One Cut of the Dead a.k.a. the best zombie comedy you'll ever see.

This film is pure genius. According to my Wikipedia sources it was created by a relatively unknown director alongside a cast of unknown actors. It grossed a thousand times it's budget in profit and has gained critical acclaim across the globe. And I'm not surprised.

I was doing triple takes towards the end of the adventure. For the first half an hour you're lead to believe this is just another atypical zombie flick but with a slight twist. Filmed in an abandoned WW2 facility where the Japanese army experimented with the occult, a small ensemble of film makers are shooting a zombie movie of their own (that being the slight twist) only to then be set upon by real flesh eating zombies. 30 odd minutes later and the chaos ends. I was perplexed. Then it cuts to a month earlier! Wham! Big twist. It was all part of a larger plan, to film an introductory special, live on TV in one take, for a zombie TV show which would then lead on to a movie. What follows was pure brilliance.

During the first half hour there are several awkward moments leading you to believe it's a poorly directed, crappy attempt at a zombie film but how mislead I was:

* The conversation pertaining to the "make-up artist's" self defence hobby (POM!) was improvised due to one of the other actors being completely smashed on Saké. Hence also the vomiting on the spectacled lad: his dismay whilst being fitted with a prop arm was most amusing as he had no idea wtf was going on.

* The sound engineer, who at first seemed unperturbed by the limbless zombie attacking his colleagues, had accidentally drank some hard water causing a serious bout of diarrhea. His crying and shitting whilst having his makeup done had me in stitches.

* The pale, rotting leg in shot when the leading lady crouched down - supposedly hiding - in the hut, was a crew member holding a sign with stage directions as the script had basically gone out of the window at this stage.

* The camera laying on its side as said lady grappled with the undead, only to suddenly rise again and follow the pursuit. This was due to the cameraman's back seizing up so his timid assistant had to takeover. She proceeded to run and fall over repeatedly, desperately attempting to follow the action.

There were many other moments but there simply isn't enough time and space here to mention them all. It's safe to say that each one of them was intricately woven into the narrative, contributing moments of pure hilarity and brilliance. I've never experienced so many 'Aha!' moments in under an hour whilst laughing my tits off.

The side-splitting, calamitous sequence of events elicited from my lips an exhalation of triumph as the crew clambered on top of one another to get the final birds-eye shot. I was cheering on the fictitious cast all the way through.

During the end credits we are treated to the actual film crew shooting the movie. It demonstrated just how brilliantly the whole opening sequence was choreographed.

If this film left you craving for more zombie style comedy there is apparently a sequel on YouTube entitled 'One Cut of the Dead Mission: Remote'. A gift from the creator, Shin'ichirô Ueda, to help lift your spirits during the pandemic. What a guy!

5 drunken zombies out of 5