One Cut of the Dead

2017 ‘カメラを止めるな！’ Directed by Shinichiro Ueda

Don’t Stop Shooting!

Things go badly for a hack director and film crew shooting a low budget zombie movie in an abandoned Second World War Japanese facility, when they are attacked by real zombies.

Takayuki Hamatsu Yuzuki Akiyama Kazuaki Nagaya Harumi Shuhama Mao Hiroshi Ichihara Manabu Hosoi Shuntarô Yamazaki Shin'ichirô Ôsawa Donguri Miki Yoshida Ayana Gôda Sakina Asamori Tomokazu Yamaguchi Takuya Fujimura Satoshi Iwagô Kyôko Takahashi Shiori Nukumi

Alternative Titles

Kamera wo tomeru na!, Ne coupez pas!

comedy horror action

96 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Sean Baker 11

Wow! What a great ride. Really inventive and constantly surprising the audience. It's also hilarious. One of my faves of the year. (I realize that almost all of my faves of the year are genre films... it's where the most innovation in cinema is happening at the moment.)
Btw, the 40 min. one-take that opens the film has a great look. It was shot on the Sony HXR-NX100 and treated heavily taking away the harness of digital. And whoever did the color grading on that section, did an amazing job. Unfortunately that person is not credited on imdb.
Saw it at the Rio Theatre in Vancouver as part of the Rio Grind Fest.
PS... The trailer doesn't do the film justice.
PPS... The original title "Kamera wo tomeru na!" in Japanese means "Don't stop shooting!" It's a much better title.
Review by chuddchutney ★★★★½ 3

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

When you thought you've seen enough genre movies.
When you thought you’ve seen enough zombie movies.
When you thought you’ve seen enough comedy movies.
When you thought you’ve seen enough zombie comedy movies.
When you thought you've seen enough Japanese movies.
When you thought you’ve seen enough movies within movies movies.
When you thought you've seen enough low-budget movies.
And then comes ONE CUT OF THE DEAD.
Review by demi adejuyigbe ★★★★ 18

A truly grueling 30 minutes followed by an okay 30 minutes followed by a great 30 minute payoff that almost makes it worth it- but boy, do really you have to be committed to finishing this movie for it to be worth it. The structure of this film is both necessary and frustrating. If you’ve got the commitment, it’s like a feature-length Always Sunny episode with absolutely ludicrous music choices. But ultimately fun!
Review by davidehrlich ★★★★ 5

It’s not saying very much to declare Ueda Shin’ichirô’s debut feature the best zombie comedy since “Shaun of the Dead” — no disrespect to the likes of “Life After Beth” and “Scouts Guide to the Apocalypse,” but the decomposing sub-genre has been in desperate need of fresh brains ever since Edgar Wright brought it back to life. Enter “One Cut of the Dead,” a low-budget, high-concept work of tongue-in-cheek genius that not only matches the best of its predecessors, but also lovingly articulates why people are drawn to these movies in the first place.
Unfolding like some kind of unholy cross between “Day for Night” and “Diary of the Dead,” Ueda’s self-reflexive delight honors and humiliates zombie cinema in equal…
Review by Etienne Garde ★★★½ 3

POM!
Review by Ash ★★★★½ 12

🎥 • 🎞 • 🧠 • 🍾 • 🧟‍♂️ • 🥋 • 🏚 • ⛏ • ⚠️
{𝙳𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛 𝙷𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚒 - 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚜 𝚣𝚘𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎} 𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽!!!
𝔻𝕆ℕ’𝕋 𝕊𝕋𝕆ℙ 𝕊ℍ𝕆𝕆𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾!
𝐈 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧. 𝐈 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝.
Review by Andreas Bardét ★★★★½ 6

"Ach komm, dann schmeissen wir jetzt einfach diesen LowBudget-Zombiefilm aus Japan an." (Daniel)
Wow.
Das war mal 'ne Überraschung! Ich habe das erste Drittel fast nicht durchgehalten. Sowas hatte ich damals bei GameOne fast täglich auf dem Schirm. Ein LowBudget-Zombiespaß, okay.
Aber: Warum nur gucken die Darsteller manchmal so seltsam? Diese stümperhaft langen Pausen im Spiel, ist das deren ernst?
Plot Twist: Wenn man's durchhält, wird man Zeuge eines, in meiner kleinen Welt einmaligen Ereignisses. Nämlich: wie sich ein 20%-Film innerhalb von Minuten zu einem richtig guten 90%er wandelt. Sowas habe ich noch nie erlebt.
Und das Finale ist der Wahnsinn. Man klatscht sich mehrfach auf die Stirn, schreit mit großen Augen "Ach Soooo..." dem TV entgegen, und lacht sich dabei gleichzeitig tot. Warum hat noch niemand vorher diese Idee gehabt?
Wunderbares Ding und: schön, dass es sowas gibt.
Review by DirkH ★★★★½ 8

This film should be seen by anyone and everyone who loves movies, zombies, subversion, intelligent writing, B-movies, a good laugh, very clever filmmaking and surprises.
So basically you.
One Cut of the Dead will have you raise your eyebrows in doubt in the first act, raise them in surprised delight in the second and make you fall completely and utterly in love with it in the third act.
Read as little about it as you can and just watch it, ok?
Review by LeSchroeck ★★★½ 8

Du dachtest, Du hast schon jedes Low Budget-, Zombie-, Comedy-, oder Film-im-Film-Pferd kotzen sehen... und dann kommt "One Cut of the Dead" daher. Beginnt scheißig und anstrengend - wird zu purem Gold. Man muss eben nur diese ca. 35 ungeschnittenen Minuten zu Beginn überstehen. Dann ergibt alles einen Sinn. Es ist wirklich erstaunlich wie mich dieser Film ab einer gewissen Phase in Bewegung versetzt hat. Ich musste laut lachen, feiern, rumfuchteln. So billig, witzig und verdammt clever konzipiert können Meta-Horror-Komödien sein. Vollendet durch ein paar strahlende Gesichter, die die Liebe fürs Kino (ob man es nun macht oder bewundert) 1.000 Mal besser ausdrücken als es Worte jemals könnten. Arigatō Mr. Ueda.
Review by transitionstate ★★★★★ 1

The critic in me died while watching this ! I just want to hug all of them who made this gem possible ! I know it's doing great in Japan ! But it deserves a lot more than that !
Review by Joe Lynch ★★★★ 1

Believe the Hype. Possibly the most inventive, honest and heartfelt zom-com since SHAUN OF THE DEAD. Even got me crying at the end.
The (UN)LIVING IN OBLOVION for the horror genre. See (legally) immediately!!!
Review by Elric Kane ★★★★½ 5

Officially the greatest film ever made to capture the feelings of making a film. “Action!”

Recent reviews

Review by Tim Costa ★★★★

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Everything I had heard about One Cut of the Dead made me think it’d be too gimmicky for its own good. At first, this seemed to be the case, as the first half hour made me think that the twist would have to be fairly substantial to make up for the cheapness of the first half hour. But wow! It really was substantial enough! The last hour of the film is sweet and hilarious and a great tribute to low budget filmmaking, and its makes everything about the first half hour exponentially more exciting. A really fun flick!
Review by bebebaba ★★★★

The last third of this movie is the funniest thing i've seen in a long time. Just push yourself through the first 20 minutes or so.
Review by Laurentijn Callewaert ★★★★½

Loved the concept of this movie and the “making of” part that was attached to it. Really loved it!
Review by Rendezvouss ★★★★

Ia dar 3 estrelas, mas me surpreendeu positivamente.
Review by thehootman

i didn't finish watching this because my focus has been all over the place, but!!!! i genuinely do think it's interesting, im going to try and come back to it later.
Review by heyheyspaceman ★★★★

Never before has there been a movie where you would be so justified to turn it off after 15 minutes and yet so utterly wrong to do so
Review by FishyGeez ★★★★½

An absolute blast of an experience you must go in blind for.
Review by eric 💭 ★★★★

ONE CUTO!!!
a must watch for aspiring filmmakers
Review by mprove ★★★★

This movie takes a while to get going. It seems like extremely bad acting to start. But it more than pays off once you get past the first 35 minutes. As someone who worked in film and tv production for 11 years, I appreciated the level of difficulty for what they pulled off. The film within a film within a film was incredibly impressive!
Review by Patrick Hall ★★★★

Clever doesn't begin to describe this movie. It's hard to recommend without some kind of warning that it's not what you expect, but this is a movie that will definitely reward you for paying attention. You'd think maybe everything in the zombie genre had been done, but One Cut of the Dead managed to surprise and delight me multiple times. Just stick with it and you will be too. A very funny, inventive, zombie flick.
Review by Alicia Hall ★★★

Well I have certainly never seen anything like this before. Bonus points for creativity. It was interesting seeing how they did everything after watching the initial movie. The flow of the movie was really odd because of the structure of everything, but it turned out to be pretty comical and I thought it was decent.
Review by purjme ★★★★

Wow, subverted every expectation. It does have slow pacing but the pay off is weirdly worth it 😅