屍城

Joe Chien

Philip Ng Won-Lung

Andy On Chi-Kit, Jessica C, Jack Kao, Michael Wong Mun-Tak, Terence Yin, Chang Han, Abby Fung, Chou Hung-Yin, Sharon Hsu, Philip Ng Won-Lung, MC Hot Dog, Zhang Chi, Derek Tsang Kwok-Cheung, Candy Yuen Ka-Man, KB, Ng Chi-Hung, Paoming Ku

Hong Kong Cinema could use movies like Zombie Fight Club – even if they turn out like Zombie Fight Club. Director Joe Chien (Zombie 108) helms this quality-challenged exploitation number about a completely random zombie outbreak that results in vaguely Raid-like action in a Taipei high-rise. Andy On stars as Andy, a SWAT team member who’s called to the building to deal with some drug dealers. However, team leader Captain Ma (Michael Wong) is up to some dirty business and Andy ain’t down with that. Meanwhile, skimpy clothes-wearing Jenny (Jessica C) flees in terror when her boyfriend (Derek Tsang), his pal (MC Hot Dog) and a bunch of other scantily-clad girls turn into zombies and try to eat her succulent exposed flesh. Everyone runs around the building and eventually Andy and Jenny meet up, which is super neat for fans of celeb gossip because Andy On and Jessica C date in real life. There’s action, bad CGI and a rushed second half of the film, where the zombie apocalypse arrives and Andy is thrust into zombie-fighting arena games. Hey, that’s why they call it Zombie Fight Club! Clever lads.

As premises go, Zombie Fight Club has one of the thinnest, but some of the characters have decent stories. No, not Jenny and Andy, whose personalities are nonexistent – the interesting characters are a schoolteacher (Jack Kao) and a drug dealer (Terence Yin), both of whom suffer personal tragedy thanks to zombies running all over their building. The conflicts are unoriginal but at least there are decent emotions and payoffs, and both Jack Kao and Terence Yin offer solid turns. The post-zombie apocalypse setting is also interesting because it involves the total collapse of society, the rise of an oppressive ruling class and the sudden popularity of BDSM fashion. Unfortunately, the story barely spends more than 30 minutes in that setting, and while some of the content tries to be disturbing and even poignant, the film doesn’t earn those emotions. Little is developed or convincing enough to elevate the zombie movie tropes beyond the routine, and on some level the filmmakers seem to understand that. I suppose they get points for honesty, but knowing that you’re making a bad film doesn’t excuse you for making a bad film.

The filmmakers handle the action and gore passably; makeup effects are fine, and outshine the crappy CGI, faux-edgy cinematography and grimy production design. The fighting itself is mostly one-sided Andy On versus zombie beatdowns, though there’s an On versus Philip Ng (who also serves as action director) fight that entertains. Most set-ups are a bit lazy, however, using medium shots and shoddy editing to obscure what could have been more dynamic action. Equally lazy is the writing, which diffuses its edgier material with throwaway dialogue, much belonging to Andy On, whose uninspired acting is Shakespearean when compared to the ineffectual skills shown by Jessica C. Anyway, given the casual professionalism on display, we should just be glad that everyone managed to finish the film. Zombie Fight Club is a pretty bad movie but it doesn’t earn much ire because it doesn’t aspire to much – though if rape, female objectification or bad CGI bothers you then be prepared to spit blood. Otherwise, this is C-grade grist for the genre mill – and hey, every film industry needs some C-grade genre grist. Zombie Fight Club can be Hong Kong Cinema’s. (Kozo, 1/2015)