Mike Flanagan Has Repeatedly Rewatched This Streaming Meta Horror: “I just LOVE this film”
We all have horror movies that we can revisit on repeat. Films that bring us endless joy and serve as a place of familiarity in an unpredictable world. For me, it’s pictures like The Gate and The House on Sorority Row. For Mike Flanagan, it’s a meta zombie feature that effortlessly captures the magic of the filmmaking process. More specifically, it’s Shinichirou Ueda’s One Cut of the Dead.
Flanagan has nothing but love for the film and considers it a standout offering that reliably puts a big grin on his face every time he sits down for a rewatch.
The setup for this Flanagan-endorsed feel-good horror comedy is this: Director Takayuki (Takayuki Hamatsu) and his crew are shooting a zombie movie at an abandoned water filtration facility. When Takayuki makes the misguided decision to summon real zombies using a blood pentagram. His efforts pay dividends, but the presence of actual zombies complicates the filmmaking process with hilarious consequences.
I learned of Flanagan’s reverence for the film via his Letterbox profile. He is prone to spreading positivity on the platform and often chronicles the high points of his cinematic comings and goings there. He previously saw fit to share what he loves about the film via a glowing review.
“My third time watching this – I just LOVE this film,” Flanagan’s critique begins. “Best viewed knowing nothing about it, this is a glorious love letter to making movies. It captures a feeling that’s impossible to describe, but something you recognize immediately if you’ve ever worked on a movie – especially a horror movie. I can’t really think of any other film that more accurately captures that feeling; a delirious joy born out of the absurd chaos of collaborative creation.”
Flanagan goes on for several paragraphs, sharing that he introduced his partner, Kate Siegel, to the film for the first time and subsequently revealing that she had a similar reaction. He quotes Kate as saying, “I love this so much – I want to make a movie right now.”
It’s pretty remarkable that co-writer and director Ueda’s passion for filmmaking is so palpable that it inspires the Flanagan household to create. That’s alchemy if you ask me.
Perhaps the film will resonate similarly with you, dear reader. You’ll never know until you check it out for yourself. And you can do just that on Shudder. One Cut of the Dead is available as a platform exclusive.
Categorized: Streaming News
