Night 13: Happy Happy Halloween
“We keep rolling!”
It is hard to talk or write about One Cut of the Dead not just because of its twists and turns but because of how far it twists and turns. In fact, it turns into a different genre and essentially a different movie. In addition to shifting genres, it also has a very unusual structure. The first 37 minutes tell the story you expect from the synopsis: a low budget independent horror movie crew are attacked by zombies while filming a zombie movie. Then the film flashes back and this is where it may lose people who wanted a pure zombie movie. However, this is also where it becomes something unique and very entertaining. I do not believe in vague recommendations (“The less you know, the better” or “Go in knowing as little as possible”), so my review will contain at least one major spoiler. Although, maybe spoiler is not the right word because I think knowing where this movie is going does not diminish the fun experience of watching it get there. For now I will say that even if you do not like zombies, there is a good chance you will still enjoy One Cut of the Dead.
The film opens on the set of a zombie movie with an intense director (Takayuki Hamatsu), berating an actress for needing 42 takes for an emotional scene. Two things are immediately clear: this is a found footage movie and it is all in one take. During a break real zombies turn up and attack and terrorize the cast and crew. The lead actress now finds herself living out what she had been only pretending. Even with all that happens, this feels like the movie’s most conventional chapter (the novelty of found footage wore off long ago), although it being done in one take is impressive.
And now for something completely different (Spoiler Alert):
The second chapter flashes back to one month earlier to the same director, Takayuki Higurashi, being approached by executives to direct a live broadcast of a zombie movie to launch the brand new Zombie Channel. And they want it in one take and they want it ready to shoot in just one month. Takayuki laughs because he thinks they are joking, but they are not. He’s not at a point in his career where he can turn down the offer, and it is the perfect opportunity to reconnect with his daughter Mao (Mao Higurashi), a production assistant who takes movies very seriously. So, this is actually a movie about a low budget zombie movie crew struggling to make a low budget zombie movie about a low budget zombie movie crew being attacked by zombies. This shift in genre (now a comedy), style (no longer a found footage movie), plot, and characters feels jarring at first because a new movie starts after you’ve been watching for more than half an hour. However, this “new movie” with essentially the same plot (minus a real zombie attack) is very engaging, very funny, and it is interesting to see the origins of the film within the film.
The third act is the behind the scenes of the live broadcast and it is full blown chaotic comedy. Takayuki and his wife, Harumi (Harumi Shuhama), a former actress who had to retire because she would get too caught up in her roles, have to sub in at the last minute for injured cast members. Harumi does indeed get too caught up in her role and is unable to come out of her character. An alcoholic actor relapses, equipment breaks, crew members have to quickly make signs to hold off camera to let the actors know about last minute changes, to name just a few things that go wrong. Even knowing how the broadcast turns out does not take away from any of the excitement of watching it come together.
One Cut of the Dead is available to stream on Shudder and rent from Amazon Prime.
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