I love zombie films, and I love rock bands; so Wild Zero is definitely a movie for me. Until you consider that the movie is a load of rubbish, that is. Of course I realize that is the point; the movie is trash, and it knows it is; but it isn't trash in a good way, it's just ridiculous. Many stupid elements are thrown in, and the only reason for that seems to be to make the film more ridiculous. The central character, Ace, isn't a likable guy, not even in an Ash-from-the-evil-dead sort of way, he's just irritating. The movie is, basically, just a meandering mess in which many silly and gory sequences are strung together, with little or no cohesion at all. When going into a film like this (a self-proclaimed piece of trash), you can't expect a great screenplay and a logical plot; but even from bad films, I've come to expect better.
Wild Zero is directed by a music video director, and this is blatantly obvious throughout the movie. It basically is just one long music video, with things popping up here and there simply to try and entertain the viewer; and that's another thing - the movie isn't very entertaining. Usually for a film like this, despite low production values, one can say, "at least it was entertaining", but for a lot of it's 98 minute running time; Wild Zero is boring, and at times even painful to watch. The scene in which two zombies 'fall in love' springs to mind immediately for the painful part of the film - it's not big, it's not clever; just stupid. And then there's a thing with a girl that turns out to be a guy. The movie professes that "love has no boundaries, nationalities or gender". This message completely lost in a trash film such as this, and it comes across as just being there to make the film more stupid. In a film like "The Crying Game", a message like this can, and does work; but come on, not in a silly zombie film - please! Another bad thing about is this movie is the band; Guitar Wolf. If you're going to make a trash movie with a rock band, at least make it a cool one. Guitar Wolf comes across as being a boring bunch of idiots in this film.
That's not to say that Wild Zero is completely devoid of positive aspects. There is a hilarious short conversation about who has seen the classic "Night of the Living Dead", and some of the zombie attack sequences are good; mostly due to the heavy gore, which is always nice to see. The movie also features an impressive arsenal of weapons, from rocket launchers to shotguns to broomsticks. However, none of these things are enough to save this mess. It isn't destined to be a cult classic because it simply isn't that good. It's maybe worth watching if you're a die-hard fan of ridiculous movies, or if you really love the better side of Asian horror (as opposed to the boring ghost story side), but otherwise I recommend leaving this alone and seeing the superior Asian zombie flick; "Bio-Zombie" instead, which is silly in all the right places.
Wild Zero is directed by a music video director, and this is blatantly obvious throughout the movie. It basically is just one long music video, with things popping up here and there simply to try and entertain the viewer; and that's another thing - the movie isn't very entertaining. Usually for a film like this, despite low production values, one can say, "at least it was entertaining", but for a lot of it's 98 minute running time; Wild Zero is boring, and at times even painful to watch. The scene in which two zombies 'fall in love' springs to mind immediately for the painful part of the film - it's not big, it's not clever; just stupid. And then there's a thing with a girl that turns out to be a guy. The movie professes that "love has no boundaries, nationalities or gender". This message completely lost in a trash film such as this, and it comes across as just being there to make the film more stupid. In a film like "The Crying Game", a message like this can, and does work; but come on, not in a silly zombie film - please! Another bad thing about is this movie is the band; Guitar Wolf. If you're going to make a trash movie with a rock band, at least make it a cool one. Guitar Wolf comes across as being a boring bunch of idiots in this film.
That's not to say that Wild Zero is completely devoid of positive aspects. There is a hilarious short conversation about who has seen the classic "Night of the Living Dead", and some of the zombie attack sequences are good; mostly due to the heavy gore, which is always nice to see. The movie also features an impressive arsenal of weapons, from rocket launchers to shotguns to broomsticks. However, none of these things are enough to save this mess. It isn't destined to be a cult classic because it simply isn't that good. It's maybe worth watching if you're a die-hard fan of ridiculous movies, or if you really love the better side of Asian horror (as opposed to the boring ghost story side), but otherwise I recommend leaving this alone and seeing the superior Asian zombie flick; "Bio-Zombie" instead, which is silly in all the right places.