Otto; or, Up with Dead People

Desperate to cast someone with real talent, a female director hires a young man who believes that he is actually a zombie to play a zombie in this offbeat blend of comedy and horror from cult director Bruce LaBruce. Constantly cutting back and forth between 'reality' and the film-within, 'Otto' is not the easiest film to get into, but it features a large amount of smart and witty dialogue, both as the title character contemplates the advantages of being dead and as the director rambles on about the importance that she perceives her film to have as "a political film" tied to LGBT issues with a "gay plague" that turns all of the zombies homosexual upon returning from the dead (!). This is a creative movie beyond just the film within though with silent movie footage used well and even a fitting animated sequence amid the madness. The film's best asset though is its ambiguity as to whether or not Otto is actually a zombie. When all is revealed, it is a pretty sad film too about how certain experiences can make one feel dead on the inside. It is an up and down ride, with certain sequences (the director screening all of her previous films; some of the love scenes) that drag on for far too long, but the film circles around a character to whom it is surprisingly easy to grow emotionally invested with considering that he wears a singular zombie expression throughout.

The brilliance of some films is visible on multiple levels. Films such as Network (1976) and American Beauty (1999) are both satirical, yet they can be simultaneously viewed as good cinema. Bruce LaBruce's Otto; or, Up with Dead People (2008) is not such a film. It can be read as a satire, Bruce LaBruce's whorish attempt at an instant cult classic, or simply as an entirely original work of art. Actually, it seems more like a combination of the three. Otto satirizes the zombie crowd's lust for films that only have merit for their shock value. In case you aren't familiar with him, Bruce LaBruce is famous for (infamous for?) his no-budget B films. He is one of few directors to have directed a porno and had a film premier at Sundance. Without seeing the film, Otto often comes across at an extremely misguided attempt to corner a niche market—gay zombie horror porn. With that said, the film is neither a horror film nor a porno. There is relatively little gore, and much less sex than the right wing IMDb trolls would have you believe. Otto may be a satire; Otto may be an attempt into instant cult status; but in any case, Otto is art.

Otto; or, Up with Dead People was shown at the Sundance film festival. However, simply being accepted into Sundance does not mean a film is good. Otto was also shown at the wonderful MoMA in NYC. Once again, this does not mean that it is a perfect film, but it should be noted in what way the film is being perceived: as a work of art. Most people will dismiss Otto as a pointless B movie, but in reality it is not pointless. Otto is one of the most original works of feature length cinema from the past decade that I have seen. And this is not simply based on the subject matter. LaBruce utilizes his distinct style and unique cinematic techniques to make Otto a truly fresh work of art.

Now onto the film. Otto (Jey Crisfar) is convinced that he is a zombie who just recently was resurrected. Stumbling around town, he comes across a flyer for auditions for a zombie movie, Up with Dead People. At the audition, the director of the film, Medea (Katharina Klewinghaus), is impressed with Otto's commitment to the character. Otto of course truly believes that he is a zombie, while Medea is sure that Otto is just a regular guy who always seems to be exceptionally dirty. Zombies are often presented as allegorical to "the ultimate consumers who all eat the same things, congregate at the same places, act the same" (Fangoria). With Otto, LaBruce completely reverses this idea. Otto is a complete outcast. Not only is he a zombie, but Otto is gay. He experiences what is either gay-, zombie-, or gay zombie-bashing and generally not accepted by society.

Another of LaBruce's interesting cinematic choices is presenting Medea's lesbian lover, Hella (Susanne Sachße) as a silent film character. Hella is always presented in grainy black and white and her dialogue is even replaced with intertitles. Medea and other characters are still presented in full color even while the black and white Hella is sitting right next to them. As a film studies major, I am forced to attempt to find the symbolism/hidden meaning behind presenting Hella as such. However, I have come to the conclusion that LaBruce was simply attempting to present Hella as a specific type of character from the silent film era and he does so with clever blatancy.

Otto is not what most people would consider as entertaining. Otto is not what most people would consider as art. If you watch the film thinking that you will hate it, I can guarantee with complete certainty that you will hate it. Watch this film with an open mind, and don't take it too seriously or literally. Network and American Beauty are praised because they work on two levels. They exaggerate the existing conventions of Hollywood cinema in order to criticize whereas Otto cinematically breaks free of the zombie genre in its criticism. As Dr. Marco Abel would say, whether or not you like the film is irrelevant. Otto is a entirely original piece of art.

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.

"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.

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.