Cannabis Holocaust Review from Bio-Toilet Releasing!

Picture this: you’re sitting on the couch, smoking a bowl, and minding your own business, when out of nowhere you are assaulted. And not just assaulted by a person, but by a person with a shark for a penis. The same shark which you were just smoking out of. Confused? You should be! In that confusion lies the genius of the film aptly titled Cannabis Holocaust. Insane, politically incorrect, disgusting, and low brow are all terms that could be used to describe the works of Director Joe Choi and Bio-Toilet Releasing. However, the words hilarious, genius, and creative also describe the films just as much. Hailing from Hong Kong, Choi and his group of friends/actors/production crew are setting out to unleash the most depraved, ridiculous, and hilarious brand of low budget films ever to grace the unprepared ocular vessels of an unknowing public.

If you’re unfamiliar with Bio-Toilet Releasing, you would be a part of the vast majority of the underground film community. I discovered Bio-Toilet through their film Twenty Cigarettes, released by independent label Toxic Filth Video. Intrigued by the disgusting cover, I went into that film with very low expectations and came out a changed man. What I had watched was disgusting, but it was also legitimately hilarious and well written. For a low budget film about a man torturing a group of men in a single location the film was creatively shot and mixed low brow humour with a satirical twist on the horror genre. Filled to the brim with offensive humour (satirical in nature, but worth noting), gross out scenes (a segment involving the men being forced to watch extreme scat pornography), and characters with about as much depth as a puddle, the film should not work as well as it did. But it did. Joe Choi and his group of misfits delivered a film that oozed punk rock attitude and aesthetics. A middle finger in the face of pretentious and self-absorbed cinema. Choi and his crew set out to make a movie that was fun to make and watch, and you can go fuck yourself if you don’t like it. Upon finishing Twenty Cigarettes I immediately needed more. Unfortunately, this was easier said than done due to the pandemic restricting international shipping. However, after reaching out to Joe directly I was able to view the films and became even more of a fan. Included in these films was the previously mentioned Cannabis Holocaust. A film featuring a poster with a man with a giant shark-penis. I knew the film would be insane based on the poster and the group of filmmakers involved, but what I wasn’t prepared for was a ride even more entertaining and fulfilling than Twenty Cigarettes.

Cannabis Holocaust tackles many different topics across the span of its meagre 40-odd-minutes. At the core of the story is a group of friends looking to make a shark film. They’re tired of the awful shark films plaguing the world and set out to make a good one. Along the way they get distracted by marijuana. Lots and lots of marijuana. Said marijuana is smoked out of a makeshift pipe made from their shark prop. Sounds normal, right? Wrong! The plastic shark is actually the penis of an unnamed man who then sets out to kill the group, one by one.

No matter how insane this premise sounds, nothing can prepare you for the film itself. Dancing penises, drug induced shark hallucinations, shark attacks, and more await you. In fact, there are so many off the wall scenes in the film that it almost becomes overwhelming. Yet, Joe Choi and crew manage to keep the film focused. Or the most focused a film of this premise and type can be. Cannabis Holocaust is paced very well, with the jokes and set ups taking their time to receive the proper audience response. However, there isn’t a single moment in the film where I doubted that Choi and crew wanted to appease anyone beyond themselves. In that lies the film’s power. Bio-Toilet’s entire film catalogue is low brow, silly, and joyous. There’s a sense of punk-rock freedom to their work. If Choi or his fellow group of boundary pushing misfits wants to put something in the movie, they will. No topic is too taboo, no idea is too grand, and no one will stand in the way of the filmmakers (and by extent the audience) having a good time. 

While Cannabis Holocaust wouldn’t be a film that would typically be expected to be technically sound, it is obvious that Choi knows how to film a movie. Even on a low budget Choi can pull off some technically adventurous shots, and he is able to utilize the resources he has to great effect. The special effects are silly and cheap looking, but this only adds to the film’s charm. The soundtrack of Cannabis Holocaust, as well as most of Bio-Toilet’s films, is a mix of in-your-face punk rock and more subtle pieces that work together to add to the manic tone of the film.

Bio-Toilet Releasing might just be the most underrated independent film project in the underground now. A group that is unfortunately obscure and unheard of, but films like Cannabis Holocaust are sure to win the hearts of many fans of trash cinema, and independent cinema in general. Raucous, offensive, silly, and completely uninhibited. Cannabis Holocaust, and Bio-Toilet Releasing as a whole, are essential.

Directed by: Joe Choi
Written by: Joe Choi, Nicolas Tsui, Lobo Ng
Produced by: Joe Choi
Cinematography by: Joe Choi
Editing by: Joe Choi
Music by: Various artists
Special Effects by: Joe Choi
Cast: Oscar Chiu, Jerry You, Marvin Limbu, Oskar Left, Lobo Ng
Year: 2020
Country: Hong Kong
Language: Mandarin (English Subtitles)
Colour: Colour
Runtime: 41min

Studio: Bio-Toilet Releasing