Movie Review: One Cut of the Dead (2017)
One Cut of the Dead is a low budget zombie film released in Japan in late 2017. It became a huge hit with audiences in Japanese theatres throughout 2018 and was finally released officially in the UK in January 2019.
I first heard a little bit of hype bubbling up about the film early last year; "It's a low budget Japanese horror comedy" or "It's one single 37 minute long shot" went the whispering, which to me sounded pretty cool and probably worth keeping an eye on.
As the months rolled by more hype rolled in: "grossed over 1000 times its budget", "the best zombie comedy since Shaun of the Dead". This is the point where my investment went from mild interest to solid excitement.
Unfortunately for me, the official UK release didn't appear until January 2019 (despite Amazon's bootleg blunder) and being out of the country I had to wait until the end of January for the digital download to become available. But finally, mercifully, I've seen One Cut of the Dead...
The best way to experience this film is to go in as cold as possible. I've already ruined the single 37 minute shot part but that's in the trailer so, you know, give me a break.
One Cut opens with this famed shot, filmed exclusively on a single handheld camera, and once it gets going it doesn't let up.
A film crew are shooting a low budget zombie movie in an abandoned warehouse and the pressure is on to get things right as apparently the director is in way over his head and the costs are spiraling out of control. On top of all this there are rumours of strange goings on and weird military experiments in this very warehouse...
Suddenly, the set is thrown into utter chaos as real zombies show up, desperate for a shot at the big time and hungry for human flesh and brains. On second thought it's probably just the flesh and brains they're after but who really knows the motivations of the undead.
As you'd expect there's plenty of blood, violence and gore but there are also loads of funny moments like the crazed director who continues to film depsite the presence of the entrail munching monsters and actively endangers his own cast just to get that perfect shot.
Annoyingly there are some drawn out, weirdly awkward and jarring moments that break the momentum slightly and might leave you feeling a bit confused...but after37 mins of mayhem the credits roll. Is it over? Was that it?
No, the real movie is only just beginning.
To reveal anything else would be to the detriment of your viewing experience but there is much more to Once Cut of the Dead than a fairly well executed cinematic gimmick.
It's a charming story about film making, working with awkward actors, the highs, the lows and the lengths you might go to in order to get your dream gig.
Combine that with plenty of heart, class acting, genuinely clever twists and turns, proper laugh out loud moments and some great call backs to that opening shot (which will explain a lot of issues) and what you've got is an absolute cult classic and a wonderfully refreshing take on the zombie movie genre.
Get out there and see this movie!
One Cut of the Dead is available now on DVD and Blu-Ray from Third Window Films in the UK and from here.
It's also available to download from iTunes but hopefully it'll get a broader digital release soon.
Have you seen One Cut of the Dead? Let me know what you thought of the film in the comments.
Peace.
