ROCK AND ROLL!!!

Wild Zero
(Tetsuro Takeuchi, 2000)

4 Stars

Oh Japan, how I love thee. Few countries produce such delectably bizarre films as are made in the studios of Japan. Inconceivably insane films such as The Happiness of the Katakuris or indeed any number of tentacle-based hentai have given rise to the Nipponese infamy for the down right weird.

And this little treat does nothing less than endorse this stereotype. A zom-rom-com featuring aliens, transsexuals and garage punk, Wild Zero is a truly rare find, and I must whole-heartedly thank one of my colleagues up in TokyoLand for the recommendation.

The movie starts with a Corman-esque alien invasion that brings back to gory life the recently departed. Meanwhile rock star wannabe Ace is busy bumbling about, accidentally saving his hero, punk guitarist Guitar Wolf, from his arch nemesis; evil record producer The Captain, a man who spends the vast majority of the movie in a rather disturbing pair of hot pants..

What follows the gloriously hectic opening sequence is a full ninety minutes of fun, chaos, and, most importantly Rock and Roll, as Ace finds himself fighting off zombies, combing his hair, and falling passionately in love with a girl who is actually a guy.

Along the way, we have one of the best Psycho parodies to date, in which a buxom young lovely is interrupted mid-shower by a hoard of zombies, resulting in a delightful naked gun fight (exactly where she was hiding the gun, I’m not entirely sure, though utterly intrigued…), as well as one of the coolest pieces of weaponry to grace our screens; a samurai sword concealed in the neck of Guitar Wolf’s electric guitar.

With heads exploding at a bi-minutely rate, copious screamings of “ROCK AND ROOOOOOOOOOOOOLL!!!”, and more explosions than the entire Michael Bay back-catalogue, Wild Zero is an utterly enthralling piece of nonsensical genius; funny, gory and indeterminably cool. A masterpiece of the bizarre.