At first glance, Final Cut of the Dead looks like the worst horror movie of all time. Including silly dialogue, fake blood that’s way too obvious, and horrible makeup that makes the main character look more like a smurf than a zombie. Nevertheless, you should definitely not miss this French insider tip in the cinema from February 16, 2023. Because one thing is for sure: you can only have strong emotions about this film.
That’s what the offbeat horror comedy Final Cut of the Dead is all about
In the first few minutes, Final Cut of the Dead is one thing above all: a cinematic catastrophe. We are on the set of a trash film, the last scene of which just doesn’t go according to the choleric director’s (Romain Duris) wishes. As parts of the crew themselves gradually turn into zombiesthe two main actors (Finnegan Oldfield and Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz) and the masked woman (Bérénice Bejo) have only one choice: They have to slaughter their former colleagues with an axe.
World Cinema Film Distribution / Lisa Ritaine
Creepy or laughable? The lines blur in Final Cut of the Dead
After that, however, it becomes clear that the disaster is planned. Then the shooting of the trash film is part of the plot of a film commissioned by a Japanese producer to be streamed live and in one long take on an Internet platform. The unsuccessful director Rémi (also Roman Duris), who absolutely needs a hit, has to implement this. That means: precisely rehearsed processes and a highly professional team that pulls in the same direction.
Even when everything that can go wrong during the shoot goes wrong, the cameras have to keep rolling and take care of things one screamingly funny scene after the next. In which it is never quite clear what is deliberate trash staging and what is a badly overplayed accident – up to the grand finale.
The zombie slasher satire is based on a Japanese cult film – and that’s exactly why it’s controversial
Final Cut of the Dead is a blood-smeared puzzle that only makes sense at the very end and that’s exactly why it’s incredibly entertaining, worth seeing and, last but not least, really disgusting. However, the idea did not come from the Oscar-winning filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius himself, but from the Japanese cult film One Cut of the Dead.
Check out the trailer for One Cut of the Dead here:
One Cut Of The Dead – Trailer (German) HD
The French remake is based almost one to one on the original. In other words, the initial confusion and story twist that make Final Cut so original and special only works for viewers who aren’t familiar with the template. Anyone who knows One Cut of the Dead will probably find Final Cut of the Dead boring to unnecessary.
For everyone else, this one is worth it wild mix of zombie trash, film industry satire and tantrums with fake blood but absolutely. You just have to have a strong stomach.
*. . .