Otto; or, Up with Dead People

Canadian artist / pornographer Bruce LaBruce is known in underground circles for his transgressive and satirical no-budget contributions to Queer cinema. His films Raspberry Reich, Hustler White and Skin Flick, among others, endeavor to explore themes such as alienation, fascism, terrorism, persecution but are held together by Bruce's real "meat 'n' potatoes" - hardcore gay sex (and in one case, amputee sex).

Somewhere in the near future where zombies are the norm (particularly homosexual ones) and have somewhat evolved from mindless flesh-eaters into talking, rational-thinking corpses, Otto is rising from the grave. He doesn't remember anything about his past so he begins to wander the streets aimlessly, eating roadkill as he goes. Otto cant bring himself to kill & eat a human - he muses that maybe he was a vegetarian in his former life.

Otto is soon "discovered" by Medea Yarn, an avant-garde filmmaker. Medea is close to finishing her epic political-porno-zombie movie, Up with Dead People, and wants to begin on a docu-drama starring Otto. Medea's crew consists of her brother, Adolf and her lesbian partner Hella Bent, a silent screen siren who is always seen in scratchy black 'n' white.

Intermittently Otto has minor flashbacks to what he thinks was his life before he became one of the undead. When he eventually discovers his wallet in his back pocket, he finds in it little clues to who he once was, one being an ex-boyfriend's phone number. He arranges to meet up with this ex and through him learns some important details about his past.

"An original and inventive take on the zombie genre" Otto; or, Up with Dead People is a German/Canadian co-production predominantly shot in Germany with local actors. The majority of the dialogue in the film is presented as voice-over narration either by Otto or Medea, who we are introduced to, and who continues to address us via interview-type footage. The elements of satire are pretty blatant when it comes to Medea, the utterly pretentious filmmaker with her long indulgent diatribes against our capitalist, consumer-driven society. Then there's the queer-zombie bashing, Otto the mindless teen zombie (product of a consumerist society?) and the sense of disdain that the general public regard Otto with.

Sex 'n' gore-wise I didn't find the film too over-the-top; yes there are a few cocks and some gay sex but no XXX scenes. One of the more notable scenes is in Medea's film Up with Dead People where the lead zombie penetrates his partner's recently inflicted stomach wound. With regards to the typical gory zombie film though, I don't think Otto can really compete, there's very little grue, just the odd eating of roadkill.

One of the questions the film asks is - is Otto really a zombie? At the beginning it seems rather obvious that he is but as the film develops you discover that before he "died" he was committed to a psychiatric hospital after being diagnosed with schizophrenia and a severe eating disorder. Throughout the film people are constantly commenting that "he thinks he's a zombie" and wonder what is wrong with him.

Otto; or Up with Dead People is an original and inventive take on the zombie genre, although for some, the lack of typical genre staples may disappoint. Recommended for Bruce LaBruce fans and/or indiscriminate zombie film lovers.

OK, I am open minded, I love filmmakers that think out of the box and I love when genres are messed about with. I love going to the cinema, especially to film festivals where you can discover gems that no one else has seen yet. Sadly this film was not a gem. It did not shock me, it did not thrill me. I found it all a bit amateurish and before you attack me and say it was low budget and therefore excusable then don't waste your time. I don't believe in negative reviews, I like to look at the good and the bad, no doubt I will get eaten (no pun intended) by the super fans. The acting was pretty terrible to be fair and the camera work was at times clumsy. The sexual scenes sometimes seemed to interrupt the films flow, as if they were slotted in there because that is what his fans expect and want. It is important that films like this are made though and the have an audience of die hard fans but I'm just letting other horror fans in particular zombie fans know that this is more of a porn film than a zombie film.

Elly belly, you've taken the film too seriously! LaBruce is very grounded, very modest. Genuine issues are explored but in an refreshingly 'anti Godard' manner - he just makes fun of everything! Labruce ridicules politicians but also those against them; how being 'anti-fa' or 'left' is simply a style or fashion now, (particularly in Berlin), hence Medea, too was mocked when declaring out her 'political' banter.

Laugh at the sex scenes. Crazy, absurd, funny. Not shallow, either: the pleasure one derives from viewing pornography is thrown in their face once mixed with the thrill of the blood and guts of a zombie film. Labruce shows both simultaneously, erections and intestines between the same sheets. Despite being literally 'bloody', they are by no means violent or hate motivated. ''Blood and guts'' is just part of what the zombie lovers get down to in the bedroom! They can also have sex with each other's (very very very newly created) orifices!! ha ha.

This is simply a great film, what a deadly cool way to attack homophobia. Thank god for you Labruce.

"a political-porn-zombie movie" that was the promised genre. well, it was merely political, as the political character Medea did not seem so sincere, she was more like a person who tried to be Gothic or something, but she was OK, not bad. zombie? yes, Otto was a pretty zombie, lost his frightening reasons in the process of zombie evolution. porn? absolutely. the idea of being "disgusting" was very well organized and presented, to be honest -no offense, I believe that was the aim. I don't think that being straight is a reason for seeing it that way. more than half of the audience was gay and I did not see a joy expression at their faces, most of the people were irritated by the violent porn scenes. apart from the violently pornographic shots, Otto walks. walks. walks. this is not a spoiler, it's just only an idea of what you'll see. although a fervent movie addict, maybe I didn't get it. maybe we couldn't see the layers beneath Otto. but you didn't let us do, Bruce..

I can't wait to read other comments, I need to be enlightened or something, please write.

Bruce LaBruce is (very weirdly) becoming one of my favorite indy film makers. WWaaaay back in the early nineties in film school we saw "no skin off my ass" and I dismissed it then as pretentious soft-core. I was glib and wrong. Ages ago my friends and I went to see "Hustler White" at a midnite showing and frankly we were at once titillated and impressed. Then when "Raspberry Reich" rolled out I was ALMOST convinced....That film struck a pitch-perfect chord between 60's revolutionary porn (I Am Curious Yellow) and modern satire. I just watched "Otto" and I am officially a fan. Through the use of explicit sex and graphic violence M. LaBruce is actually making a point! I'm impressed and pleasantly surprised. This is maybe a "zombie" movie...but more specifically a neat commentary on modern youth with a great sense of humor and a chilling overtone. If you're older and adventurous and want to get a sort of "summary" of the present youth-culture and this whole "zombie thing" this is a great film to watch. Underrated and sublime (after you get-over all the gay sex...if you have to get-over it at all)