Zombie contro zombie

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.

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...

I've tried my best to be as spoiler-free as possible, but this is the kind of movie that is best watched while knowing as little as possible. So if you're wondering about the movie, just watch it now and don't read any reviews including this one until afterwards.

So at first the film is admittedly pretty bad, and I don't think anyone will disagree with that. It's a one-take zombie movie, and I'm fond of one-takes so I thought "cool, a whole movie being done or at least presented in one-take like 1917 but with zombies would be cool I guess." But soon you realise it's not very well made, and there's uncomfortably long scenes and some weird dialogue and poor camera handling. So then you're laughing at how bad it is, and thinking, "OK, there's gotta be a twist if this movie is rated so high" and I guess all I will say about that is: don't go expecting a horror movie; this is definitely more of a comedy. And just have a good time and don't take it seriously. It was a pleasant surprise and elicited a lot of laughs, and further into the movie, the laughs were no longer at the expense of the film (it somehow became genuinely funny, not the so-bad-it's-good kind of funny). So by the end of the film, I thought it was great, despite the rocky start.

When I started watching it, I thought it was one of the cheapest, stupidest zombie movies that I had ever seen (and I saw really a lot!). I continued hoping it could get any better, and it does, BIG WAY. The end reveals this movie as one of the best homages ever made to the art of cinema and an hilarious celebration of human creativity.

Absolutely incredible! Who would have thought a zombie flick could be so unique, original and wildly entertaining - and that it could sidetrack you with the most audacious curve ball that will knock you out the park and some (twice). Perseverance is the key, the best things are always worth waiting for and this is one of those occasions where the reward will leave you agog at the genius, originality and imagination conjured up. Brilliant!!!