Bio Zombie (1998) (Vinegar Syndrome)

[Member-67765]

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[DukeTogo84]

Never actually watched this one, but will check it out for sure.

[NathanLurker]

YES !!
I love Bio Zombie. I watched the DVD many times. It's got a bit of lame humor, lame special effects, but it's cheesy good.

[peruguy]

So glad Vinegar Syndrome picked this up and it will go straight to the top of my "Must Have" list.
I have just about worn out my ancient Tokyo Shock DVD showing it to everyone I know. Never fails to impress.

[Keung]

Been a fan of this since I saw it in 2002 on CNX – the short-lived UK TV channel that often showed Hong Kong films.

[alexrinse]

Used to love this film - count me in!

[Mike0284]

[EvilResident]

This has been my favorite zombie movie since I found the old DVD at Suncoast back in the day. I even use Woody Invincible as my gamer tag. I can’t wait.

[BlightThrower]

Used to recommend this one when I was a young Horror Hound, thought I was so cool because it was relatively obscure in comparison to stuff like the Romero trilogy or even Fulci's work. Can't wait to get my copy. The extras, both on disc and the additional booklet, sound great.

[apollo828]

Hi. I haven't watched too closely but it sounds like there's at least one subtitle quirk. It's near the end, when they're showing off the remaining characters and printing their video game-like stats on the screen. In the subs, one of the stats is for the characters' "life-force." I don't think this is right. In the old American DVD, they use "sex drive" instead. Frank Djeng points this out in the commentary too. So, I'm going to assume whoever did the subs missed this one. (Maybe it's slang?) Nothing that should prevent people from buying the disc, mind you. It's just something worth noting.

Also, the series has some subtle jokes that I'm not sure come across well. For example, during that same scene, the stats include the characters' idols. Invincible's idol is Norika Fujiwara. I think the old American DVD translated her name as "Japanese underwear models." Not accurate, and yet it helped get the joke across. (Frank mentioned this in the commentary.) Also, Mrs. Kui's idol is Jordan Chan, who happens to be the guy playing Invincible! I think it's a dual-edged joke, as Jordan played Chicken in the Young and Dangerous film series. (She definitely loves her bad boys.) Finally, Mr. Kui's idol, Alex Man, was known for having a shallow acting style where he just puffed up his chest and yelled a lot, trying to seem like a tough guy. Just wanted to point that out.

[darkness2918]

I e always like this one ever since I picked up a DVD of it years ago. I never thought it’d get a U.S. BD release & am glad to have it.

[AnimalCMan]

Bought this on a whim hearing it was from the director of Ip Man and a zombie comedy (two things I love). Had an absolute blast with this! Amazing to think it proceeded Edgar Wright stuff like Spaced (the zombie episode) and Shaun of the Dead as they were clearly inspired by the same video game zombies as this in addition to Romero (I wouldn’t be surprised if Wright was a fan of Bio Zombie too).

Funny to think this might have also shown the first zombie in love (something that Warm Bodies ran with). Just a lot of fun ideas and a great low budget horror comedy. Felt like if somebody mashed up a late 90s teen comedy with Dawn of the Dead. Highly recommend it.

[Animatic33]

Watching this one this afternoon, noting the standard stereo track sounds very boxy. Played around with my receiver a bit and it seems both stereo channels are playing the exact same track. It causes my receiver in Neural:X mode to send the signal to just the center channel.

Those who know about HK films of this era, is the audio commonly mixed like this?

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Animatic33

Watching this one this afternoon, noting the standard stereo track sounds very boxy. Played around with my receiver a bit and it seems both stereo channels are playing the exact same track. It causes my receiver in Neural:X mode to send the signal to just the center channel.

Those who know about HK films of this era, is the audio commonly mixed like this?

That just means its a mono soundtrack encoded in a 2.0 channel format which isn't too uncommon. Usually its listed as 2.0 mono though, wasn't this supposed to be 2.0 stereo per the specs?

[Animatic33]

Originally Posted by Ruined

That just means its a mono soundtrack encoded in a 2.0 channel format which isn't too uncommon. Usually its listed as 2.0 mono though, wasn't this supposed to be 2.0 stereo per the specs?

Yes, it lists Cantonese 2.0 Stereo and 2.0 Stereo on the back of the case. That's what sort of confused me as I expected there to be a little separation. The IMDB page for Bio Zombie states Mono under the audio's technical specs, so maybe VS didn't list the mix correctly on their packaging?

[EvilResident]

Originally Posted by Animatic33

Yes, it lists Cantonese 2.0 Stereo and 2.0 Stereo on the back of the case. That's what sort of confused me as I expected there to be a little separation. The IMDB page for Bio Zombie states Mono under the audio's technical specs, so maybe VS didn't list the mix correctly on their packaging?

I think you're right. The import and DVD both are mono soundtracks as well. The import is even listed as 5.1.

[BeastCreatureTrapper]

I haven't thought about this film since I got it through Netflix....by mail...who knows how many years ago. Sometime in the early 2000s.

I do recall kinda liking it.

[russweiss1]

DVDcompare review:

http://dvdcompare.net/review.php?rid=7368

[ScareBearDan]

The version to get is this one. It's region A and has both audio tracks in 5.1 surround.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Bio-Z...lu-ray/289501/

[EvilResident]

Originally Posted by ScareBearDan

The version to get is this one. It's region A and has both audio tracks in 5.1 surround.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Bio-Z...lu-ray/289501/

ABSOLUTELY DO NOT BUY THIS. The English subs are terrible and the 5.1 is a lie. Source: I’ve got both. This disc is absolutely useless. The PQ sucks in comparison too.