4 out of 5

Directed by: Shin’ichirô Ueda

The first part of One Cut of the Dead would appear to be about a small group of crew and actors making a low, low budget horror movie, with off-camera gore and fumbled lines and a ramshackle shooting schedule around a huge factory they’ve found for a set.  The director (Takayuki Hamatsu) is quite demanding for what looks like a Z-grade flick, and between-take talks of horrors that once went on in the building in which the movie is being shot precede people who’d wandered off screen suddenly coming back as zombies, and chasing our actors around and around, much to the glee of the director, who’s found the passion and suspense his movie had been lacking.

The first part of One Cut of the Dead is quite boring.  The movie we’re watching being made is a bad one, and the movie about the movie is pretty tepid as well.  But if you followed my same path to this film, a fantastic review back in 2017 hyped up the “but you’ll never guess what’s actually happening!” type layers of the movie, and the long wait for it to finally become officially available for streaming in the US (on Shudder) has us here, trying to tamp down that hype and wait for whatever’s to come.  So your brain is going, trying to suss out how this boring, tepid thing could take some twists and turns, and there are enough signs that something else is going on – the in-movie director turns to our point of view camera at one point, which has been previously unacknowledged, and tells the (presumed) cameraperson to ‘keep shooting’; there are oddly held shots that go on for way too long; a dead character pops back into frame at one point, rather befuddled to be on camera; and then, of course, there’s that the credits for the movie run after only thirty minutes through.

Two more parts to One Cut follow, and they each manage to one up the other in certain ways, but maybe in the best way: by not trying to play us.  The first section of the movie ends up being rather required for this all to work, but it’s a gamble.  Without that preceding review, it’s hard to know what I would’ve thought, but regardless, the odd touches are probably enough to keep a fresh viewer at least watching.  Once we’re past that, the ‘twists and turns’ are quite clear, but that works in the movie’s favor, as it can dip more into antics and energy than if it were trying to hold back a big surprise.  It also allows room for some character work to shine through, which – something I never would have guessed – enriches the movie emotionally.  The back hour of One Cut of the Dead is so significantly more enjoyable as a result, with laugh out loud moments and a satisfying disbelief over the oddity of what’s been stitched together, and how much you warm to some of the people involved.  The footage that runs over the credits adds even another layer to things that makes considering how the movie was mapped out rather boggling.

Does it belong on Shudder?  Does it live up to the hype?  Yes, and yes, but both answers are qualified in delightfully unexpected ways.