Wild Zero
| Wild Zero | |
|---|---|
| File:WildzeroDVDscan.jpg DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Tetsuro Takeuchi |
| Written by | Satoshi Takagi |
| Produced by | Kazuhiko Tanaka |
| Starring | Guitar Wolf, Masashi Endô, Kwancharu Shitichai |
| Cinematography | Motoki Kobayashi |
| Edited by | Tomoe Kubota |
| Music by | Guitar Wolf |
| Distributed by | Synapse Films |
Release date | 2001 |
Running time | 98 min |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Wild Zero is a 2000 Japanese rock ‘n’ roll "zombie horror" classic directed by Tetsuro Takeuchi and starring the Japanese garage rock band Guitar Wolf. It borrows many elements from other popular B-movies such as Rebel Without a Cause and Psychomania.
Plot
Ace, a wannabe rock star, is on his way to a concert of the rock/punk band Guitar Wolf when aliens invade the Earth. As a result the dead rise to their feet in the countryside setting of Asahi, Japan, with an appetite for flesh. Enlisting the help of Guitar Wolf, 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, guns, muscle cars, and fire abound. Guitar Wolf, a Japanese trio signed to Matador Records in the US --and self-proclaimed coolest rock band in the world-- star as the well-coiffed hipster heroes. It is also a love story.
The music, in a garage punk vein, plays an important role in the film. This film is similar to another movie by a Spanish punk group, La matanza caníbal de los garrulos lisérgicos produced by Siniestro Total (a punk band from Vigo, Spain).
Characters
Guitar Wolf
Energetic lead singer and guitarist of the band Guitar Wolf. Rides a specially designed motorcycle (with a liquor bottle holder up front) and is the aggressive action hero of the group. Also acts as Ace's moral guide, much like Elvis guides Clarence in True Romance. Never without his guitar which turns out to house a samurai sword.
Bass Wolf
Band member, bassist, and drug enthusiast. He is usually seen with a cigarette, though in one scene he appears only to be chewing on it. Usually rides in car with Drum Wolf. He is the jerk of the group, always the one punching another character away when the mood calls for some random violence.
Drum Wolf
Drummer of the band. Usually rides in car with Bass Wolf.
Ace
Self-proclaimed "biggest Guitar Wolf fan in the world" with dreams of hitting it big as a musician himself (though never seen with an instrument in the entire film). Slightly goofy, but has heart in the right place and throroughly filled with love of Rock 'N' Roll.
Tobio
Damsel in distress with a hunger for love that is usually thwarted by the fact that she is transgender.
Captain
Guitar wolf's nemesis (and, as it is suggested, childhood friend) whose preference for money over the true spirit of rock n roll sparks the violent argument into which Ace storms at the film's beginning. Pursues Guitar Wolf throughout the film in an effort to exact his revenge for the loss of a finger. Later on Captain turns into a monster/alien of some kind
DVD information
- Encoding: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only).
- Format: Color, Widescreen
- Rated: NR
- Studio: Wea Corp
- DVD Release Date: September 30, 2003
- Run Time: 98 minutes
Drinking game
The DVD suggests a Wild Zero drinking game, in which a drinking symbol appears everytime a character drinks, says "Rock 'n Roll," or combs their hair, or when a head pops, something explodes, or fire shoots out of something.
Trivia
- The zombies were played by Thai soldiers and their families.
- "Tobio" was played by a Thai actor and later dubbed for the dialogue.
- Reportedly, director Tetsuro Takeuchi begged Guitar Wolf to appear in this, his debut feature film, and they agreed on the condition that they could play themselves.
- Guitar Wolf said of that film that it was "stupid and fun".
- Since the Japanese language does not have a letter for the sound "R", throughout the movie the phrase "rock n' roll" is spoken as "lock n' lol".