Film Review: ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (2017)

 ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (2017) Japan 1hr 36mins

Director: Shin'ichiro Veda

"ACTION!!!" - Director Higurashi (at various intervals)

"POM!" - Nao

"There is no fiction, no lies. This is reality!" - Director Higurashi

ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (2017) is not exactly a zombie movie per se,  it's more a movie with zombies in it that still isn't really about zombies. That being said it is one of cleverest zombie movies that 's not about zombies of modern times. ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (2017) is more a movie about making mediocre, budget TV shows. ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (2017) is also a movie about family and staying true to yourself but it does all of this with a great sense of humour and best of all... zombies! When I say that it is cleverly done it's a movie that lulls you into believeing it is a one dimensional budget B movie when it is so much more. 

ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (2017) is really hard to describe without spoiling it, or at least I can't, so I will try and keep it brief and as to the point as I can. It starts off as a fairly bog standard budget zombie movie set in an abandoned WWII facility in Japan. This movies director goes too far when trying to get his actors to really get into their parts,  by using black magic to bring back the dead who he sets on the actors to get a real reaction from them. However this inevitably back fires on him. Then it quite abruptly ends and you are left thinking that it was all a bit shit but this is where the real movie begins. You find out that this mini movie is just a small part of the rest of the movie and we have just watched the finished piece. We then get sent back to the inception of the idea, the rehearsals and what happens during the filming . Thinking about it, this is a bit of a con because you basically see the same movie twice it's just that the second viewing reveals more of the process and what is involved with making a live action zombie movie in one take. If I tried to explain it even more it wouldn't make much difference as you really do need to see it to fully understand what is going on.

ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (2017)  is my favourite non-zombie zombie movie out there. I think it is the sense of humour that really makes it. Veda understands budget zombie movies and it's sense of humour is as subtle as the acting is over dramatic. The timings are all off which at first seems so wrong but it all makes perfect sense in the end. As it is designed as live action it has a lot of hand held shaky cam found footage camera work which again is not something I can take seriously the whole time.

The acting in front of the camera in the movie is intentionally awful but the cast do this amazingly well. Takayuki Hamatsu as director Higurashi is just fantastic. He has lots of layers, as a character,  he is known in the film industry as one of the easiest and average directors out there, but as a father who has lost the respect of his daughter he learns that he can do things his own way. He and his family are characters that you really route for. Their bossy daughter is a little nuts and the mother takes method acting to new levels. Every character has their own quirk. Hasada has a drinking problem, as does Yamakoshi just slightly different but both with hilarious consequences. The glitches, continuity errors and overly long lingering shots may seem annoying at first however once you realise it has been done on purpose the reveals are even better. It has been meticulously thought out and the improvisation both in front and behind the camera is fantastic, that last final shot shows the lengths crews will go to to get the perfect final angle.

Zombies are not the main focus here however as it is an Asian movie, they don't skimp on the action. It's great that these are purely stereo typical B movie zombies, even though none of them are zombies. They are just people, or actors, pretending to be zombies so it's obvious overacting, groaning and shuffling with caked on green make up and prosthetics. For a movie that is not really about zombies it does have quite a few of them, and they are a lot of fun! There is a dip in zombie action during the middle section but it picks up again. As it is more a movie about about making a movie it's really entertaining to watch the the crew making up the zombies behind the scenes in a matter of minutes. Sneaking around with prosthetic limbs, heads and fake bodies. One scene which seemed to be a spare of the moment decision is just a pair of legs that have a message. There is a bit of gore, blood and vomit which is effective.

I am notorious for over analysing and spoiling movies and I have more than likely said far too much about it. I do only have great things to say about it though. I love it when something kinda rubbish totally turns things around to give you a huge slap in the face! ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (2017) is a different take on the genre and it works so well. I believe the French have had a go at remaking this with FINAL CUT (2022) that has also gone down very well. I am yet to watch it myself but that will soon change. I score ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (2017) 4 brains out of 5. ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (2017) is available on DVD, Blu Ray and a rather nice steelbook edition.