"Sars Wars," is a fast paced and highly enjoyable Thai zombie comedy. At its core, this is a film that revels in absurdity. The action and gore is more than enough to satiate the hardened zombie buff. The zany comedy is both internal and chips away at the fourth wall. A potential problem with this film is the fact that it is stylized for a niche audience. Essentially, this is a film that one either enjoys or passes off as a ho-hum addition to the horror genre. Additionally, the very aspects that make this film wonderful for some, may also make it a turkey for others.
SW diverges from typical Thai film in one distinctive way. Overall, Thai film uses the landscapes or urban settings of Thailand as an integral feature of the film. The pristine nature or bustling streets are unique enough to set a film apart as distinctly Thai. SW breaks from this standard and is set within an unspectacular high rise building. This change of scenery has led to several assumptions by the film makers. First, SW is more akin to an amusement ride than a standard horror/comedy story. Basically, the coherence of the plot arch is sacrificed for over the top visuals and slap stick comedy. The assumption is that the audience will give up all expectations and surrender to the ride. As hinted at above, this is either wonderful or dreadful depending on taste. SW offers no commentary on life, people, or the human condition. Rather, the film throws the audience into an absurd situation confronted by caricatures of stock characters. The effect is a fast paced horror comedy devoid of any seriousness. Second, the use of cheap SFX and CGI is clearly done for humor value. The assumption here is that the audience will embrace the over the top absurdity and appropriately poor effects. This assumption is again open to criticism. Some may find the poor effects bog down the film and remove any sense of reality. Others, like myself, enjoyed the humor of the purposeful low quality.
The film as a whole is well paced, competently shot, and technically professional. The characters, as mentioned above, are caricatures of well known stock types. The benefit is that the brief character development needed allows for more action oriented sequences. The drawback is that this film offers very little new in the department of "zombie fighters." On the whole, SW is not trying to break new ground or provide clever innovation. Rather, this is a film that exploits highly visual Thai humor within the context of a zombie story. If one enjoys their horror with a hearty helping of incoherent absurdity, then this is a film to be sought out.
On a personal note, I will definitely be recommending this film to friends. The style of humor, topics of mockery, and goofy gory action make this a film that is enjoyable by a diverse audience. This is a much better than average pizza and beer movie night film. 6.5 of 10 stars.
SW diverges from typical Thai film in one distinctive way. Overall, Thai film uses the landscapes or urban settings of Thailand as an integral feature of the film. The pristine nature or bustling streets are unique enough to set a film apart as distinctly Thai. SW breaks from this standard and is set within an unspectacular high rise building. This change of scenery has led to several assumptions by the film makers. First, SW is more akin to an amusement ride than a standard horror/comedy story. Basically, the coherence of the plot arch is sacrificed for over the top visuals and slap stick comedy. The assumption is that the audience will give up all expectations and surrender to the ride. As hinted at above, this is either wonderful or dreadful depending on taste. SW offers no commentary on life, people, or the human condition. Rather, the film throws the audience into an absurd situation confronted by caricatures of stock characters. The effect is a fast paced horror comedy devoid of any seriousness. Second, the use of cheap SFX and CGI is clearly done for humor value. The assumption here is that the audience will embrace the over the top absurdity and appropriately poor effects. This assumption is again open to criticism. Some may find the poor effects bog down the film and remove any sense of reality. Others, like myself, enjoyed the humor of the purposeful low quality.
The film as a whole is well paced, competently shot, and technically professional. The characters, as mentioned above, are caricatures of well known stock types. The benefit is that the brief character development needed allows for more action oriented sequences. The drawback is that this film offers very little new in the department of "zombie fighters." On the whole, SW is not trying to break new ground or provide clever innovation. Rather, this is a film that exploits highly visual Thai humor within the context of a zombie story. If one enjoys their horror with a hearty helping of incoherent absurdity, then this is a film to be sought out.
On a personal note, I will definitely be recommending this film to friends. The style of humor, topics of mockery, and goofy gory action make this a film that is enjoyable by a diverse audience. This is a much better than average pizza and beer movie night film. 6.5 of 10 stars.