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One Cut of the Dead

Play trailer Poster for One Cut of the Dead 2019 1h 36m Comedy Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
100% Tomatometer 99 Reviews 83% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Real zombies attack a hack director and a film crew who are shooting a low budget zombie film in an abandoned WWII Japanese facility.
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One Cut of the Dead

One Cut of the Dead

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Critics Consensus

Brainy and bloody in equal measure, One Cut of the Dead reanimates the moribund zombie genre with a refreshing blend of formal daring and clever satire.

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Critics Reviews

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Elisabeth Vincentelli New York Times Dec 25, 2019
Ueda... manages to reinvigorate two of the most tired tropes cluttering our media landscape: art as meta commentary on art, and explosive diarrhea. Go to Full Review
Richard Whittaker Austin Chronicle Sep 26, 2019
3.5/5
One Cut of the Dead isn't just charming. It's an earnest and funny love letter to all the microbudget dreamers who use all their heart and ingenuity to make their movie. Go to Full Review
Simon Abrams RogerEbert.com Sep 13, 2019
2.5/4
You have to want to invest in his characters in order for One Cut of the Dead to really take off. Go to Full Review
Brian Bisesi Horror Movie Club Podcast May 27, 2026
4/5
The film’s 3rd act breathes new life into any elements that previously felt lacking. What starts as a slog ends as a heart-warming triumph of originality, and a reaffirmation that there is still more life to be squeezed from the found footage subgenre. Go to Full Review
Bryce Hanson Horror Movie Talk Nov 5, 2025
9/10
[...]It ends up being an ode to all the reasons why people love low budget zombie movies. The quick and dirty storytelling, the fun action, the over the top special effects, and the ingenuity displayed in the filmmaking. Go to Full Review
Megan Seling The Stranger (Seattle, WA) Oct 21, 2024
The less you know going into this masterpiece, the better. If you’re going to watch a zombie movie, watch this zombie movie... Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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GNunknown T @RT16068040 Oct 23, 2026 Absolute cinema. W See more
Michael V @RT41146758 Aug 18, 2026 First off, this is in no way a horror movie and I can't believe I was stupid enough to believe countless people that say it is. I mean, I knew it was also a comedy but the fact that there's lists on Reddit and other places where this is grouped as "horror" just boggles my mind. It's literally a fake horror movie. What gives it away (easily) is the acting. The acting is quite below average and the fact that the quality of acting doesn't change AT ALL when the supposed "real zombies" attack just makes the movie miss its mark. The movie has some moments of good humor and the actors are likable even though the acting (for real) isn't good. I just set my expectations too high when I saw all the good ratings. Disappointed. See more
Landon J @Minxsykitty Jul 25, 2026 You will likely know the scheme going in, but personally It didn't have a negative effect on the viewing experience. I actually think they pioneered a great trope with this I haven't seen recreated. Definitely worth a viewing. See more
Luke T @LightSyson Jul 10, 2026 Tonnes of people saying the 3rd act was incredible etc. No, its just kind of funny and quite smart. Pacing is all off throughout. I got the super-meta idea behind it but it missed the perfect opportunity to actually go one meta step further and have a real violent and intense zombie outbreak that contrasts massively with a goofy and fun first half. Theres a good idea here and a couple of really funny bits but it drags a lot and really wanted it to end once I realised there was no horror elements at all. See more
blue F @Eqvs12321 Feb 25, 2026 Keep watching, you will not regret it See more
Nick V @elZombie Jan 22, 2026 There must be some sort of meme conspiracy to boost this movies rating. No, it doesn't 'get better', No you shouldn't 'stick it out'. This may well be the worst movie I've ever seen let alone the worst zombie movie I've ever seen. Utterly painful to watch and the 'payoff' was just as painful as the setup I truly cannot understand what the appeal here is. There's absolutely nothing 'clever' about it it's plain stupid AF. The movie is a bad f****** meme, period. See more
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One Cut of the Dead

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Shinichiro Ueda

Director

Takayuki Hamatsu

Director Higurashi

Yuzuki Akiyama

Chinatsu

Harumi Shuhama

Nao

Kazuaki Nagaya

Ko

Hiroshi Ichihara

Kasahara
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One Cut of the Dead

One Cut of the Dead (2017) One Cut of the Dead (2017) One Cut of the Dead (2017) One Cut of the Dead (2017) One Cut of the Dead (2017) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Real zombies attack a hack director and a film crew who are shooting a low budget zombie film in an abandoned WWII Japanese facility.
Director
Shinichiro Ueda
Producer
Koji Ichihashi
Screenwriter
Shinichiro Ueda
Distributor
Shudder
Production Co
Enbu Seminar, Zombie a Go-Go Films, Panpokopina
Genre
Comedy, Horror
Original Language
Japanese
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 13, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 8, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA)
$52.4K
Runtime
1h 36m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
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