One Cut of the Dead is a 2018 Japanese zombie comedy film Written and directed by Shin’ichirō Ueda and staring Takayuki Hamatsu, Yuzuki Akiyama, Kazuaki Nagaya, Harumi Syuhama, Manabu Hosoi, Hiroshi Ichihara, Shuntaro Yamazaki and Shinichiro Osawa. The film follows q team of filmmakers and actors who are tasked in making a zombie film live for television done in a single take before flashback to show the origins of the project as well as the cast and crew shooting thee film. One Cut of the Dead is fun, funny, entertaining film that is unique and a great experience.
The direction in the film is great. The film starts out with showing a stereotypical zombie movie as the director shouts cut showcasing the meta film within a film nature of the movie, this is the start of the 37 minute long shot in the film which is an incredible piece of direction and filmmaking. The film is brilliant at showcasing low budget filmmaking with all the stress that comes with as well as showcasing the insanity of low budget filmmaking that becomes comedy. The film has a rea to life feel to low budget filmmaking with an arsehole director, a make-up lady that actual feels like she’s in charge, an actress that is shy and nervous a director that wants to get with her, the film is also incredibly meta with the talking about the location. The film s quirky and full of quirky over the top characters as well as being meta as when the actual attack happens the film becomes real. When the zombie hand is thrown into the actors it showcases an interesting experience of the meta and real-world merge as film becomes fully meta.
The real zombies then attack as the film is good high-octane b-movie trash fun. There is something funny about the director shooting the movie during a real zombie attack, as the film is a weirdly passionate view of filmmaking making a film that feels kind of precious. However, they still must finish the movie, as there is an interesting sort of 4th wall break as the director tells the cameraman to keep shooting. The film is intentionally a b-movie with the acting and dialogue as they are still making a TV show, the film showcases good insanity as a real zombie is thrown into the mix for the sake of the show. There is a cool looking effect were the girl hacks the zombies dead off and blood splatters over the lens, the film is an interesting look at filmmaking as the director is obsessed with getting the shot of the real zombie being killed, he is insane and dangerous as the actor knocks him out and leads the characters to safety. There is a cool effect when the camera man follows them whipping blood form the lens as he does so, as they all get into the van this scene almost comes off like a videogame mission. There is a cool moment when the zombie comes through one door and the director opens the other door as the zombie girl fight with the camera on the floor as the cameraman picks it up and follows them which is a cool looking effect, as the cameraman and director becomes his own POV movie slasher villain as she looks back to see the zombies. The director interestingly becomes true villain of the movie trapping the zombie with the girl for the sake of the footage, there is also cool imagery of them continually going back like a video game.
There is an entertaining meta element to the film as it has become its own zombie b movie as well as a funny moment where it implies an actor has been killed off when the camera is on the other actor. This humour thorough the camerawork is shown with a guy being taken off screen as the camera stays on the girl, as well `as a good use of obviously fake zombie bits as the film feels like a real-life b-movie/video game. The director ends up using this dire situation to his own advantage by exploiting it and filming it, as the artificiality of the film is also shown with the zombies going in and out of human form. The first act ends in an interestingly meta way with the girl killing the director to metaphorically escapes her artificial film prison as she becomes the real-life final girl compete with an artificial crane rising as the film seemly rolls its end credits at it is relived this was all part of a fictitious program. The film then flashes back to the production of the fictional film were the camera work and editing is shown in a more normal way, as the rest of the film is a comical meta deconstruction of the first act of the film. the actual opening title sequence and credit of the film then come up; the film shows the first half of the movie in a different context as the film shows the actress getting her zombie breakout technique from TV. The film is very much a love letter to filmmaking with the actress being the director’s daughter and a student filmmaker, the film is a sweet love letter to filmmaking as the film shows an interesting meta funny element of behind the scenes and casting.
Artificiality and reality clash within the film as a lot of the comedy deals with normal production issues. The cast and crew go through the pre-production planning in a very funny way as this feels like a passionate student film were everyone comes together, there is lots of charm to the film especially with the behind-the-scenes low budget recreations of these scenes. The film showcases the humours interactions that comes with low budget productions as there is a real charm and heart to the film. The film has great meta preproduction to it as it’s a film within a film as the film is a comedy showcasing the comedy of film issues. The film is an inspiring love letter to filmmaking as the scenes at the begging of the film are re shown in a completely different context. This direction being shown in a completely different complex and perspective makes things a lot funnier as the film is a hilarious comedy showcasing the craziness that comes with filmmaking and the desperation of creating something.
What is great about the film is the artificiality of the comedy of the actual events and shown with a great moment as the camera guy in knocked out, but the director picks it up. Due to issues in the films climax the ending is hastily cobbled together as the direction and acting are hilarious and the director’s enthusiasm for the final scene is heart-warming and shows his passion. In the climax they are shown to set up a human crane that keeps falling hence the awkward pauses in the film. The climax shows using an excessive amount of fake blood as they make a human pyramid to have a crane shot which they struggle to hold for the climax and fall over when its done. The ending and the whole film are a wholesome love letter to filmmaking as the cast and crew are shown having fun as a picture of the father and daughter is held up showing that their relationship has been resorted.
Takayuki Hamatsu does a good job Takayuki Higurashi the director of the film. Yuzuki Akiyama does a good job as Aika Matsumoto/ Chinatsu the main actress in the film. Kazuaki does a good job as Kazuaki Kamiya / Ko / Ken the main actress. Harumi Shuhama does a good job as Harumi Higurashi / Nao the crazy make up artist. Manabu Hosoi does a good job as himself. Hiroshi Ichihara does a good job as himself. Shuntaro Yamazaki does a good job as Shunsuke Yamagoe. Shinichiro Osawa does a good job as Shinichiro Furusawa. Yoshiko Takehara doesca good job as Yoshiko Sasahara. Sakina Asamori does a good job as Saki Matsuura. Miki Yoshida does a good job as Miki Yoshino. Ayana Goda deos a good job as Ayana Kurihara. Mao does a good job as Mao Higurashi.
The writing in the film is good. The film starts out showing a stereotypical zombie movie as the director shouts cut it showcases the meta film with a film nature of the movie, as well as a good showcase of characters with the director being an arsehole. The actress in the film a little confidence and the actor in the film wants to get with her, showcasing an interesting use of behind-the-scenes low budget filmmaking. The film shows a great showcase of colourful characters as the director is an arsehole, the make-up lady is really in charge, the actress is shy and nervous, and the actor wants to get with her, there is a cool set up in the film as the set was a place where real medical experiments took place. Another good use of these quirky characters is the make-up artist learning self-defence as a crew member is attacked by a supposedly real zombie.
There is a great revel as the people thinks a zombie is a part of the film as first and interact with its like it’s an actor, as the crew guy as a zombie then burst on set. The guy the gets bitten and collapses on the other guy as they all get freaked out as it’s a real zombie attack. They then attack the zombie with a boom pole, as the director decides to keep shooting the film during a real zombie attack. It then turns out the legends of the dead coming back to life are true but funnily they act like there in a b movie. There is a good intentionally bad b movie dialogue using b movie troupes. The director crazily throws a real zombie into mix for the sake of the footage, as the girl hacks the zombies head as blood splatters everywhere the director is obsessed with getting the shot as the real zombie is being killed as he is insane and dangerous as the actor knocks him out and leads the others to safety. There is a great bit in the film were the cameraman follows them whipping blood of the lens as he does so, as they get into the van and escape as this segment almost comes off like a video game mission. There is a great scene in the film where the zombie comes from one door as the director open the other door as the zombie and the girl fight and the cameraman who follows hem with the zombie tailing. The director becomes the villain of the movie trapping the zombie with the girl for the sake of the footage. The zombie actor then rescues the girl as they run off with the real zombie chasing them, it then shows that the girl has been bitten as the woman attacks her with an axe as the actress becomes as deadly as the zombies.
Everyone ends up chasing after the girl as there is a climax on the roof is classic zombie b movie style. There is a funny moment as the camera turning to another character when the action starts as the guy then gets taken off screen as it stays on the girl which is also funny highlighting filming issues as the cheap effects are also funny as the zombie bite is obviously fake. When the girl picks up the axe, she interreacts with it like it’s a rea life b-movie and video game she then follows the guy to the roof where the zombie is revealed. The way the zombie constantly starts, and stops is funny and plays on classic zombie tropes, when the girl kills the director, it showcases her destroying her artificial film prison as she becomes the real final girl. The film then seemly ends as its then relived is also part of the film is a great and unique twist. The film then flashes back to the production of the fictional film showing it in a more normal way. The director of the film is taken part in another low budget production again showing the meta element of the film, when they are approached by a TV production company to make a film about real zombies attacking the film crew however is a chivalrous turn of events, they still must complete the live broadcast in one take. In a cool twist there, actual film then starts in a sense as there are cool expectations to the events in the first half with the woman’s zombie breakout technique comes from a TV show about self-defence for woman. The film shows the casting for show a fictional pre-production as the film becomes an interesting meta commentary of film actors and their quirks.
The film shows funny parody script read throughs where peoples idiosyncrasies come out which is funny and relates to real script reads, the film highlights real production problems as one of the actresses is a singer and her agency as she can’t have vomit. Another great insane into real production being funny is the pretentious actor thinking way too much about what a dumb zombie b movie is ultimately, as good comedy makes out of real production problems such as script readings and storyboard montages. The film has the actors acting it out as its shown that the self-defence scenes come form the mum. There is something cool and meta about the behind-the-scenes part of the film showing low budget recreations of these low budget scenes, the film is a great showcasing of indie filmmaking all the things that are the problems of low budget productions comes to the boil in funny ways. There is a real charm and heart to the film of the actor’s daughter dying, as well as a cool use of behind the scenes with the equipment being set up. Again, the film showcases the real problems in films with an accident on set. The film again is a whole showcase about filmmaking as against all odds they work together to get the film made as the director and his mum become actors in the film showcases ten meta narratives of the film as the film also showcases the real issues of filmmaking that becomes manifested within the film. The film is interesting as it shows a new context with the director acting as a director to save the film, as in the new context its funny as the zombie actor is sick from sake. The awkward bits in the film are shown as on purpose as improve as what’s funny is that the zombie spew was real vomit and him getting cleaned up its funny.
The film veery much feels like a love letter to filmmaking as the daughter of the director is a film student with illusions of her being an auteur, as the film shows the behind the scenes of the film in a funny way with the zombie attack being a drunk actor. The film has a cool meta style to it with people watching the footage being streamed as the film descends into improve. The lines and directors of the show are shown to them on que cards, which highlights the comedy of mundane behind the scenes project as the film has good comedy to it with the crew having to improve as the makeup guy is knocked out as the camera is dropped and picked up. There is good comedy as the mum loses herself in the role and goes off script so they knock hero out, the director agues for his final scene which could be seen as pretentious of him, but it highlights his passion for the project, there is lots of good comedy with the woman randomly be resurrected by accident. At the climax they are shown to set up a human crane which keeps falling over hence the awkward pauses in the climax. The ending shows them use fake blood excessively as they make a human pyramid for the crane shot. They struggle to hold it for the climax and fall over when its done. One Cut of the Dead is a wholesome love letter to filmmaking as the cast and crew are shown having fun in the final scene as it ends on a picture of the father holding up the daughter showing that their relationship has been restored.
The cinematography in the film is good. The film has decent cinematography throughout and starts with an amazing 37-minute-long single shot. The film has a low budget look that works as well as some good comedy though the cinematography as they react to noises. There is a good use of meta cinematography as the director shoots the movie with his camera during a real zombie attack as well as a cool effect were blood splatters on the lens in a breaking the 4th wall meta moment were the cameraman follows them and whips the blood off the lens as he does so. There is a cool meta effect where the camera is dropped for a moment as the zombie and the girl fight, as well as a cool POV of the director with the camera as he comes off like a slasher movie villain. The film feels like a video game with characters popping into shot as well as funny footage of the cameraman following the girl’s arse. There is a funny shot were one of the girls is being killed as the camera is on the other girl, as well as when one of the guys gets taken off screen as the camera stays on the other girl. The crazy director then appears in the climax with his camera the exploit the zombie situation as the films uses of an artificial rising shot is funny and creative. The flashback scenes in the film are shot in a normal way, as the actual opening tile sequence credits of the film then come up, as the rest of the film has decent cinematography.
The special effects in the film are good. The film has cool low budget effects the really work for the film with low budget zombie make up. There are cool gory bloody effects a blood splatters on the lens as well as a cool effect with a missing decapitated arm. There is a cool effect in an off-screen death where an axe is imbedded in a person’s head, as well as a cool effect showing the zombie bite is fake and part of the original movie they were filming. There is also a cool blood splatter effect with the directors off screen death as well as cool footage showing the behind the scenes of these effects.
One Cut of the Dead is a great hilarious unique film that serves zas a great love letter to filmmaking that every movie buff should watch.
