It is one of the most disgusting and anti-social horror films of all time: The CAT III shocker Ebola Syndrome will be released in Germany for the first time in May.
Some 30 years ago, some of the toughest and morally abysmal films came out of Hong Kong. They carried the label CAT III, which stood for the highest age rating in the British colony at the time. Category III films either showed a lot of naked skin, gallons of blood or mixed the two into an admirably vile cocktail. These films indulged in the depiction of cannibalism, sexual violence and other depravities. The 1996 release Ebola Syndrome is one of the last and best classics from this era.
On 19 May, Ebola Syndrome will be released uncut in Germany for the first time in 27 years, in four limited media books that can already be pre-ordered.
This is why Ebola Syndrome enjoys cult status
A despicable loser (Hong Kong legend Anthony Chau-Sang Wong) kills his boss, flees to South Africa, rapes a dying resident there and thus becomes a carrier of the deadly Ebola virus. This is only the initial situation of Ebola Syndrome, in which The Untold Story duo Herman Yau and Anthony Wong really let off steam one last time in CAT III.
Ebola Syndrome creates Kai (Anthony Wong), one of the most heinous protagonists in film history. We have to make do with him thanks to the absence of any real sympathetic characters. He is a creep who crawls out of the gutter of society and really shows it to everyone. Kai turns people into burgers, spits on his opponents to infect them and follows only the basest instincts imaginable. Thanks to Anthony Wong’s superbly unpretentious performance and Herman Yau’s subversive narration, we may even end up rooting for him.
Ebola Syndrome
The price for the Mediabooks is currently 27.99 euros for both providers. The extras are unfortunately not particularly extensive, but at least there is a 16-page booklet.
If you think you’ve seen everything in the horror genre, you should definitely catch up on Ebola Syndrome – and then continue with the other grenades of the CAT III genre, first and foremost the aforementioned The Untold Story. In it, cannibalism plays an even bigger role.
