One Cut of the Dead

The first thirty-five minutes are a completely stupid and incredibly horrible, cheap and amateur zombie film without any screenplay and craftsmanship (except that it all takes place in a single shot), telling the story of filmmakers shooting a zombie horror who are then surprised by a real zombie infestation. It's hard to get through, and most people will probably give up after the first fifteen minutes. However, the next hour is a bit more interesting. In it we watch the filmmakers and actors prepare for shooting the zombie movie, and then how they actually shoot it, showing why the result was so desperately lousy (for example, when one of the actors playing a zombie suffered a bout of diarrhea and the other actors had to improvise for a few minutes). The film is sometimes funny and imaginative, but still too stupid and not funny enough to be fun the entire time. The theme is remotely reminiscent of Lost in Munich, but it is also filmed by television amateurs, without a deeper message and with zero technical and film quality. (30/06/2018)

Weirdly enough, this Japanese film has received praise abroad, but was unbearable suffering for, and I don't understand why viewers are satisfied with it. It is more or less a film within a film where we follow non-actors playing a zombie film, where the crew is attacked by real zombies. It’s a fairly original idea, but apart from that, I can't find anything positive. It looks cheap, the actors are unbearable, there is practically no gore, the atmosphere doesn't work, it's not funny at all, and after half an hour, the film strangely shifts to drama, and even though the final half hour was unexpected, I still couldn't stop being bored. This went completely over me. Story***, Action**, Humor**, Violence**, Entertainment*, Music***, Visuals*, Atmosphere**, Tension**. 3/10. (30/11/2020)

The Japanese movie One Cut of the Dead shows the Japanese in a better light. I mean, their bizarreness especially. They are bizarre despite also being intelligent. One Cut of the Dead is wonderfully confusing. This is a movie that, at first glance, looks crap but ends up an above-average movie that really affects you and leaves you feeling this movie is just something else. (05/09/2019)

An interesting comedy experiment within the film narrative. Initially, the creators test the audience to see how far they can endure a boring and crappy amateur zombie flick. Then, as a reward, they gradually uncover the background that explains why the beginning was so excessively – and voluntarily – bad. Finally, in the last third, there’s a crazy and hilarious sequence of events that makes all the previous plotline completely relevant. One Cut of the Dead is no film jewel, but as a low-budget comedy with an interesting formal concept, it must be valued and appreciated. And I really enjoyed it. [Sitges 2018] (06/10/2018)