A Fresh Take on the Zombie Genre
I've read many good reviews about this movie so I decided to see what's so special about it. I dive in with less expectation because the poster and synopsis looks weak, and also I am not a huge fan of the zombie genre. The beginning is a bit boring and to be honest very amateurish but as soon as that moment arrived I just realize the fact that this looks very low budget actually helps and I couldn't think it would work if they had the budget. I tell you this underrated gem is a cult classic in the making just like Fish Story when it came out. It also happens that both films have the best epic ending in a movie ever. The fact that I compare it to Fish Story says a lot to the quality of this movie. Best movie to watch with friends as this movie is highly entertaining and the best rewatch value I've given to a Japanese movie.I can't talk anything about the plot because it would be a huge spoiler even if I say a bit or even hint anything about it, let's just say there are three acts in this movie, first act is somewhat engaging but may get boring especially if you're distracted by the low budget-ness of the film, second is clever and fresh, and the third is the best and the funniest part of the movie. What I want you to do is dive in, give the movie at least 30 minutes and do yourself a favor and avoid watching any trailers because from what I've seen, all of them spoiled the movie.
This is the debut film of the director, Shinichiro Ueda, who manages to give this genre a fresh idea. He is hailed as a genius director from most of the reviews I've seen and as a reply, in one of his interviews, he said that he don't particularly like zombie movies and when people ask him what he thinks the future of zombie movies is, he told them he don't care lol. I don't know if he's a genius or this movie is just a fluke, but he would so god damn lucky if that's the case, like he's just a passionate guy who decided to pick a camera and started to do movies and as a result he is hailed as a genius and competes with koreeda in Japan's version of Oscars. His story could be a plot in a movie, reminds of that character in sion sono's "why don't you play in hell".
Every actor here is unknown. I checked their asianwiki page and most of them only appeared in this movie. There are parts where it's quite evident that they are amateurs, which actually helps and you would realize that after you see the movie, but there's also parts where they shown stroke of brilliance and that happened during the most important and the climax part. This movie became a big hit in Japan that most of these actors are now getting acting gigs and commercials and that's the best part.
A film that has managed to achieve something groundbreaking in the zombie movie genre, which you can find title "ONE CUT", a zombie film that has 30+ minutes long uninterrupted shot. It's not the same tearjerker zombie thriller like Train to Busan or the fun head exploding epic thriller like I Am Hero, but after you see this film you would value the technical aspects in a movie more and if you haven't seen anything like it would leave you in awe. An inferior Hollywood remake is inevitable. This is a masterpiece.
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Just watch and enjoy
A movie that I can only review with: "just watch and enjoy". The plot offers a simple theme in plain sight, but wait until you notice your video player telling you this movie hasn't over yet! With fairly low budget, mostly unknown cast, but aggresively smart script, One Cut of the Dead is the one that you MUST watch for once (and perhaps just once) but it's a MUST WATCH!It's really hard to review this one, because telling everything even more about this movie, constitutes a spoiler. Even telling you the genre of this movie, constitutes a spoiler.
So, I will zip my mouth and stop typing. Without further ado, "just watch and enjoy"!
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This makes a movie not good in my opinion.
I was lucky one of my friends watched this before and kind of forced me to watch it sitting with me for the duration. I am certain I would not watch ed it otherwise. The first third of the movie is standard to low quality cliche zombie film. Second part is kinda builds up on the movie and in the last third you get a masterpiece.
Definite recommend.
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Pure Inspiration
I was so immersed and invested in that chaotic disorganized shooting, whoah, this is such a tribute to all filmmakers! This is why I don't ever watch behind the scenes of my favorite shows and films, because I love watching the crew doing their job professionally and I get obsessed with it.I ABSOLUTELY LOVE how it starts with a shitty low-budget zombie short generously irrigated with orange blood and you think "wtf is this junk", but by the end you see how much effort and human resources actually went into making that junk and how much fun the crew had, and you realize that having good time is the true value of filmmaking no matter how messy the result is. Anyone who participated in any kind of production will relate to this. I feel so inspired!
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The director is by far the best!OMG I love him! Especially when u have no idea whats going on!
I recommend you skip the middle bit. You'll understand what I mean when you watch this movie. I mean you could watch the middle section at a quickened pace -- that'll work too. To be honest they kept the midsection bit to a minimum & it probably was necessary for the ending section to have more of an impact. For the most part I'm in agreeance with the filmmakers on this one -- they did a really good job.Aside from all that, the first section of this flick BLEW MY MIND. I'd loved the meta-nature to it. Twas great!
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This review may contain spoilers
Film within a film
I found this movie in a list of best zombie movies of all time and went into watching it without looking up the rating or reading the reviews. I think it greatly impacted the way I felt about this movie. Going on imdb and coming here on mdl made me realise how different people's perception of the same form of art can be.If you are here to watch a hardcore zombie movie, this one is not it. It is light hearted, almost comical. More than zombies, this movie focuses on the blood, sweat and tears that goes behind movie making, the chaotic environment through which people on set have to push through to create a masterpiece. This movie pays homage to the heroes behind the camera.
First 35 minutes are a little hard to watch, especially if you have motion sickness like me. Since it is a one take shot and about zombies, there is a lot of running and shaking and it made me feel sick. I almost dropped it there but I am glad I decided to sit through it. When the one take shot gets over, then the real movie starts.
Honestly till the 40 minute mark, I couldn't really figure out what was going on but when I did understand, I was left engrossed in it. It was extremely enjoyable. The intricate details that viewers often do not pay attention to while watching a film are brought to light in such a nice way. It was extremely appreciable. It is indeed true that a hardworking and smart person can change every crisis into an opportunity. This film rightfully depicts that.
The actors did an amazing job. I don't think anybody was in the supporting characters here, everyone was a main character if you see it that way. I was amazed to see such a beautiful portrayal of the behind the scenes of a movie set.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and it shocked me when I saw how low this movie was rated. Ofcourse people can have different perspectives but if you love the art of film and filmmaking then this movie is a must watch! 10/10 will watch again.
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