Wild Zero (2000)

[Scott]

WILD ZERO (2000) - Fun Japanese film about a guy who idolizes a band called Guitar Wolf who runs into Zombies on his way to a show. The film isn't a serious Zombie film, but rather seems to be more concerned with the look of Ace and the band Guitar Wolf wearing their black leather jackets and combing their 50's style greaser hair. The film even has UFO's. Fun film if you get the chance to see it.

[Jack Corbett]

Heh heh... sounds cool. Is it good?

[Scott]

Yea, it's ok. I think you will enjoy it. It's entertaining for sure. Guns, explosions, concerts, motorcycles, UFO's, Zombies, bloody gore, and other strange moments like Aces girlfriend. The whole story is weird.

[Jack Corbett]

I don't like cars, music, or (a lot of) guns. Oh, and concerts. Still, I might watch it...

[Brother Ragnarok]

It was okay?  OKAY!?  
Here's the deal: Wild Zero is the best movie ever made, and Guitar Wolf is the coolest band on the planet.  Everyone who claims to be a b-movie fan needs to see Wild Zero, and it wouldn't hurt to go buy some Guitar Wolf albums, either.  I'd recommend starting with "Jet Generation."
I'm going to see Guitar Wolf on their first major U.S. tour.  Chicago, March 6!  \m/

[Jack Corbett]

O...kay.

Brother R, could you please go to my Doom: Resurrection thread?

By the way, have you seen the movie? Any reccomendations?

[Brother Ragnarok]

Seen "the movie?"  Which movie?  Wild Zero?  Of course I've seen it.  As I said, it's my favorite movie of all time.

[Jack Corbett]

Ah. Thanks for that. I meant Wild zero, but... y'know... I tend to confuse/annoy/eventually p**s off people from time to time. And you and Menard know that...

(Laughs evilly, then falls into spasm of coughing)

[blkrider]

Didn't care for it....poor effects, no sense of menace...not my idea of a good zombie flick.   Fun for fans of Guitar Wolf, I guess.

[IICATSII]

yeah, Wild Zero is almost as bad as Hell Of The Living Dead in the zombie movie stakes...

[Jack Corbett]

Wait wait WAIT...

Are you telling me that there is such thing as... "BAD"...zombie flicks?

[Mr_Vindictive]

I must agree with Brother R that Wild Zero is pretty awesome.  I happened to find a copy a few months back and was thorougly surprised.  The movie might not be for everyone, but who here doesn't love a movie with killer rock, flames, zombies, ufos, and transvestites!?

The film is pure cheesy fun, and the music within kicks all mighty ass.  Think of Guitar Wolf as the Japanese Sex Pistols.  They don't really know how to play the instruments, but they love to rock just the same.  Fantastic stuff.

Here is my review from my site (keeptheticket.com):

Summary
A Japanese horror film about zombies, rock and roll, and transvestites. Wait...transvestites?

Review
I was extremely excited to finally get my hands on a copy of Wild Zero. It's one of those Japanese films that you just can't find at your local vid shop, and yet never really get around to ordering on DVD. I jumped at the chance to finally see it, and I wasn't disappointed in the least.

The film follows a young Japanese punk rocker wanna be named "Ace". He idolizes the punk/rockabilly/grunge band Guitar Wolf, especially the band's lead singer Guitar Wolf himself.

One night after a show, Guitar Wolf gets into a gun showdown with a bar manager who tells them that Rock N Roll is dead. Ace hears this from the hallway and bursts in proclaiming the greatness of Rock, thus saving Guitar Wolf from being blown away. A bloody gun battle ensues, and Guitar Wolf makes Ace a "blood brother in Rock N Roll!". He also gives him a dog whistle and tells him if he's ever in trouble to blow the whistle.

Ace then travels on to another town to see another Guitar Wolf show. On his way, he stops to get gas. The town is desolate except for a few people that stopped at the gas station and a young girl named Tobio. Tobio immediatly becomes the love interest of this film, complete with a giant heart around her head....yeah....a giant heart.

Obviously the town is infested with zombies and Ace and Tobio must escape with the help of Guitar Wolf. I won't go into depth from there. I will say though that the film really gets it's energy going once the first zombie attack hits.

This film is all about ROCK. Guitar Wolf it seems in real life has proclaimed themselves to be "The Best Band In The World.". I wouldn't exactly say that, but they are some of the coolest bastards to grace a film in a long time. Their "Jet Rock" as they call it is full of energy, which is exactly what this film has.

Overall, if you check out this flick (which I hope you do), be ready to sit through an hour and a half of UFOs, zombies, ROCK N ROLL!, transies, flames and alcohol. It hits the insanity point numerous times throughout but if you are accustomed to stranger flicks, then this one is for you.



Side Notes:

Seems that someone invented an ingenious drinking game for the flick. The game says that you must drink whenever:

1. Someone in the film drinks.

2. Anyone combs their hair.

3. A head explodes.

4. Fire shoots out of something.

5. Anyone says ROCK N ROLL!

The drinking game was also included on the DVD by the great guys over at Synapse.


Want more Guitar Wolf? Go check out "Sore Losers" another rock flick that Guitar Wolf was in. These guys are suprememly awesome.

[blkrider]

WILD ZERO breaks Joe Bob Briggs' rule of a great horror film..."Anyone can die at any time," which is the main reason why I don't like it.  

HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD is an awful film.  Its plot and dialogue are almost nonsensical, it seems like half of the flim's running time consists of stock footage, and it blatantly rips off numerous other films all the way through.  But at least it is willing to put the main characters at risk.  And its unintentional humor is pretty funny.

[Brother Ragnarok]

But it's not a horror film.  At least not in the traditional sense.  At no point in the movie are you supposed to be scared.  The whole point of the movie is giddy, ass-kicking rock 'n' roll fun, and it delivers that in spades.
Oh, and Skaboi, comparing Guitar Wolf to the Sex Pistols is a bit of an insult.  Guitar Wolf doesn't suck ;)

[Jack Corbett]

So, like Braindead but not as bloody and with a rock band?