THE DEAD TIMES

RATING:

ZOMBIE RATING:

DESCRIPTION:

A small group of Japanese people are tasked with making a single-cut Zombie movie called "One Cut of the Dead"; one-camera, real-time, no edits. However, the actors are troublesome and not up to the director's standards, so, when the director walks out, to everyone's amazement (and horror) a true Zombie apocalypse happens - complete with actual living dead. The director seizes this opportunity to get some authenticity into his low-budget film and commands the camera-man to keep filming, no matter what.

MY VERDICT:

This film is truly unique and a joy to watch, although, advertisement-wise it really does not do itself any favours. The trailer is awful and that 'real-life Zombie outbreak occurs while filming a Zombie film' is horribly cliché. Then you get the first 30 minutes of the movie which, while not altogether bad, are somewhat underwhelming for a film that has won multiple awards at independent film festivals. However, get past this first awkward section and the movie comes to magical undead life; mutating into something truly unique for the crowded Zombie genre. Annoyingly, to describe exactly why this tiny budget film that ended up breaking history by achieving over a thousand times its budget in the worldwide box office is worthy of viewing, would only spoil the surprise; this movie is meant to be seen without much knowledge of what it actually is. Basically, watching is a bit like a rollercoaster of emotions; first comes apprehension, then confusion mixed with a touch of anger (you expected better), followed by bewilderment as what appears to be the end of the film really isn't, then back to confusion and finally a slow ramp up to joy as the plot gradually unravels itself. By the end you'll feel like the poor start was actually not that bad at all; in fact, it may even change your perception of Zombie movies entirely. I thoroughly recommend you give One Cut of the Dead a watch.