Product Details

• Actors: Guitar Wolf, Drum Wolf, Bass Wolf, Masashi Endô, Kwancharu Shitichai
• Directors: Tetsuro Takeuchi
• Writers: Tetsuro Takeuchi, Satoshi Takagi
• Producers: Kaichiro Furata, Katsuaki Takemoto, Kazuhiko Tanaka
• Format: Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Synapse Films
• DVD Release Date: October 28, 2003
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000A9D19
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,200 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Wild Zero" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Japan’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Zombie Horror Classic Is Finally Coming To DVD! Ace, a rockabilly fan who really wants to be cool, is on his way to seeing his favorite group Guitar Wolf when a strange thing occurs . . . aliens invade the Earth and people start returning to life as flesh-eating zombies! Enlisting the help of the (real-life) Japanese rock/ punk band Guitar Wolf (and self-proclaimed coolest rock band in the world), Ace and the members of the band get entangled in many misadventures with crazy rock managers in very tight shorts, transsexuals, naked women shooting guns in the shower, and bloodthirsty zombies ready to tear them apart. Leather jackets, loud over-modulated music, laser guitar picks, motorcycles, muscle cars, and LOTS of fire . . . it’s all right here! Did we also happen to mention flesh-eating zombies? Think Dawn of the Dead meets Kiss meets The Phantom of the Park with the humor of Evil Dead 2 and that’s what Wild Zero is all about!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Time to get your Rock n Roll license renewed!, January 29, 2005

By 

C. Porter "worst human alive" (Manchester, NH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wild Zero (DVD)

This one was destined for B movie greatness the second somebody said "Hey, let's mix Rock N Roll High School with Night of the Living dead" but it solidified it's status when it added exploding heads, a transvestite and japanese rock band Guitar Wolf!

The plot goes something like this:
Ace helps Guitar Wolf defend the honor of Rock n Roll against an effeminate night club owner who insists cheeseball pop is the way of the future. For this, Guitar Wolf makes Ace a blood brother and gives him a magical whistle that he can blow and summon Guitar Wolf to help him anytime.
Ace meets a girl and, later, tries to help save her from zombies that were somehow created by aliens in flying saucers. The aliens aren't elaborated on, you just see their flying saucers and are led to make the connection between the two.
Then, a handful of zombies, exploding heads, laser beam eyes, guitar-swords, fire-spurting microphones and shouts of "ROCK AND ROLL!" later, the movie ends.

The DVD even has a built in drinking game. A small mug icon appears on-screen when one of the following things happen:
-a zombie head pops
-someone combs their hair
-fire shoots out of anything
-someone yells ROCK AND ROLL!
-someone drinks
-something explodes
I assure you, if you even play this game with near-beer, you'll be wasted before the movie finishes.

Criterion Collection it ain't, but if you're looking for an amazing B horror movie, this film is definitely for you!

But don't take my word for it, I think Seiji of Guitar Wolf summed up the movie perfectly in an interview with him where he said

"Ah yes. Just rock and roll. Very stupid, cool movie, and zombie UFO."

Exactly.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wild Zero and Guitar Wolf are on fire!, December 26, 2003

By 

Matthew King (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wild Zero (DVD)

Wild Zero cracks my top 5 list of zaniest films I've ever seen. This Japanese movie combines flying saucers, flesh-eating zombies, gender-bending love scenes and a sleazy music promoter wearing the tightest shorts known to man. All of this laced with powerhouse punk music and buckets of sloppy gore. The movie stars the 3 members of real-life Japanese punk band "Guitar Wolf", whose music is an irresistible blend of hardcore, rockabilly and surf garage. It also has some of the coolest features ever packaged on a DVD, such as behind-the-scenes looks, a Guitar Wolf discography and Bio and an interactive drinking game. I won't go into too much detail about how that game works but let's just say that anyone who chooses that option is likely to be tanked way before the film reaches the halfway mark.

The film opens up at a Guitar Wolf concert where we meet Ace, a young fan who follows the band on tour. After the show, Ace inadvertently saves the life of the lead singer who was caught in a shootout with a lowlife music promoter (the one who wears the tight spandex shorts). As a reward for his good deed Guitar Wolf give Ace a magic whistle and tell him to blow it if he is ever in trouble. As Ace hits the road on the way to the next Guitar Wolf gig, a meteorite crashes into the town of the next show, turning all inhabitants into zombies. It is now up to Ace and the members of Guitar Wolf to save humanity in the name of Rock and Roll.

The film never takes itself seriously and for this reason the cheese and lapses of taste can easily be forgiven. With movies like these, self-parody is often the only way of being effective and if Wild Zero took itself seriously in any way, it would easily reach the botom of the cinematic pile. Instad, the undercurrent of self-ridicule and over-the-top comedy works beautifully. One thing I found surprising was the amount of zombie action in the film. I figured the zombies would only be a backdrop within the overall nuttiness but instead zombies are pretty much present throughout the entire film. It's just that they are never really scary or to be taken as more than laugh fodder. The paranoia of 28 days later or the claustrophobia and social commentary of Romero's films are entirely absent. Although zombies appear throughout the entire film, Wild Zero cannot be considered a true zombie film any more than From Dusk Till Dawn would be considered a true vampire film. But if you liked Dusk, you'll love Wild Zero.

Although the concept is ludicrous Wild Zero is major fun from beginning to end. In my opinion, this is the most entertaining rock band film ever, edging out classics such as Rock n' Roll high school and A hard day's Night. Not in quality but in sheer entertainment value. The best scenes are easily the ones where Ace blows his whistle and Guitar Wolf appear to save the day and lend Ace some of their philosophies such as "Ace! True love knows no boundaries, color or gender! ROCK AND ROLL!." That one phrase pretty much sums up the underlying message of the entire film. Wild Zero also serves as a commentary on greedy producers and sharks in the music industry who try to stiffle the creativity and artistic freedom of musicians signed under their labels. Well, Guitar Wolf just ain't gonna have that!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond Rock and Roll!, September 4, 2003

By 

DOUGLAS (Middletown, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wild Zero (DVD)

This movie Rocks, and it Rolls, and it also does other things yet to be defined. Fans of the zombie movie genre will be pleased to see zombies doing things you don't see elsewhere - like making out! Fans of the rock 'n' roll movie genre will be pleased to see rock 'n' roll doing things you don't see elsewhere - like taking down huge alien spaceships! And fans of the Japanese movie genre will not be disappointed, as they will see Japanese people doing things you may or not see elsewhere but will never tire of.

The special effects are brilliant, the music is awesome, and the hotpants are disturbing. It's laugh after laugh after hyperventilation after laugh! Oh, and there are parts where you won't laugh, too... you'll cheer. Even if you're sitting at home watching the movie by yourself, if you're like me, you'll find yourself hollering and screaming ROCK AND ROLL right along with Guitar Wolf!

I recommend this movie to everyone, including my grandmother, my three-year-old half-sister, and the late Strom Thurman.