Ebola Syndrome (伊波拉病毒) is a 1996 live-action theatrical Hong Kong film directed by Herman Yau, and produced by Wong Jing, with distribution by Gala Film Distribution Limited. The film starred Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, Wan Yeung-ming, Shing Fui-On, Wong Tsui-ling, and Miu-Ying Chan, with screenplay writer Chau Ting, and music composed by Mak Chun-Hung. The film was theatrically released in June 1996 for Hong Kong.
Note: As I’ve purchased the film a while back, this is more akin to a ‘delayed unboxing’ post but all photos were sorted at the time of its arrival. This post has also been updated on 7th September 2025 to reword a few sections whilst keeping the same message across.
Background:
“After killing his boss, wanted convict Ah Kai flees Hong Kong and winds up in South Africa. Once there, he attacks and rapes a woman infected by the Ebola virus. However, when he learns he is immune but can pass on the virus to others, he begins to spread the disease to more and more people.
Ebola Syndrome is a typically wild Category III exploitation horror, replete with ghastly overtones and heaps of bad taste. A must for lovers of Hong Kong cult cinema everywhere.”
Plot Synopsis via 88 Films, November 2022.
Category III is an interesting rating for the Hong Kong film board, because whilst not that many films aim to receive the rating, the main goal is making note of any extreme violence or sex present that may be too much for a wider audience. Ebola Syndrome was one of the rating’s biggest highlights because it’s got so much going on that you really can’t rate it any lower. What makes the film age well in my opinion is Anthony Wong’s performance which he’s done really effectively.
His character is incredibly rude and fucked up in many ways, but at the same time you see him spiralling into insanity and unknowingly spreading an infectious disease. Not to mention there’s a fair few scenes where he basically violates a few women, which at the same time has a weird tone to it considering the dry-humping nature of it. That said, it’s still sexual violence regardless so it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea.
The film also has a fair bit of unintentional humour, like when two of the characters are potentially being chased by a leopard, or when the police are reacting to the virus spreading all over the place, or heck even the people falling to the infection is rather entertaining to watch. Overall Ebola Syndrome was entertaining and while I do think it could have been trimmed down a fair bit, it does give us a good rollercoaster ride for watching our main lead go insane especially with those hamburgers and I do wish the detectives were in the film a lot more.
UK distributor 88 Films licensed Ebola Syndrome for the UK for the first time as part of their 88 Asia Collection and also their Category III collection (which is the fourth film in this line-up but also the first to not receive any deluxe collector’s edition treatment either). Fans in the UK were also concerned about whether it’ll be released with some cuts from the BBFC because of its violence and graphic nature (mainly on the sexual violence), but instead it was passed uncut and without any censoring which was surprising considering there’s even a few animals that get killed throughout – though most look like practical effects which was clever.
It’s also worth noting that US distributor Vinegar Syndrome released Ebola Syndrome on the 4K Ultra HD format, but 88 Films have opted to go for the Blu-ray format instead. The reasons are unknown but perhaps it’s due to the 4K format being relatively new to them at the time.
About 88 Films:
88 Films, is an independent UK distributor for Asian Cinema, Italian Cinema, Horror, Cult Classics and Action. Their line-up of films in the Asian Cinema scene includes the works of Jackie Chan (Armour of God, Miracles), Sammo Hung (Dragons Forever, Heart of Dragon), Nam Nai Choi (Erotic Ghost Story, Robotrix), Lau Kar-leung (The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, Martial Club), Chen Chi-Hwa (Half a Loaf of Kung Fu, Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin), Wong Jing (Casino Tycoon, God of Gamblers) and also many individual films from John Woo, Tsui Hark, Vincent Kok, Yuen Woo-ping and more. The distributor recently expanded to the US with ten Shaw Bros films such as The Chinese Boxer and Human Lanterns but also other works including US exclusive releases of In the Line of Duty I-IV series and Police Story 3: Supercop.
Their 2023+ line-up for Asian Cinema will include the Fight Back to School trilogy, The Last Blood (Hard Boiled II), Magic Cop, Twin Dragons, The Untold Story, and a re-release of Battle Creek Brawl.
Limited Edition Contents:
While 88 Films started to produce deluxe collector’s editions, there may have been situations where the materials weren’t available to fit the threshold, so for Ebola Syndrome we only received a limited edition similarly to their earlier Jackie Chan output with physical extras available for the releases’ first print run only.
This limited edition release is presented with an o-card slipcase showcasing newly illustrated artwork by R.P. “KUNG FU BOB” O’Brien, an Amaray case housing the disc, a double-sided poster and a 28-page booklet featuring one write-up; ‘Anarchy in the HK: The Outlaw Nihilism of Ebola Syndrome’ by C.J. Lines.
The slipcase and amaray features ratings, synopsis and information about the release, including specifications. The limited edition Blu-ray release retailed for £24.99 SRP and would eventually be re-released as a standard edition Blu-ray that omits the O-Card Slipcase, poster and booklet.
I pre-ordered my copy from Terracotta Distribution’s website.
Physical Contents:
- O-Card Slipcase brand-new artwork by R.P. “KUNG FU BOB” O’Brien
- Amaray case
- 28-page Booklet by C.J. Lines
- Fold-out Poster
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: 88 Films
Released: 28th November 2022
The limited edition release for Ebola Syndrome presents the film on a single Blu-ray disc, with the authoring and encoding done by Fidelity in Motion. The film’s presentation is based on a 4K restoration from the original 35mm negatives.
The Blu-ray features the original Hong Kong theatrical cut presented in Cantonese audio with English & English SDH (due to some brief scenes spoken in English) subtitles. The theatrical is the original Category III uncut and uncensored version.
The white subtitles, newly translated, are unlockable during playback and the Blu-ray disc is locked to players set to Region B. There’s not much in terms of on-disc content but it does include a few commentaries.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | Cantonese |
| Audio | Cantonese Linear PCM 2.0 Mono |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 1.85:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English, English SDH |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 1 BD-50 |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
- Archive Audio Commentary with Director Herman Yau and Actor Anthony Wong
- Audio Commentary with Frank Djeng
- Locations Featurette
- Archive Interview with Director Herman Yau and Actor Anthony Wong
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Ebola Syndrome is available to own on Blu-ray from 88 Films for the United Kingdom & Ireland. The first print edition can be purchased through 88 Films’ official website, Amazon UK and Terracotta store.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
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