Zombie contro zombie

I went into this film expecting a low-budget and hopefully less-than typical zombie movie. I'm glad to say this movie turned out to be an incredibly fun watch. Right when you think you've finished up and have gotten exactly what you expected, the film completely throws you in the opposite direction and puts a lens on the genre in such a way that is fun, funny, and outright entertaining. As a fan of both zombie horror and foreign films, I really suggest you check this one out.

I would watch this with no context of what the movie is about. Each act of the movie is a totally different experience that expands on the last and makes it infinitely better.

If you don't like violent zombie films, you might still enjoy "One Cut of the Dead". Sure, it has blood (as you'd expect) but it is more tongue in cheek and silly as opposed to being gross or gratuitous. So, if you are a parent, you could let older kids watch this one with no serious concerns about your kids becoming warped for life!

The story is a confusing one. It's kind of like a movie within a movie...within a movie. Instead of explaining the exact plot, I'll just insist that you watch it and don't worry if you are confused....stick with it.

The movie is clever, funny and offers something new and different. And, with so many young filmmakers making zombie films, this one actually offers you some things that are unique and well thought out. Well worth seeing....and a great example of cheap but effective film making.

So at first you just cringe and laugh at the silliness of the movie. Then you are confused. And then you laugh at how amazing the movie is. The last 30minutes were one of my best movie watching experience.

ACTION!

Some novels trust you to be able to stick with strange decisions and styles to push through to a few final pages or chapters or lines that achieve the near-impossible, they redefine and reframe the previous ones, they shed a new light, and radically change your thoughts on the previous material/project as a whole.

That happens in this film. To discuss it any further is to completely ruin it. Suffice to say, it is every bit as good as it is being touted as. It's got clever commentary and a style of comedy that means you can actually be laughing before they even show you anything. I'm still laughing about it today, and I think it even manages to take Zombies and be the first film of this decade to give them a new thematic meaning.

It's got a denouement too many, but they've earned it: I watched this film at the Sitges film festival and the filmmakers and cast received a standing ovation, at which, I was almost in tears, not only because they thoroughly deserved it, but also because they managed to make a film about what making a film is about. It captures almost all of what it feels like in an authentic and different way to usual, and it uses its budget to make a film about making a film at that budget perfectly.

I have no doubt that this cast and crew (of whom none have a single IMDB headshot image!) will get One Cut of the Dead will get a distributor and achieve worldwide success and acclaim, it's just too special and genuine and innovative not to.

And it even manages to correct that fact that it 'should' have been called One Take of the Dead in a way that satisfies a pedant like me! Time to get off my arse and make something...