Customer Reviews

Wild Zero

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

rock n roll will never die and japanese rockabilly punk band Guitar Wolf is going to prove that to their mushroom wig, lace up hot pants wearin' manager- but there are space ship controlled zombies seeking flesh in daylight which may complicate a few things. but no worry, there's ace and a weapons supplier for the yakuza to help handle that...
wild zero is an excellent horror/b movie and your not so average love story. i love this movie for its ridiculous characters and their antics. it's wildly inventive, but the japanese have a habit of creating insane scenarios so you can never expect the ordinary from them. if you like low-budget flicks, zombies, and a good laugh- buy it! and remember the words of guitar wolf: love has no race, nationality, or gender.

If you're looking for something fun...something filled with zombies, aliens, Japanese punkabillies and rock n' roll, well then, sh*t, you're either looking for Wild Zero or you're a weirdo. Freak.

Wild Zero's fun and craziness. A young Japanese man obsessed with the punk rock n' roll band, Guitar Wolf, gets thrown into a world full of aliens, zombies, cross dressing club owners and love regardless of several inch long body parts. Helping him along the way is Seiji, Toru and Billy, the three members of the greatest band ever, Guitar Wolf. They don't say much, but what they do is pure gold.

The leather jacket wearing, Kawasaki with flames for exhaust-riding rockers show up to kick ass, rock and just be cool. Quite frankly, I'd kill to be able to do either one of the three, but 'cause I can't, I loved every single second of this movie. From it's outrageous dialougue, over-the-top bad special effects and downright fun of it all, I don't think I can watch this movie enough.

If you're a fan of campy sci-fi/horror, Japanese craziness or the spirit of sweaty, greasy rock n' roll..or just have ADD, buy this. Ten bucks says you'll be buying a tube of pomade within a week.

I saw this movie during a "whatever we got" timeslot in a convention video room some time around 2am, which actually is how I think it is probably best viewed.
To quote one of my friends who experienced this with me: "Someday I'm going to either start crying or vomitting and while I might not realize it at the time, subconciously it will be because I watched Wild Zero."
To quote Guitar Wolf: "BLOOD! BLOOD! EXPLODING BLOOD!"

Take from this what you will. I'm not even sure how to try passing a judgment on this. It's one of those rare things that simply "is". You should go into this being informed that it involves rock'n'roll and zombies. For my part, I regret nothing.

One of my favorite Japanese films, Wild Zero is a Japanese punk sci-fi film with the taglines of "Brutality of Screen!", "Thrill, Speed and Stupid Zombies!" and actually delivers on these claims. The story is about a young rockabilly punker named Ace who is following his favorite band, Guitar Wolf, on tour. Ace passes through a town where a meteorite recently fell and causes the inhabitants to change into zombies and it is up to Guitar Wolf to save the day with their magic powers of rock and roll. Mix into this young love, a crazy villain in hot pants and invading aliens and the result will blow you away. Wild Zero is great film that incorporates the mythology of Rock and Roll well and is also good trashy fun.

Awesome. Amazing. Tantalizing. You will laugh and cry and maybe crap your pants. Or your friends' pants. The drinking game is great. Word.

There is a lot going on in this movie to be honest. Your main character is a guy who idolized the punk group Guitar Wolf (Actual Japanese group), who is also a part of the movie. You also have a hot female arms dealer, a couple who falls in love later on, a club owner who is...weird in his short shorts, and a girl *snicker* who is the love interest of the main character. Yes, this is a zombie movie. A gorey flesh eating zombie movie with a lot plots going on. I added it to my zombie movie simple because it's a fun-to-watch movie. If you are looking for a zombie movie where you can tell they had a lot of fun making it, then this would be a good one to watch as well. Biozombie is another asian zombie movie to check out as well. :)

All I have to say is that I wish that, like Guitar Wolf, I too had a wallet on my a** with a rock & roll license.