Otto; or, Up with Dead People

OK, I am open minded, I love filmmakers that think out of the box and I love when genres are messed about with. I love going to the cinema, especially to film festivals where you can discover gems that no one else has seen yet. Sadly this film was not a gem. It did not shock me, it did not thrill me. I found it all a bit amateurish and before you attack me and say it was low budget and therefore excusable then don't waste your time. I don't believe in negative reviews, I like to look at the good and the bad, no doubt I will get eaten (no pun intended) by the super fans. The acting was pretty terrible to be fair and the camera work was at times clumsy. The sexual scenes sometimes seemed to interrupt the films flow, as if they were slotted in there because that is what his fans expect and want. It is important that films like this are made though and the have an audience of die hard fans but I'm just letting other horror fans in particular zombie fans know that this is more of a porn film than a zombie film.

Desperate to cast someone with real talent, a female director hires a young man who believes that he is actually a zombie to play a zombie in this offbeat blend of comedy and horror from cult director Bruce LaBruce. Constantly cutting back and forth between 'reality' and the film-within, 'Otto' is not the easiest film to get into, but it features a large amount of smart and witty dialogue, both as the title character contemplates the advantages of being dead and as the director rambles on about the importance that she perceives her film to have as "a political film" tied to LGBT issues with a "gay plague" that turns all of the zombies homosexual upon returning from the dead (!). This is a creative movie beyond just the film within though with silent movie footage used well and even a fitting animated sequence amid the madness. The film's best asset though is its ambiguity as to whether or not Otto is actually a zombie. When all is revealed, it is a pretty sad film too about how certain experiences can make one feel dead on the inside. It is an up and down ride, with certain sequences (the director screening all of her previous films; some of the love scenes) that drag on for far too long, but the film circles around a character to whom it is surprisingly easy to grow emotionally invested with considering that he wears a singular zombie expression throughout.

Bruce LaBruce is (very weirdly) becoming one of my favorite indy film makers. WWaaaay back in the early nineties in film school we saw "no skin off my ass" and I dismissed it then as pretentious soft-core. I was glib and wrong. Ages ago my friends and I went to see "Hustler White" at a midnite showing and frankly we were at once titillated and impressed. Then when "Raspberry Reich" rolled out I was ALMOST convinced....That film struck a pitch-perfect chord between 60's revolutionary porn (I Am Curious Yellow) and modern satire. I just watched "Otto" and I am officially a fan. Through the use of explicit sex and graphic violence M. LaBruce is actually making a point! I'm impressed and pleasantly surprised. This is maybe a "zombie" movie...but more specifically a neat commentary on modern youth with a great sense of humor and a chilling overtone. If you're older and adventurous and want to get a sort of "summary" of the present youth-culture and this whole "zombie thing" this is a great film to watch. Underrated and sublime (after you get-over all the gay sex...if you have to get-over it at all)

I just watched this and I should warn all viewers, especially fans of gore, that Otto; or Up with Dead People starts out remarkably slow paced. This film takes it's time getting started with the plot and it will likely challenge most people to continue watching. It may be too slow for many viewers. However, if you stick with it, you will most definitely be rewarded! This latest film by Canadian filmmaker Bruce LaBruce is fantastic. It's my second favorite Bruce LaBruce film after The Raspberry Reich. It is always an interesting experience to watch any of his films and this one sure didn't let me down! Otto is a gay pornographic zombie horror movie. Judging from that description, it should be quite obvious that this isn't for all tastes. Then again, not all Bruce LaBruce films are! Otto was, in a way, the movie I have always been looking for. I love zombie films, I love horror films, I love gore films, and I love films with gay themes. If you are a fan of all of these genres, this film should satisfy you. It is among one of the more satisfying gay films I have seen for quite some time. The film is scary, it's gory as hell, and the sex scenes rock.

The plot basically follows around Otto, a German zombie with memory problems who has risen from his grave. He travels to Berlin and meets an underground filmmaker who wants to make a political zombie porno and finds a fondness for Otto and chooses him to be the poster child for the film. However, things get complicated when he discovers his boyfriend's identity and agrees to meet with him. From there, things get extreme.

This movie is just plain fun. It works as a satire and as a horror movie in equal measure. I found it to be hilarious at times. The movie-within-a-movie trick often gets misused and can easily turn a film into a mindless mess a clichés. Otto does not fall into this trap. Instead, this film takes the idea in a unique direction. While the film, by no means, should be taken seriously, there is still a lot to admire in the artistic details of the film. The film is startlingly gory at times. There are scenes that go so far over-the-top in shocking behavior that the film manages to walk that fine line on surrealism and tastelessness. Whether it is either of those is irrelevant because it is hilarious to watch some of these scenes take place.

Politically, the film certainly has something to say. While Bruce LaBruce's films have always dealt with politics, this film manages to not push that so far as it does play off of that idea. Bruce LaBruce satirizes himself with the German filmmaker, and as a result the film hits the right clever notes. Otto, the zombie, is ridiculously beautiful to look at. The soundtrack is certainly very cool, as most soundtracks to the films of Bruce LaBruce are. Most importantly, the film is alive and it flows with heart. This is truly the work of somebody who loves the conventions of film and the endless possibilities of originality in film-making. Definitely check this one out if it sounds like your kind of film. You especially won't be disappointed if you're looking for the next great surrealist picture of the 21st Century.

...this might be the only one you come across. Well now, anyway, since I've pointed it out. Very low (or no) budget is about a young man who's definitely most sincerely undead, so naturally he auditions for a movie about an undead young man. Yeah. Only no one thinks he's actually undead, just, you know, weird.