Ebola Syndrome (1996 Review)
aka Yi boh laai beng duk
Director: Herman Yau
Cast: Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, Yeung Ming Wan, Fui-On Shing, Wong Tsui-ling, Miu-Ying Chan
Discotek Media / Unrated / NTSC R1 / Color / 1.85:1 Widescreen (16×9) / Dolby 2.0 / English Subtitled / Language: Cantonese / 98 minutes / Purchase from DiabolikDVD.com
Kai (Wong) is in the midst of fucking his boss’s wife when he is interrupted by said boss and promptly reprimanded… or humiliated, whatever… tomayto, tomahto. Anywho, this enrages Kai and he kills everyone in sight and if they have a vagina, he rapes them. 10 years later, he has escaped the Hong Kong authorities and is now living in Johannesburg, South Africa which, oddly, has a “China Town”. He works for a restaurant owner and his cunty wife who take advantage of their knowledge of his “situation” by underpaying him and generally mistreating him.
So Kai goes along with his boss to buy some cheap meat from the nearby Zulu tribe and they stumble upon the tribe in the midst of a ritual for some of their people who are infected with the Ebola virus. After purchasing the rancid meat from the tribal leader (who spoke fluent English with an American accent) they accidentally run into a tree and wreck their vehicle. So while the boss is fixing the truck, Kai decides to run off and rape him an (unknowingly) infected, pancake titted tribeswoman. Now with the virus coursing through his veins, Kai, who is a carrier who will not die from the disease, sets out on a flesh-eating disease ridden, rape-happy killing spree like nobody’s business.
Directed by the sicko who gave us Cat III classic, The Untold Story, this unrepentantly sleazy and unflinchingly violent movie will make you laugh at the most inappropriate times. The comedy is blacker than black and made me think for a moment how fucking gnarly my sense of humor is. The performances were spot on throughout and Anthony Wong as “Kai” just got added to my top 5 list of best (anti)villains of all time. The gore effects, of which there are plenty, was top-notch. And kudos to writer Ting Chau for just being a sick, sick bastard.
Originally put out by Golden Harvest, Discotek Media has done this DVD release right. The anamorphic widescreen looks fantastic and the Dolby 2.0 is more than enough to fill your ears with all of the crazy Cantonese goodness. The extras include commentary with Yau and Wong, an interview with Yau and my favorite, about 45 second of rapid-fire deleted gore and sleaze scenes released for the first time! I am so glad that we have companies like Discotek that are putting out this original material and not re-releasing old shit that already has 11 different versions. Pick this up and enjoy it, just wash your hands afterward.
