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Release Date: February 2nd, 2016 Movie Release Year: 2014

Zombie Fight Club

Overview -

In a corner of the city, in a building riddled with crime... there is an outbreak of zombies. When one young woman (Jessica C, Double Trouble) witnesses her boyfriend falling victim to the zombie horde, she must team up with a police officer (Andy On, The Viral Factor, Special ID, Cold War) in order to stay alive and escape the building. But the once warm-hearted chemistry teacher, Wu Ming, is now the zombie leader following the chaos, which has transformed him into a cruel, vicious and formidable opponent. Ratcheting up the terror, an evil organization has begun pitting humans against zombies in a malicious killing game. The good side of humanity has seemingly all but vanished and a world of uncertainty awaits...

OVERALL:
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Rating Breakdown
STORY
VIDEO
AUDIO
SPECIAL FEATURES
Tech Specs & Release Details
Technical Specs:
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Video Resolution/Codec:
1080p/AVC MPEG-4
Length:
95
Aspect Ratio(s):
2.35:1
Audio Formats:
Mandarin: DTS-HD 2.0
Subtitles/Captions:
English
Special Features:
Theatrical Trailer
Release Date:
February 2nd, 2016

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

Ranking:

With a title like 'Zombie Fight Club', a few expectations might flow through your mind. It may either be an action packed zombie film with tons of marital arts or it might be an homage to the Brad Pitt/Edward Norton vehicle 'Fight Club'. I can assure you, that this Chinese film is neither of those. It's hard to decipher and figure out what exactly director Joe Chien was trying to make or even shoot here, as everything is a jumbled and horrifying mess here, but he did manage to hire an actor by the name of MC HotDog (Definitely not joking. That's his real name.)

The visual effects are downright laughable and look a couple steps below something that would air on the SyFy channel after midnight. The practical effects are almost passable though, but not quite, which takes us out of the supposed horror experience. Now I'm a fan of zombie films, and I'd like to give credit and kudos to indie filmmakers trying to do something new, inventive, or just plain fun, but 'Zombie Fight Club' does not fit into any of those categories, and dare I say it, might be the worst zombie film I've ever seen. The film plays out in two separate movies.

The first part of the film should actually be called 'Zombie: The Raid Redemption', because it takes place in a high rise building, notorious for housing murderers, rapists, drug kingpins, and idiots of all sorts. An elite team moves in there to take care of the bad guys (sound familiar), and zombies start popping up on all the floors. You can add a ton of gratuitous nudity, sex, and even a zombie sex scene into the mix. Don't get too attached to anyone, because people come and go fast here, and it's difficult to keep up with who's who and who's doing what. I blame the camera work and editing for this travesty.

Then the film suddenly cuts to black and we fast forward a year or so later, where it looks like a group of jerks have kidnapped good surviving people of the zombie apocalypse and have forced them into a 'Gladiator' type of slavery to do battle in the sand with zombies in the form of, well, 'Gladiator'. Complete with burning ashes flying around the arena and people in togas, there is more bizarre sex happening in between these bouts with the undead for no reason whatsoever.

The story, characters, zombies, or plot never moves forward, instead it seems like a film that has a raging case of ADHD and never know wheres to go on its own, but just simply shows zombies attacking in one moment, a sex scene the next, followed by gladiators trying to stay alive. If it wasn't confusing enough, the actors switch between English and Mandarin  throughout the movie, with no real rhyme or reason, however I did laugh at one of the gang members wearing a University of Missouri starter jacket. 'Zombie Fight Club' is not the movie we were promised nor that we signed up for. This film is dead in the water.

The Blu-Ray: Vital Disc Stats

'Zombie Fight Club' comes with a 25GB Blu-ray Disc and is Region-A locked from Scream Factory. The disc is housed in a hard blue plastic case that has a cardboard sleeve. The cover art is reversible with other optional cover art to switch at your desire. There are no inserts here.

Video Review

Ranking:

'Zombie Fight Club' comes with a 1080p HD transfer and is presented in 2.35:1 aspect ratio. First off, the entire film bathed in a yellow or green tint. Some scenes are heavier than others, which no real bright or bold colors really stand out or pop. This also allows for some issues with detail and clarity throughout.

Objects and people have a soft look to them with the exception if there is a lot of natural light or a well lit interior. Only then will closeups reveal good facial textures, makeup effects, and stitching in the costumes. The CG effects are just downright deplorable and never look good here, from the blood splatter to the explosions. It's all very cartoony and laughable, and not in a good way. Again, colors never pop and everything seems a bit muted.

There is even some fluctuating grain levels. Black levels are somewhat deep, but there is some crush to bee seen. Skin tones are not natural looking, because of the heavy color grading and yellow and green hues. There was some minor video noise and banding as well. This is not your ideal video presentation.

Audio Review

Ranking:

This release comes with a couple of audio options, all of them are quite hilarious. You can choose between a dubbed English DTS-HD MA 5.1 option or the original Mandarin DTS-HD MA 5.1 option. Both options also come with a 2.0 DTS-HD option as well. Why are these hilarious though? The dubbed English version is probably the worst dubbed track I have ever heard. It's hard to concentrate on the film with such horrible voice overs.

Add to this aspect that the film is already partly in English. You'll laugh all the way through in this one. The original Mandarin track sounds better for sure, but doesn't pack the punch you'd expect with this type of zombie action film. Sound effects are mostly robust and loud and occasionally creep in from the rear speakers. Zombie growls and screams sound decent enough. Gun shots and explosions are not as loud or explosive as they should be either.

Dialogue is always clear and easy to follow, and free of any pops, cracks, and hiss. The bass kicks in from time to time and never crosses into rocky territory either. The music and score goes well with the type of movie it is and never drowns out any of the other noises, leaving this audio presentation with average marks.

Special Features

Ranking:

'Zombie Fight Club' Stunts (HD, 3 Mins.) - A jumbled mess of on set footage. No real stunts here.

Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2 Mins.) - Trailer for the film.

 

Final Thoughts

'Zombie Fight Club' is just a series of moments and actions that don't amount to anything. It seems like the director just put some things he once saw in other films into this project, crossed his fingers, and hoped it would tell a story. It didn't. This is not even fun on some sort of silly level, because it takes itself seriously. The video and audio presentations aren't all that great either, and the extras are just poorly done that there might as well not be any extras. Avoid this one, for sure.