SARS Wars
Encyclopedia
SARS Wars is a 2004
Thai
horror
-comedy
directed and co-written by Taweewat Wantha.
The story involves people who are infected with a fictional Type 4 strain of the SARS
virus and turned into zombie
s. The outbreak is contained to one apartment building in Bangkok
, and the Health Ministry is determined to keep it contained at all costs. But the building also happens to be the hideout for a gang that has kidnapped
a teenage schoolgirl. She is to be rescued by a sword-wielding superhero crimefighter, who must not only contend with the criminals, but also the zombies in a race against the government's plan to blow the building up.
Though it starred popular comic actors Suthep Po-ngam
and Somlek Sakdikul
, the movie fared poorly in Thailand but went on to attain cult film
status by playing at such film festivals as the Fantasia Festival
and the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival and through a DVD release that included English subtitles. The movie is available on US region 1 DVD from Discotek Media.
Similar to Kill Bill
, it contains animated sequences, including an animated opening-title sequence, establishing the film's leading zombie fighters as comic book
superhero
es. It also contains references to Star Wars
, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
and The Matrix
.
free of the SARS
virus and that Thailand's superior technology and medical research will prevent the disease from occurring in the kingdom.
However, far away in Africa
, there has been an outbreak of a mutant Type 4 strain of the SARS virus, which causes sufferers to turn into bloodthirsty zombies when they die. A hornet
carrying the virus from Africa is hit by an airliner
and lands in Thailand. It flies into the open window of a farang
driving a Volvo
and stings the man on the back of his neck. The man becomes patient zero in the outbreak of SARS 4. He returns to his apartment building and infects others in his building. Among the zombified creatures is a giant Burmese python
named Albert.
Meanwhile, Catholic school
girl Liu is kidnapped
by a gang led by a transvestite named Yai, who dressed as a sexy woman in a bikini and used a furry as a distraction. Liu's father, an influential businessman, does not wish to involve the police, so he turns to his old friend Master Thep. Thep, injured from his last outing, assigns his top student swordsman, Khun Krabii, to rescue Liu.
Krabii soon finds himself at the building, where he finds Liu and attempts to rescue her, but is then stopped by Yai and his men, and then they encounter the zombies.
Master Thep, sensing his student needs help, goes to the building, just as the Health Ministry has sent in some men, and a woman doctor, Dr. Diana, who for some reason is wearing bondage
gear under her biocontainment suit
. She has a trial vaccine that she hopes will cure the zombies, but instead only makes their heads explode. Thep attempts to use his magic sword, but its batteries are low and it does not function.
Krabii and Liu have a romantic scene, and then they encounter a pregnant
woman who has turned into a zombie and now her baby is zombie. The fetus
flies out of her womb and bites Krabii, who turns into a zombie himself. He is so distraught that he tries to "kill" himself again by drinking household chemicals. In a stroke of luck, however, the combination of chemicals does not kill Krabii, but in fact cures him of the virus.
Liu is eaten by the giant zombie python, and Master Thep saves her, and also retrieves some batteries from the snake's stomach, which had been swallowed earlier, so his sword works again.
Then the building is set to explode – part of the containment plan by the health minister – but Master Thep has a remote control that stops the explosion.
It is revealed that Liu is in fact the transvestite Yai, wearing a rubber mask, meaning that Krabii lost his virginity
to a man. An animated backstory reveals how Yai found Liu's clothes. Later it is revealed through another animated segment that Liu survived the struggle with Yai, and that she and Krabii will live happily ever after.
2004 in film
The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...
Thai
Cinema of Thailand
The cinema of Thailand dates back to the early days of filmmaking, when King Chulalongkorn's 1897 visit to Bern, Switzerland was recorded by Francois-Henri Lavancy-Clarke. The film was then brought to Bangkok, where it was exhibited...
horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
-comedy
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed and co-written by Taweewat Wantha.
The story involves people who are infected with a fictional Type 4 strain of the SARS
Severe acute respiratory syndrome
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is a respiratory disease in humans which is caused by the SARS coronavirus . Between November 2002 and July 2003 an outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong nearly became a pandemic, with 8,422 cases and 916 deaths worldwide according to the WHO...
virus and turned into zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
s. The outbreak is contained to one apartment building in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, and the Health Ministry is determined to keep it contained at all costs. But the building also happens to be the hideout for a gang that has kidnapped
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
a teenage schoolgirl. She is to be rescued by a sword-wielding superhero crimefighter, who must not only contend with the criminals, but also the zombies in a race against the government's plan to blow the building up.
Though it starred popular comic actors Suthep Po-ngam
Suthep Po-ngam
Suthep Po-ngam , also known by his stage name Thep Po-ngam, is a Thai comedian, actor, film director and screenwriter. He played the leader of a gang of inept hitmen in Killer Tattoo...
and Somlek Sakdikul
Somlek Sakdikul
Somlek Sakdikul is a Thai film actor and musician. He is sometimes credited as Somchai Sakdikul. He portrayed "Suwat" or "Daddy", the lecherous music producer in Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's 2001 comedy, Monrak Transistor...
, the movie fared poorly in Thailand but went on to attain cult film
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
status by playing at such film festivals as the Fantasia Festival
Fantasia Festival
Fantasia International Film Festival is a genre film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996...
and the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival and through a DVD release that included English subtitles. The movie is available on US region 1 DVD from Discotek Media.
Similar to Kill Bill
Kill Bill
Kill Bill Volume 1 is a 2003 action thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It is the first of two volumes that were theatrically released several months apart, the second volume being Kill Bill Volume 2....
, it contains animated sequences, including an animated opening-title sequence, establishing the film's leading zombie fighters as comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
es. It also contains references to Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a 2000 wuxia film. An American-Chinese-Hong Kong-Taiwanese co-production, the film was directed by Ang Lee and featured an international cast of ethnic Chinese actors, including Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, and Chang Chen...
and The Matrix
The Matrix
The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...
.
Plot
Thailand's leading health official, Public Health Minister Ratsuda, declares ThailandThailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
free of the SARS
Severe acute respiratory syndrome
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is a respiratory disease in humans which is caused by the SARS coronavirus . Between November 2002 and July 2003 an outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong nearly became a pandemic, with 8,422 cases and 916 deaths worldwide according to the WHO...
virus and that Thailand's superior technology and medical research will prevent the disease from occurring in the kingdom.
However, far away in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, there has been an outbreak of a mutant Type 4 strain of the SARS virus, which causes sufferers to turn into bloodthirsty zombies when they die. A hornet
Hornet
Hornets are the largest eusocial wasps; some species can reach up to in length. The true hornets make up the genus Vespa and are distinguished from other vespines by the width of the vertex , which is proportionally larger in Vespa and by the anteriorly rounded gasters .- Life cycle :In...
carrying the virus from Africa is hit by an airliner
Airliner
An airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft for transporting passengers and cargo. Such aircraft are operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an aircraft intended for carrying multiple passengers in commercial...
and lands in Thailand. It flies into the open window of a farang
Farang
Farang , also spelled falang, is the generic Thai word for a Westerner. A general term for foreigners is khon tang prathet . There is no expressly negative or positive implication in the word itself. However when it is used along with other words, it can bring a negative meaning depending on...
driving a Volvo
Volvo
AB Volvo is a Swedish builder of commercial vehicles, including trucks, buses and construction equipment. Volvo also supplies marine and industrial drive systems, aerospace components and financial services...
and stings the man on the back of his neck. The man becomes patient zero in the outbreak of SARS 4. He returns to his apartment building and infects others in his building. Among the zombified creatures is a giant Burmese python
Burmese Python
The Burmese Python is the largest subspecies of the Indian Python and one of the 6 largest snakes in the world, native to a large variation of tropic and subtropic areas of Southern- and Southeast Asia. They are often found near water and are sometimes semi-aquatic, but can also be found in trees...
named Albert.
Meanwhile, Catholic school
Catholic school
Catholic schools are maintained parochial schools or education ministries of the Catholic Church. the Church operates the world's largest non-governmental school system...
girl Liu is kidnapped
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
by a gang led by a transvestite named Yai, who dressed as a sexy woman in a bikini and used a furry as a distraction. Liu's father, an influential businessman, does not wish to involve the police, so he turns to his old friend Master Thep. Thep, injured from his last outing, assigns his top student swordsman, Khun Krabii, to rescue Liu.
Krabii soon finds himself at the building, where he finds Liu and attempts to rescue her, but is then stopped by Yai and his men, and then they encounter the zombies.
Master Thep, sensing his student needs help, goes to the building, just as the Health Ministry has sent in some men, and a woman doctor, Dr. Diana, who for some reason is wearing bondage
Bondage (BDSM)
Bondage is the use of restraints for the sexual pleasure of the parties involved. It may be used in its own right, as in the case of rope bondage and breast bondage, or as part of sexual activity or BDSM activity.- Private bondage :...
gear under her biocontainment suit
Biocontainment
The concept of biocontainment, also called laboratory biosafety, pertains to microbiology laboratories in which the physical containment of highly pathogenic organisms or agents is required, usually by isolation in environmentally and biologically secure cabinets or rooms, to prevent accidental...
. She has a trial vaccine that she hopes will cure the zombies, but instead only makes their heads explode. Thep attempts to use his magic sword, but its batteries are low and it does not function.
Krabii and Liu have a romantic scene, and then they encounter a pregnant
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
woman who has turned into a zombie and now her baby is zombie. The fetus
Fetus
A fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate after the embryonic stage and before birth.In humans, the fetal stage of prenatal development starts at the beginning of the 11th week in gestational age, which is the 9th week after fertilization.-Etymology and spelling variations:The...
flies out of her womb and bites Krabii, who turns into a zombie himself. He is so distraught that he tries to "kill" himself again by drinking household chemicals. In a stroke of luck, however, the combination of chemicals does not kill Krabii, but in fact cures him of the virus.
Liu is eaten by the giant zombie python, and Master Thep saves her, and also retrieves some batteries from the snake's stomach, which had been swallowed earlier, so his sword works again.
Then the building is set to explode – part of the containment plan by the health minister – but Master Thep has a remote control that stops the explosion.
It is revealed that Liu is in fact the transvestite Yai, wearing a rubber mask, meaning that Krabii lost his virginity
Virginity
Virginity refers to the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. There are cultural and religious traditions which place special value and significance on this state, especially in the case of unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor and worth...
to a man. An animated backstory reveals how Yai found Liu's clothes. Later it is revealed through another animated segment that Liu survived the struggle with Yai, and that she and Krabii will live happily ever after.
Cast
- Suthep Po-ngamSuthep Po-ngamSuthep Po-ngam , also known by his stage name Thep Po-ngam, is a Thai comedian, actor, film director and screenwriter. He played the leader of a gang of inept hitmen in Killer Tattoo...
as Master Thep - Supakorn KitsuwonSupakorn KitsuwonSupakorn Kitsuwon is a Thai film and stage actor. Among his starring roles are as Pan in Monrak Transistor and Khun Krabi in SARS Wars...
as Khun Krabii - Phintusuda Tunphairao as Liu
- Lene Christensen as Dr. Diana
- Andrew BiggsAndrew BiggsAndrew Biggs is an Australian journalist and author and television personality in Thailand. He has written several books, appears daily on Thai television's Channel 3, and runs his own language school.-Biography:...
as Zombie - Naowarat YuktananNaowarat YuktananNaowarat Yuktanan is a Thai film actress. She was very popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She also won a Golden Doll Award in 1976 at the age of 18 for her performance in her first film, Phaendin Khong Raw . To date, she has acted in more than 300 films...
as Minister Ratsuda - Somlek SakdikulSomlek SakdikulSomlek Sakdikul is a Thai film actor and musician. He is sometimes credited as Somchai Sakdikul. He portrayed "Suwat" or "Daddy", the lecherous music producer in Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's 2001 comedy, Monrak Transistor...
as Yai - Boriwat Yuto as Party Boy
Casting notes
- The leading zombie, Andrew Biggs, is a BangkokBangkokBangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
-based AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n journalist. A fluent Thai speaker, he is a prominent personality on Thai TV Channel 3BEC-TEROBEC-TERO Entertainment Public Co. Ltd. is an entertainment conglomerate in Thailand that organizes and promotes concerts, owns record labels and produces films and television shows. It is a subsidiary of BEC World Public Co. Ltd., which also owns Bangkok Entertainment Co. Ltd., operator of Thai TV...
, co-hosting a talk show and offering tips on speaking English. In the deleted scenes on the DVD, it is revealed that his character was originally to be a scientist whose plan to create an anti-virus was squashed by the health minister. He then goes mad and infects himself with the SARS virus. However, that part of the script was rewritten so that he was simply a man in his car who is bitten by the SARS bug. - Minister Ratsuda, portrayed by Naowarat Yuktanan, resembles the Thailand's health minister at the time, Sudarat Keyuraphan, a key member of the cabinet in the administration of Thaksin ShinawatraThaksin ShinawatraThaksin Shinawatra is a Thai businessman and politician, who was Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006, when he was overthrown in a military coup....
.
External links
- Review at Rotten TomatoesRotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
- Review at Thai Film Foundation
- Review at Hitch Magazine
- DVD review at Twitch
- Fantasia Festival synopsis
- review at BRNS.com