Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

One Cut of the Dead Blu-ray Movie Review

Apocalypse Soon.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III June 5, 2020

Who needs a high budget when the concept is this good? Released back in 2017 but finally making its domestic Blu-ray debut this month, Shin'ichirô Ueda's One Cut of the Dead is a terrific Japanese import that pokes fun at do-it-yourself horror but sneaks in a very captivating story after you're distracted by all that blood and mayhem.

A warning for first-time viewers: it may sound cliché, but One Cut of the Dead is a movie worth going in blind for -- so while I'll do my best to avoid major spoilers, you're really better off just avoiding the synopsis entirely.

Anyway, here goes nothing. On the surface, One Cut of the Dead is a low-budget horror flick gone dreadfully wrong. While shooting with his skeleton crew at an abandoned water treatment facility, oppressive director Takayuki Higurashi (Takayuki Hamatsu) argues with lead actress Aika Matsumoto (Yuzuki Akiyama). She's not giving him a believable enough performance, especially during her struggle with the main zombie (Kazuaki Kamiya) while being splattered with fake blood. Things go south fast when the two tired actors, in the middle of a short break with amiable but aggressive Harumi (Harumi Shuhama), are suddenly caught in the middle of an actual zombie attack, and it's not long before fake blood isn't needed anymore. From one narrow escape to another in the maze-like facility grounds, Aika struggles to stay alive but director Takayuki couldn't be happier: he's finally getting the realistic performance he wanted.

Even those who don't clock-watch during movies will immediately notice something's up when the end credits roll right around the 38-minute mark. The truth is that One Cut of the Dead is just getting started, and everything you've seen so far is not as it seems. If you're looking for the easiest knee-jerk comparison, it's just as "meta" as something like The Cabin in the Woods while sharing a few surface-level similarities with Tropic Thunder and even Black Dynamite, kind of. But it's also something else entirely: a compelling hybrid of ultra low- budget horror, intelligent mockumentary, and a heartfelt love letter to do-it-yourself filmmaking like the perpetually underrated Be Kind Rewind .

One Cut of the Dead also gets better as it goes along. The initial confusion during its extended 38-minute opening sequence (impressively shot in a single take) ramps up even further afterwards, but this confusion is quickly replaced by a gradual sense of satisfaction once the film fully reveals its true colors. Once we're back to where the cameras first started rolling, everything plays like an alternate- universe version of that one-take opener: questions are answered, even if you didn't grasp some of the questions to begin with. Due to its surprising replay value and clever format, One Cut of the Dead should be a real word-of-mouth gem; the kind you show to friends just to get their reaction while accepting the risk of a heated argument if they aren't as fully taken by the film's obvious and enduring charm.

They will be...unless they hate subtitles, of course, but those people aren't your real friends anyway.

For everyone else, One Cut of the Dead offers a refreshing change of pace that's suspenseful, funny, a little touching, and so obviously crafted with care that's hard not to get behind -- the true definition of a future cult classic, if it's not there already. While a handful of international Blu-rays have been floating around since 2018, RLJ Entertainment has made One Cut of the Dead easily accessible to American audiences with a brand-new Steelbook that's as enjoyable as it is reasonably priced. Although the bonus features are quite a bit slimmer than Koch Media's Digibook edition (not to mention few other Region B variants), it's still got a terrific A/V presentation and great packaging to boot.

One Cut of the Dead Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

One Cut of the Dead uses a variety of film equipment and post-production effects to achieve an uneven appearance... but the short version is that its long-take opening sequence (intentionally) looks amateurish and everything after that improves dramatically, as evidenced by the screenshots in this review. Its source material is a mixture of 2K and 4K elements which were partially scaled back to a 2K digital intermediate and, as a result, everything plays well enough on Blu-ray. RLJ's 1080p transfer is clearly authored well with almost no deficiencies outside of the long-take's intended appearance: everything runs at a reasonably high bit rate, no compression artifacts were spotted, and harsh banding doesn't seem to be an issue at all (again, within the film's specific visual boundaries). At the very least, it's interesting to see the crushed, high-contrast opening sequence in much better quality during the film's second half, which offers the strongest proof that any "drawbacks" are all part of the plan. Normally I'd bemoan the lack of a 4K option, but I think that might have even created a more jarring experience between the film's very distinct sections.

One Cut of the Dead Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The audio is also intentionally scaled-back, as this DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track preserves the film's very modest stereo origins...and it's available as a lossless 2.0 English dub too, but you don't want that. One Cut of the Dead's extended one-take opening obviously has a more claustrophobic and lo-fi sonic presence with pervasive on-set echoes instead of clean channel separation and strong dynamic range. But again, within the film's specific boundaries, this is not a problem. While everything after that clearly sounds more refined and carefully captured (with better separation and the overall presence that comes with it, of course), I kind of wish a full 5.1 mix would've been implemented by the filmmakers during its second half to separate everything a little more distinctly. Still, it's hard to find real complaints with what's presented here and, if nothing else, purists will appreciate the lack of a faux-surround remix.

Optional English (SDH), Spanish, and French subtitles have been included during the main feature and select extras. These are formatted fine (and thankfully not "dubtitles"), but I noticed a few pesky typos along the way.

One Cut of the Dead Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This combo pack arrives in Steelbook packaging with a glossy, reflective finish that features nice poster-themed cover art and a cool interior print too... and don't worry, that Rotten Tomatoes logo on the front is an easily-peelable sticker. The on-disc bonus features look very light on paper but are all worth at least a quick run-though.

• Outtakes (4:37) - This brief collection of very short deleted and alternate scenes includes "Telephone Call from Producer", "Does She Know the Script?", "Camera Test", "Hosada Doesn't Wake Up", "Where Has the Script Gone?", "Swap Over to Saki", "I Want to Make a Film", "I'll Never Drink Again", and "Cut!".

• GoPro Version of One Cut of the Dead (38:03) - Raw footage of the entire one-take sequence as seen from the director's point of view. Most of the audio is quite muffled due to the lack of a proper mic setup, but it's interesting to see everything in completely unbroken form -- basically a hybrid of both film "halves".

• Photo Gallery - A dozen or so on-set stills, presented in 1.78:1 with manual naviagation.

• POM! Instructional Video (0:59) - The self-defense program seen during One Cut of the Dead.

One Cut of the Dead Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Shin'ichirô Ueda's One Cut of the Dead is a fun little exercise in meta filmmaking that gets more compelling the longer you watch it. Part low-budget horror and part mockumentary with a little bit of heartfelt drama for good measure, it's a great movie to share with unsuspecting friends once it's won you over. RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray may feel a little late to the party, but it's still a very solid domestic debut led by a strong A/V presentation. Although a handful of existing international editions offer more plentiful and higher-quality extras, this is an excellent and affordable substitute for curious newcomers -- the sweet Steelbook packaging is just icing on the cake. Very highly recommended!