Directed by Herman Yau
Content warning: Strong violence throughout, multiple instances of sexual violence, cannibalism, and intense racism.
Time to continue with our weekend forays into extreme cinema! If you’re at all curious about the world of extreme Hong Kong movies (and who isn’t?) then it’s only a matter of time before you find yourself in the infamous land of the Category III movies, a rating that would probably be an equivalent to an NC-17 in the USA. Not all of these movies were extremely violent…but this one sure is!
After a tryst with his boss’ wife goes horribly wrong, our unlovable loser and idiot protagonist Kai flees to South Africa as a wanted man. Treated like dirt by everyone around him, Kai grows a terrible misanthropy towards the world punishing him, no matter how much he deserves it. Through a series of violent and racially insensitive encounters, Kai finds himself to be infected with the Ebola Virus, though as a “one in 10 million” carrier of the disease who shows no obvious symptoms. After murdering and/or assaulting some rich folk, and disposing of their bodies in their restaurant, Kai heads back to Hong Kong. With nothing holding him back, Kai continues his idiotic and violent adventures spreading his disease via random violence and his love of prostitutes, leading to an insanely violent and absurd finale.
Ebola Syndrome has a reputation for being quite wild and it’s mostly well earned. The first act is pretty intense, as is the absolutely bonkers finale, but the whole thing is so over the top that it ends up feeling a bit more cartoony than was intended. Parts definitely come off as feeling edgy for the sake of being edgy, which softened the murders and assaults a bit, strangely enough. Maybe one of those situations where it’s harder to be offended if you know someone is trying to offend you?
I’d imagine the average viewer would still find this extremely uncomfortable, if only for the actual frogs killed in a kitchen setting in Act 1. This is one of the more notorious Hong Kong movies, so it may be worth it to watch just for the history of it, and if you’re into exploitation movies, this is probably worth it just for the beginning and end. If you aren’t in those categories then there isn’t much to recommend beyond the absurdly over the top nature of the movie, production itself is fine, but it isn’t transcending the limitations of movies about cannibalism, murder, and sexual violence. To be fair, what else would you expect from a movie called ‘Ebola Syndrome’.