 6.5 of 10 stars.

Going into this movie I knew that it's supposed to be somewhat gory, somewhat funny and that it's from Thailand. So immediately from knowing Thai humor, the humor is going to be very silly. And this is the main reason why people aren't enjoying this flick? Whatever, I enjoy Thai silliness....the dude in the Tony Jaa flicks is one funny dude in my opinion.

Sars Wars is about a zombie epidemic that hits Thailand...well, just one building, but it hits and what follows is a very silly, sometimes funny and a slightly gory movie. I'd rather not try to explain the entire plot, it's just pretty much a rescue mission with romance, gore, some alright anime scenes and a giant snake. I enjoy all of those facets of entertainment and even though Sars Wars didn't do a great job combining the lot it still was a pretty fun movie to watch.

It's Thai humor to a T. It even has some transsexual moments, which is always funny and unbelievable since it's a big thing over there. Anyways, if you're looking for a new gore flick to check out, this definitely fits the bill. You might even enjoy the silly-ass Thai humor too. 7 outta 10

I first watched this film around 2011 and remember it being exactly what you'd expect it to be but watched it again based on that in 2020 and oh boy is it homo/transphobic. There's a few good scenes but overall it's not worth it.

...is almost as good as the original! This is a very stupid movie. The jokes are horrible, and the plot isn't much to speak of. However, I totally love it for these reasons; There is a lot of zombie mayhem in this movie. And I mean a lot. Although the zombies, for some reason, had fangs and could run (which in general is a no-no), I absolutely loved them.

The movie makers must've had distance to themselves, and not taken themselves too seriously. Had they done that, and tried to make the first Thai zombie epic, they may have failed, and a fall from that high would be much worse. Sure, the comedy in this movie is stupid, but it's becoming of the style.

So, this in an all-out splatter feast with lots of immature antics thrown in for good measure, and I highly recommend it.