Vinegar Syndrome US Blu-ray Synopsis: Invincible and Bee are two wannabe gangsters who spend their days hanging around the mall selling bootleg DVDs. When they aren't committing petty crimes and trying to pick up girls, the two hoodlums run errands for their low level Triad boss. When one of these errands involves them picking up their boss's car from the mechanic, things take a turn for the two delinquents when they accidentally hit a man walking in the middle of the road. Trying to hide their crime, Invincible and Bee bring the man's body to the mall in order to figure out their next move. Little do they know that the man has been infected with an experimental bio-weapon that has turned him into a zombie. When the man's corpse doesn't stay put, it's only a matter of time before the victims start piling up and the mall soon becomes overrun by a zombie horde trapping a group of shoppers inside. Will Invincible and Bee step up to become heroes and save the day or will their slacker nature get the best of them dooming all inside? Directed by one of Hong Kong's most prominent action directors, Wilson Yip (Ip Man, SPL: Kill Zone), Bio-Zombie is a neon-filled zombie comedy bursting at the guts with 90s flare. Featuring a cast of likeable characters lead by Jordan Chan (Young & Dangerous) and Sam Lee (Gen-X Cops) as Invincible and Bee, as well as a supporting cast featuring Emotion Cheung (The Demon's Baby), Angela Tong (Honour Of The Gods), and Suk-Mui Tam (Fist Of Legend), Vinegar Syndrome is proud to present this gory slice of 90s nostalgia on Blu-ray for the first time, restored from studio supplied masters. (94 Mins)

 

Mei Ah HK DVD Synopsis: 2 fun-loving hustlers play joke with a stranger by bottomed him up with his “wine” which is in fact a bio-chemical weapon that can destroy the world. Now the stranger turns into a zombie and cries out for revenge. (94 Mins)

 

Views: It's been a number of years since I last watched this late 90's Hong Kong horror-comedy from director Wilson Yip; the very same man behind mega-hits SPL and the Ip Man series with the amazing Donnie Yen. In only his third year as a director, Yip delivers a fun zom-com that taps on (then popular) Hong Kong youth culture, as well as pay homage to the infamous Dawn Of The Dead from the late George Romero. Woody and Bee play a couple of small-time triads who run a bootleg VCD store in the busy, New Trend shopping arcade. They go about their lives harassing female staff at the local beauty parlor, robbing one of the women in the toilets, and create their own fun by annoying a cell-phone salesman while drooling over his wife. Of course, its obvious that this lot are going to have to team up when the shit hits the fan! Somewhere else, a dodgy deal for a bio-weapon goes extremely wrong causing an injured gangster to make a run for it. With him, he carries a dose of the dangerous liquid in a Lucozade bottle, and soon gets knocked-over by the two friends who are speeding along the dark roads. After forcing him to drink the bio-chemical soft drink to hydrate him, Woody and Bee bring the man back to the New Trend Shopping Mall in the boot of their car. Naturally, from here, the horror kicks in and it doesn't take long for the undead to start taking over the mall, with the love-torn sushi chef Loi becoming one of the first victims. Loi is madly in love with Rolls and even in zombie form, tries to keeps her prisoner for as long as he can, providing her with random gifts and protecting her from other zombies. Of course, as all hell breaks loose, Woody and Bee step-up to the game and do what they can to survive and escape the mall-of-the-dead – no matter how many of their business friends they have to take down on the way!

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Often referred to as Hong Kong's first real zombie movie, Bio Zombie proves to be a welcome break from the usual horror ingredients of ghosts and hopping vampires which had saturated the local film scene for well over a decade by this stage. As the director of two zombie-themed independent feature films, I can totally appreciate the effort that went into something like this and enjoyed its low-budget look for the most part. In fact, I only wish I had at least half of the budget Yip had here when I was making my own! At the same time, I must admit that Bio Zombie has never really been a favourite of mine. It's a movie I've probably only watched 2 or 3 times since its release but, admittedly, this newly restored release from Vinegar Syndrome definitely made it the best viewing yet. Upon my initial viewing, I often felt that the film moved slow until the initial zombie attack, throwing its viewers off for a bit before jumping between horror, comedy and drama as if harking back to the crazed Hong Kong films of the eighties. While the make-up can often be crass, with moments of gore and blood, I've always felt that there could've been more – although I'm not forgetting the limbs and heads getting chopped off as the small team of shop keepers try to survive. A lot of this is accompanied by some fun comedy sequences, akin to that of horror-comedies like Mr. Vampire and Haunted Cop Shop. But as the film rolls on, Bio Zombie takes a more serious tone for its last 20 minutes, leading to an ending that may surprise some viewers – but ultimately, makes sense from the characters perspective. Both editions of Bio Zombie that I own come with an alternate ending which, much like its original ending, isn't a happy one. Saying that, I probably preferred the one chosen to close the movie as it helps us see that Woody feels hopeless when he learns just how wide-spread the zombie pandemic really is...

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Although it was only the 5th or 6th directorial effort from Wilson Yip, Bio Zombie finds its strength in producer Joe Ma – a recognisable figure of Hong Kong cinema who started life in the industry as a writer. His debut was the very popular Happy Ghost, with Ma going to to pen films such as It's A Mad Mad Mad World 2, Daddy Father Papa, Days Of Being Dumb, All's Well End's Well Too, and much more including many of his own self produced and/or directed projects including Chez N'Ham Story, Rich Man, Over The Rainbow Under The Skirt, and Chow Sing Chi's Lawyer Lawyer, among many more. As well as writing Yip's follow-up project, Bullets Over Summer, Ma also scripted serious action pieces like Big Bullet, Black Mask, Victim, A War Named Desire, Sasori, and others. Bit-player and director of the little-seen Zombie Island, Adam Chan Chung Tai, handles the fight-action in Bio Zombie, although there's not a lot to get excited about if I'm honest. I was surprised to find that popular director, Cheang Pou Soi, served as the assistant director on the film – but it's really no surprise since the pair of them, along with Joe Ma, have worked on many projects together over the years. Before Bio Zombie, Cheang had worked the same role on films such as Black Panther, Blaze Of Love, Young & Dangerous Parts 2 & 5, Black Mask, Sex & Zen 2 & 3, and Wilson Yip's Teaching Sucks! While he would assist for another few years after, Soi Cheang would make his own directorial debut in 1999, quickly going on to deliver some fantastic titles including Dog Bite Dog, Shamo, Accident, Motorway, The Monkey King Trilogy, Limbo, and would direct the sequel to Yip's hugely popular SPL – with Wilson producing.

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I do think that Jordan Chan and Sam Lee were the perfect choice to play the characters of Woody and Bee, respectively. While Lee had only been acting for a good year in films such as Made In Hong Kong, Beast Cops, and Young & Dangerous: The Prequel, Jordan had already established himself as somewhat of a prolific actor with over 30 titles behind him before this. This included films such as Mack The Knife, Fox Hunter, the Young & Dangerous Series, Big Bullet, God Of Gamblers 3, Downtown Torpedoes, and Wilson Yip's debut film, 01:00am. Of course, both stars have went on to star in an endless amount of titles, with Sam Lee proving himself to be the busier of the two after appearing in over 20 titles more than Chan. The pair do a great job in Bio Zombie as the wanna-be gangsters who just love being dickheads to everyone and are joined by a decent cast in the shape of Wayne Lai, Angela Tong, Matt Chow, big Frankie Chan, and the odd looking Emotion Cheung who almost steals the show as the zombie sushi-chef in love. Fun, although not without its flaws, Wilson Yip's Bio Zombie is worth a watch for fans of Hong Kong cinema and of the undead. While it may be played for laughs the majority of the time, it does have some nice dramatic moments that are well balanced throughout and makes a great addition to the zombie genre. It has been described by many as Mallrats meets Dawn Of The Dead, but I think it has something a little more than that!

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Overall: Although indie film-esque compared to today's glossy standards, Bio Zombie is still a lot of fun and entertains on many levels – unintentionally or not!

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Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray Extras: Audio Commentary with Frank Djeng, Interview with Wilson Yip, Video Essay by Chris O'Neill, Alternate Ending

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Mei Ah DVD Extras: Trailer, Alternate Ending