Wild Zero

Wild Zero is not a movie. It is an experience, an in your face, melt your brain piece of pure crazy. The kind that makes my wife say, "Do we really own this?"

Yes. We do. I'm going to buy it again just to have it twice.

Ace is our hero, Guitar Wolf's biggest fan. After he saves the band from a tense standoff with The Captain, an evil music executive, he becomes blood brothers with Guitar Wolf himself (the other members are Bass Wolf and Drum Wolf) and receives a signal whistle for whenever he is in trouble.

Guitar Wolf is so great that flames come out of their mic stands and they blast the crowd with lightning when they play. They sound like fuzz and noise and menace. They are everything perfect about rock and roll.

On his journey to the next Guitar Wolf show, Ace meets Tobio, a Thai stranger on the run. He saves her from a robbery then leaves, but on the road he encounters zombies. Realizing that he's in love — and inspired by the spirit of Guitar Wolf — he goes back to save her.

The Captain comes back to fight Guitar Wolf with a grenade launcher (which Guitar Wolf shrugs off, only pausing to tune his guitar). There are zombie fights galore. Many, many heads explode. A naked military girl kills zombies from her shower. Oh yeah — and Ace finds out that Tobio is really a guy, a fact that this movie celebrates. Yes — instead of making jokes, the spirit of Guitar Wolf tells Ace that "Love has no borders, nationalities or genders! DO IT!" Keep in mind this movie was made nearly twenty years ago, so this is pretty amazing.

Read more at https://bandsaboutmovies.com/2017/10/13/wild-zero-1999/

I know I use the word 'awesome' frequently in my reviews, and frequently refer to other movies as some "the awesomest movies ever" (see 'Battlefield Baseball' or 'Volcano High'). I can't help it if I watch all these awesome movies. This is where 'Wild Zero' comes in: Simply put, 'Wild Zero' is so indescribably awesome that it defies the description of 'awesome'. There is no other way to describe the awesomeness that is 'Wild Zero'.

'Wild Zero' is a documentary starring Japanese rock band Guitar Wolf. I wouldn't have thought it to do be a documentary, but Guitar Wolf said it was so*, and who am I to doubt them? They saved us from zombies and an alien invasion. All hail Guitar Wolf! 'Wild Zero' starts with Guitar Wolf (the guitarist, not the band) enraging a night-club owner, and in the middle of a stand-off, Guitar Wolf (the band) are saved by a wannabe rocker named Ace. Guitar Wolf (the guitarist) pledges to be a rock n' roll blood-brother with Ace, handing him a whistle only to be used when Ace needs the help of Guitar Wolf. On his way to a gig in Asahi, Ace and other random characters are attacked by zombies. Now only Guitar Wolf can save the world from zombies and aliens. Awesome.

I noticed other users referring to this as the 'ultimate B-movie' and whatever. I disagree. This is the ultimate awesome movie. Well, it would be if it wasn't a documentary. Either way, 'Wild Zero' has everything that all aspiring awesome movies need: rock n' roll, zombies, many exploding heads, guitar-swords, and the best reference to 'Psycho' ever. Ignore all comments about acting, Guitar Wolf are just being themselves (with alcohol and swearing toned down, so I've read). Awesome.

10/10 - some people might disagree with my comments. 'Wild Zero' may not be a well-made 'movie', but it is so incredibly awesome, and in the end, awesomeness is what really matters.

*Ok, I found that from a website reviewing 'Wild Zero'. I read through a few interviews with Guitar Wolf, and they didn't specifically say that, although they did similar things. In fact, everything they had to say was awesome.

As someone who's been listening to Guitar Wolf since the early 90s and seen them live a dozen times, I near about wet myself when I first saw this many years ago. Having seen them appear in Sore Losers was funny enough but a movie centered around zombies, killer GW tracks, and schlocky FX and acting...who could resist! Certainly it's got its B-movie charm and the US DVD has the drinking game, but on some level, garage rockers and rock and rollers get this movie and rightly so. It's so over the top and nuts, and the characters have such great idiosyncrasies you can't help but love 'em. The plot isn't so great but there are some absurdities here that you'd find in some of Miike's endings (a la the end scene in Dead or Alive. WTF!) and it's enough to hold your interest and give you a wild ride. But, it's Japanese cinema so who cares, it's not always supposed to make sense. I guess the GW guys are looking for Wild Zero 2 sponsors so I hope they make a funnier sequel. ACE!

I was told by some friends of mine, "You have to see this movie. It will rock your face off." They were right.

Wild Zero is without a doubt the most amazing Japanese Rock Zombie flick ever.

If you believe that rock and roll is here to stay, that greasers should roam the streets of Japan, and that extraneous characters should be disposed of as quickly as possible and turned into zombies, then this film is for you.

The exploding zombie head budget is high in this film, but the writing budget seems to have suffered as a result. With zombie flicks, though, you pay your money and you take your chances.

Guitar Wolf, Bass Wolf & Drum Wolf are the triumvirate of rock 'n roll cool. They face the greatest foe of rock 'n roll : Squares. Square are best epitomized by the Captain, who dresses in an all white, skin tight outfit at the beginning (also has a nice mop-top). Apparently he enjoys wearing short shorts (BAD THOUGHT ... unclean... unclean). He and those that he represents don't care about rock 'n roll, they only care about money and power.

One might think this is a typical rock 'n roll movie, but it isn't. After our initial showdown between the squares and the Wolf Trio, the movie takes an unexpected twist. This movie then turns into a survival horror movie. It seems that aliens are involved and they are bringing back the dead. So we end up with the Captain versus the Wolf Trio, in the backdrop of a zombie plague/alien invasion. The supporting cast consists of yakuza henchmen, bungling thieves (one of which is a Japanese Steve Buscemi impersonator and another who is a Japanese Margaret Cho impersonator), a female arms dealer, our hero who's trying to be like Guitar Wolf (Ace), Ace's "female" love interest (Tobio) and layer upon layer of various gray zombies.

This movie is a lot of fun and a twist on the zombie movie genre. The music is great. It has a rock n' roll in-your-face feel. I think Guitar Wolf provided the entire soundtrack. Some of the great scenes where the music is blasting and zombies are dropping left and right, you just want to scream and kick down some doors. A funny innovation in this movie is the pee cam (like Miike's turd cam). The finale is quite over the top. Remember watch this movie, kick ass and chew bubble gum. If you need to drink milk, put some cocaine in it first.

RIP Billy.

-Celluloid Rehab