One Cut Of The Dead is a 2019 comedy/horror film about a director shooting a zombie show that gets a little too real.
In an old abandoned Japanese World War II facility, a filmmaker named Higurashi (Takayuki Hamatsu) is shooting his low budget zombie TV show, aggressively pressuring his actors and crew to push harder, at one point storming off when they can’t get the realism he’s after. During a break, a few actors listen to makeup artist Nao (Harumi Syuhama) tell how the building was once used for secret experiments with reviving the dead, which they don’t believe. However, when it suddenly appears that real zombies are on the grounds and attack, things take a truly gruesome and deadly twist … but this is just where the real mystery begins.
This is also where a line must be drawn for saying anything more becomes a real challenge in describing just what the hell is happening while not giving away director Shin’ichirô Ueda‘s clever take on this threadbare genre. I mean, do we really need another zombie movie? Turns out, in a word, yes. Emphatically, yes. Mostly because this isn’t really a zombie movie in the traditional sense, every frame of it so carefully plotted, produced, and executed, it’s a minor miracle for what it achieves.
Beginning with a continuous unbroken shot that runs for the first full act, Ueda lulls us into the expected, with a pretty girl (Yuzuki Akiyama) on the run from the undead while the people she once worked with – now zombies – chase her. Standard stuff (or is it?). However, this bag is full of tricks and to say that what happens next is un-expected would be hollow at best. I’m saying, you better be paying attention.
That starts with the camera itself, which is implied to be one of the crew shooting a kind of on-set documentary as its filmed, not revealed to you so much until Higurashi makes it sort of stated when he shouts into the lens in a chaotic moment, though be careful, because this is just the thing Ueda is hoping will trip you up, especially when he rolls credits 37 minutes in and cuts to a white screen, flashing back month prior. And this is where I stop. Where I must.
Things change of course and suddenly One Cut Of The Dead evolves into something altogether different, with a bevy of inspired performances (particularly Hamatsu, who is utterly unhinged) that take this to not just a different level, but an entirely separate plane of moviemaking. But it is Ueda’s meticulously designed and astonishingly creative direction that is the real marvel. But don’t worry, being a fan of zombie movies is hardly a prerequisite, though sure, it helps. In fact, a fan of cinema is more appropriate as Ueda is masking a unique experience here, challenging his audience with a refreshing take on movie making itself. It’s wickedly smart and once you realize what kind of ride you’re strapped into, is a tremendous joy to be part of. Finally, here’s a movie that isn’t trying to satiate you into the inactive ‘zombie-like’ state of watching but rather sit you up and have you think about what is happening. Breathe deep, because it feels good.
One Cut Of The Dead isn’t a slasher gore-riddled affair even though it is (you’ll see what I mean). It’s a funny, scary, intelligent, and highly entertaining bit of storytelling that I promise you, you’ve been waiting for. Highly recommended.