Wilson Yip’s Bio-Zombie: Material Secrets of Hong Kong Horror Comedies

If we can only watch one Hong Kong vampire film, it would probably be Mr. Vampire (1985), directed by Ricky Lau. If we can only pick a zombie film from Hong Kong, the answer is definitely Bio-Zombie (1998). There are not many zombie films in Hong Kong, but Bio-Zombie, directed by Wilson Yip, is still enjoyed by many cinephiles as a Hong Kong cult classic.

Hong Kong is known for its horror movies, especially the Chinese vampires. Among the terrific vampire movies in Hong Kong, if we could only choose one, it would definitely be Mr. Vampire (1985), directed by Ricky Lau. Although there are few choices for the theme of Zombie in the genre of horror films in Hong Kong, there is undoubtedly one movie worth watching: the Bio-Zombie (1998), directed by Wilson Yip. The film is celebrated even today; years after its release, many cinephiles still consider it a cult classic.

Bio-Zombie is a horror-comedy with a roller-coaster plot mixing screams and laughter. However, the film is found impressive because of its unexpected closure that turns to despair. As Hong Kong horror films are rarely produced today, revisiting Bio-Zombie gives us a great opportunity to explore how Yip has inherited the characteristics of Hong Kong horror comedies, and his creativity during the decline of Hong Kong cinema in the post-1997 period. I will also compare Bio-Zombie with the ghost genre in Hong Kong cinema, in a dialogue with the late Dr Cheung Mei Kwan's ‘spectral analysis’.

Image of Mr. Vampire (1985)

The heritage and variations of Hong Kong horror comedy

In many ways, we see traces of Ricky Lau's zombie films and Jeffrey Lau's horror comedies in Bio-Zombie, which is mostly shot in a local shopping centre with narrow architectural space. There are two other features that make this film stand out. First, it’s the combination of scares and humour: a police officer is killed by a zombie. One of the heroes, Crazy Bee (Sam Lee), must find the key from the officer's uniform to unlock the handcuffs of Woody Invincible (another hero, played by Jordan Chan), while the dead policeman may soon turn into a zombie and bite his hand. Crazy Bee gets the key, but he accidentally drops it in the policeman's mouth, and Crazy Bee has to pick it between the teeth of the dead cop. It is very captivating as the audience's emotions are drawn in tension between surprises and thrills.

Another feature of Hong Kong horror comedies is the emphasis on ‘physicality,’ including the use of physical space to induce scary and laughing moments, as well as highlighting the ‘matterness’ of ghosts and monsters. Vampires and zombies are all physical entities, but in many Hong Kong horror films, ghosts are ‘physical’ as well. The general concept of a ghost refers to the soul that has left the body after death, which is formless. However, in horror films such as Jeffrey Lau’s Operation Pink Squad II (1989), ghosts have bodies, hence can be physically attacked. Possession is also a form of materialisation, where the human body is occupied by the ghost to interact with other characters.

This tendency towards physicality or materialisation may be explained by the fact that Hong Kong films back then were dominated by martial arts and action heroes. Whether the evildoer is a zombie, ghost or monster, and regardless of its opponent being a Buddhist monk or Taoist priest — or an ordinary person occupied by a deity — it is always demonstrated as a spectacular martial battle, with kung-fu stars and stuntmen showing off their skills. For example, Yuen Biao and Yuen Wah, two action stars, played zombies in Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980) and Mr. Zombie (1985) respectively.

However, Bio-Zombie’s action scenes are not the kung-fu type. Even though there is a knife-fight scene that may be found familiar by the gangster-movie fans of the Young and Dangerous (1996) series, it is still not a martial arts fight. Like earlier previous Hong Kong horror films, the zombies in this film are powerful monsters that are almost undefeatable. As in many previous Hong Kong horror comedies, the main characters of Bio-Zombie are ordinary folks forming a ragtag band fighting for life, but they can only rely on themselves without the help of any Taoist masters or monks with supernatural power. This motley crew  has to make-do with any objects on-hand (such as drills and spanners) to fight the zombies in a straightforward and brutal way.

Image of Bio-Zombie (1998)

The Grotesque Playground

1Dr. Esther M. K. Cheung, an esteemed film scholar and educator in Hong Kong, proposed ‘spectral criticism’ or ‘spectral analysis’ as an approach to an alternative vision of Hong Kong's history through films—not limited to horror. What is ‘spectral’ can refer to the aesthetic and allegorical aspects of the film, regarding how Hong Kong films use a variety of audio-visual elements to create a ghostly, shadowy and eerie feeling. These spectral features can make people fall into a dream-like state, on the one hand, and create gaps for long suppressed voices to be heard, on the other. This analytical approach is both critical and empathetic, inviting us to reflect on history and cultural identity beyond the ‘orthodox’ historical discourse of Hong Kong, discovering dislocations or gaps between the overlapping influences of Chinese tradition, modern colonialism, and the post-colonial conditions.

‘Spectral criticism’ can be used to analyse the films of Ann Hui, Stanley Kwan and Fruit Chan, but we may need a different approach for Hong Kong horror comedies that emphasise physicality or materiality. The source of horror in Bio-Zombie is not any ghostly apparition, but biting monsters with flesh and blood. ‘The Spectral’ points to urban spaces, such as dilapidated buildings and public housing estates, architectural landscapes constantly being demolished and rebuilt, it also refers to the mourning for what is lost and attendant nostalgic reflections. However, the scenes in Bio-Zombie are less haunted historical spaces than game-spaces at the present.

1  Esther M. K. Cheung, “On Spectral Mutations: The Ghostly City in The Secret, Rouge, and Little Cheung,” in Hong Kong Culture: Word and Image., ed. Louie Kam (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2010), 169-91.

Image of Bio-Zombie (1998)

Bio-Zombie was made during the Asian financial crisis (1997-98) when Hong Kong's economy was declining, and the film industry was not immune. In Bio-Zombie’s opening credits shown in a picture-in-picture style, two yobs, Woody Invincible and Crazy Bee, were bootlegging a film in a cinema, which is a reflexive irony of the industry's adversity. These young men are free from historical burdens and future prospects. The film says nothing about their past. The script doesn’t care if they call their families in danger, but focuses on their actions. In such a ‘post-1997’ Hong Kong film, the new generation only lives for today.

The depth of history has been replaced by a flat virtual reality through games. If the spectre is about a city’s lingering past, Bio-Zombie is simply about the concrete present. What else can people like Woody Invincible and Crazy Bee be longing for or nostalgic of in their situation? The spectral city can only be replaced by a ‘playground,’ and the line between work and play becomes blurred. Anyway, Woody Invincible and Crazy Bee have no decent jobs, just fiddling around, making troubles, and robbing someone.

But in one day, these meaningless, mundane days are interrupted by a sudden crisis. The protagonists are not world-saving heroes, as escaping from the zombies is only for survival. The crisis is an external, immense force that doesn’t even let go of the narrow ‘getting-by’ space left for the young folks. The threat is ahistorical, not a thousand-year-old vampire or a vengeful ghost, but sheer absurdity. Perhaps real horror exactly comes from such unexplainable, alien threats.

If the protagonists are used to loiter away the days playfully, how they get out of the crisis is also like playing a game. Bio-Zombie is inspired by the popular zombie game Biohazard (or Resident Evil), from which Crazy Bee gets the idea of ‘killing’ a zombie by aiming at its head. Wilson Yip parodies the ‘character selection’ scenes in games, showing the equipment and skills of the characters, while listing ‘sexual power’ and ‘idols’ as a nonsensical joke.

Image of Bio-Zombie (1998)

The film turns a small shopping centre with tortuous corridors into a zombie-fighting playground, anticipating the immersive scary room escape games popular today. The shopping centre is divided by narrow passageways, glass shop fronts and mirrored columns that allows Yip to experiment with various visual effects and create a labyrinth where zombies may jump in your face.

Contrary to the spectral spaces of alternative history, the space in Bio-Zombie can be labelled as a ‘grotesque game space’ for simply enjoying the moment. The term ‘grotesque’ refers to Mikhail Bakhtin's study of the mediaeval carnival. The carnival was a temporary moment for the common people’s ‘upside-down’ enjoyment. While some critics find Bio-Zombie's gross jokes distasteful, vulgarity reveals the subversive nature of the carnivalesque. Gross elements such as excrement and dismembered limbs characterise the grotesque aesthetics. While the female ghost played by Anita Mui in Stanley Kwan’s Rouge (1988) is attractive, monsters in horror comedies that emphasise on the materiality are nauseating, challenging the noble by the lowbrow in gore and dismembered stumps. 

Bio-Zombie surprises the audiences by a twisting plot at the end, as Rolls (Angela Tong) and Woody Invincible escape from the shopping mall, though, they are trapped in the desperate fate of the city. The carnival has its end, and the ordinary people can't stop the changes in the surroundings although they have tried their best. The film has an alternative ending: Woody Invincible is killed by Rolls-turned-zombie by not himself. Anyway, the outcome is the same.

A number of Hong Kong film directors have been labelled as ‘eccentric talents,’ including Wilson Yip, who is a rare case known for his sincerity but not petty tricks. Hong Kong horror comedies in the 1980s focused more on spectacles, be they the stunts, horrors or jokes. However, Yip’s horror comedies are often featured by the characterisation and human touch. In the grotesque game space that seems to be all about the present, Yip doesn’t forget to illustrate the characters' feelings in between the moments of high jinks. The two heroes in Bio-Zombie appear as boisterous lads mucking around, but they grow up in the midst of a crisis and show brotherhood and principles. The human touch that Yip injects into the film is spectral and glimmering in the commercial film industry, in addition to his peculiar sense of dark humour, bespeaks his uniqueness in Hong Kong cinema.

Extracted from the book chapter ‘The Horror Paradise in Bio Zombie and The Mummy, Aged 19’ of the book Gently Rebellious - Wilson Yip, published in July 2024 by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society.

Acknowledgment to the Hong Kong Film Critics Society for permission to translate this review article from Chinese.