Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today we are taking a look at Shin’ichirô Ueda’s brilliant 2017 Zombie horror movie One Cut of the Dead. This is an older movie so I will make this review pretty short. This is the first in a brand new series of J-Horror themed reviews coming to you for the next month or so.

Catching Up

I recently reviewed a very recent J-Horror movie in the form of #Manhole. It wasn’t great but it was quite a fun flick and it did remind me of just how much I adore Japanese horror. It also prompted me to write my first Horror Thoughts article on What Happened to J-Horror? – Exploring the Decline.

With that in mind, I decided to catch up on some of my old favourite Japanese horror movies. Review them and, maybe even, check out a few J-Horror films that I had missed. One such title being the movie we are looking at today One Cut of the Dead.

A screenshot from Japanese Zombie Horror movie One Cut of the Dead (2017)

I guess you could call this a bit of a J-Horror season for Knockout Horror and what better way to start? One Cut of the Dead is, not only, one of the best Japanese horror movies ever. It is, also, one of the best zombie movies ever put to film.

Hyperbole?

Am I exaggerating with that statement? I don’t think I am. After all, this movie made over $30,000,000 on a budget of $25,000 so people definitely seem to agree with me. One Cut of the Dead is brilliant. It follows a group of filmmakers who are producing a zombie horror movie at an abandoned world war 2 facility. Finding themselves in a fight for their lives when they are attacked by real zombies.

To say even a single sentence more would be to give away too much. Don’t watch the trailer, don’t read a single thing, go in blind. All I can tell you is that this movie is not at all what you might expect. In fact, to say it is simply a zombie movie would be to understate the intelligence and scope of this film. It is so much more.

And for that, I am grateful, because I am not a huge fan of all things zombie. Don’t get me wrong, of course. It would be a lie to say that One Cut of the Dead doesn’t feature some of the more familiar zombie tropes. Undead creatures ambling around, throwing up on people, biting off limbs etc. But this film is so much more than that.

Stick With It

It should probably be pointed out that things don’t start off in a particularly compelling way, here. In fact, as far as zombie movies go, if you consider One Cut of the Dead by its opening, you will be sorely disappointed. It’s basic zombie horror fare with over acting, dodgy effects, and no scares. Sure, it is all done in one, tremendously skilful, single take shot. But it is all quite formulaic and familiar. It is when you get past that first part that it unveils itself to be so much more.

Again, a little more patience is needed because the second act slows things down a little bit. Setting things up and building to what is, quite simply, one of the most brilliant final thirds of a horror movie that you will ever see. One Cut of the Dead is charming, hilarious, brilliantly acted, well scripted, incredibly clever, extremely meta and, even, quite touching, at times. I predicted exactly what was going to happen but it was so well done that it didn’t matter.

The final third of the movie is just one spectacular moment after another. One clever little touch piled on top of another and then piled on top of another again. It’s so satisfying and enjoyable that you will barely even care that the movie has transformed into something completely different. You will just be enjoying the ride.

Should You Watch One Cut of the Dead?

You should definitely watch One Cut of the Dead. If I didn’t think that it belonged in its own special category. I would rank this as one of the best Japanese horror movies of all time. It is insanely charming, incredibly funny, entertaining throughout and legitimately clever. Fiendishly original in a genre that lacks in originality. Especially where zombie movies are concerned. If I had to pick my favourite zombie horror movie of all time, I think this would be it. This is one of my new favourite movies and I don’t know how I missed it.