A
fanatical filmmaker is making a zombie movie in a condemned warehouse. He is unhappy with his lead actress’
performance and walks off the set. When he returns, he motivates her by
unleashing real zombies into the mix, all the while keeping the cameras
rolling.
All this is done in seemingly one take, but if you’re sharp enough you can spot some of the seams. Even then, you have to admit it’s all extremely well done. The gore is decent too, although the best parts are when the director pops up in the midst of the terror screaming “Action!” as the zombies chase his leading lady.
Just
when you think it’s over, the film takes an odd turn and unleashes a completely
new narrative on you. I don’t want to
spoil things, so all I’ll say is that you know something’s up when your opening
credits sequence takes place forty minutes into the movie. It’s here where One Cut of the Dead become more of a meta
comedy than a horror flick.
Oh
heck, I have to spoil it for you in order to explain what makes the turn work
so well, so back off now if you haven’t already seen it. The first act is a pure zombie movie. The second act is the director rehearsing said
zombie movie. The catch is, it needs to
be done on live TV all in one take. The
kicker comes in the third act where everything turns to shit on set, but the
fearless crew presses on in the face of adversity.
So,
basically what we have here is not just a horror film, but a love letter to
horror filmmaking as well. It’s
especially fun when it’s subverting your expectations. I can see how some viewers expecting a more
traditional zombie movie experience maybe be a tad disappointed. However, I can honestly say you’ve never seen
a zombie flick like this one before; a veritable rarity these days.
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