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That's how director Higurashi (Takayuki Hamatsu) describes his work to the producers trying to hire him for a special film project. Filmed over the course of 8 days and at roughly $25,000, the actual film is all but one of those things.
Without giving too much away, One Cut of the Dead follows a crew of filmmakers tasked with shooting a zombie film while facing a series of unexpected and often hilarious constraints and problems. The nature and reasons of those constraints is best explained by watching the actual film, and being patient enough to stick with it all the way through the payoff.
For a genre that has been as beaten to death as zombie films, a film really needs to bring it to surprise us. Whether it is by chance or by design, One Cut of the Dead achieves that with a unique script and execution and a lot of heart. The end result is an undeniably fun film that manages to subvert the tropes of not only zombie films, but also of reality/live TV, and filmmaking in general.
If you haven't heard much or anything about this, then give it a chance as soon as possible. Especially if you're a zombie or horror fan, this is a film that rewards you for walking in blind. It is a film that moves at a breezy pace, and even though it may look cheap, average it ain't.
Grade:
ONE CUT OF THE DEAD
(2017, Ueda)
A film from the 2010s
(2017, Ueda)
A film from the 2010s
"Fast, cheap, but average"
That's how director Higurashi (Takayuki Hamatsu) describes his work to the producers trying to hire him for a special film project. Filmed over the course of 8 days and at roughly $25,000, the actual film is all but one of those things.
Without giving too much away, One Cut of the Dead follows a crew of filmmakers tasked with shooting a zombie film while facing a series of unexpected and often hilarious constraints and problems. The nature and reasons of those constraints is best explained by watching the actual film, and being patient enough to stick with it all the way through the payoff.
For a genre that has been as beaten to death as zombie films, a film really needs to bring it to surprise us. Whether it is by chance or by design, One Cut of the Dead achieves that with a unique script and execution and a lot of heart. The end result is an undeniably fun film that manages to subvert the tropes of not only zombie films, but also of reality/live TV, and filmmaking in general.
If you haven't heard much or anything about this, then give it a chance as soon as possible. Especially if you're a zombie or horror fan, this is a film that rewards you for walking in blind. It is a film that moves at a breezy pace, and even though it may look cheap, average it ain't.
Grade: