#Hooptober9

💀 NUMBER EIGHT 💀
💀 ONE FILM FEATURING A BAND OR MUSICIAN (GUITAR WOLF) 💀

"Wild Zero" (1999)
* dir: Tetsuro Takeuchi
* Comedy / Horror / Guitar Wolf Said Trans Rights
[ ★★★★ / ★★★★★ ]

"Ace! Love has no borders, nationalities or genders! There are no boundaries in rock 'n' roll! Believe in rock 'n' roll!"

Maybe it's because I watched this thing while hopped up on a ton of pain medication following dental surgery, but this might be one of the coolest goddamn movies I've ever seen.

Japanese punk rockabilly greasers vs. blue faced zombies from outer space vs. the gender binary. It's kind of like if Gregg Araki collaborated with a still young-and-scrappy Robert Rodriguez to make an adaptation of "The House Of The Dead" and gave it the most bitchin' soundtrack of all time as well as an unapologetically progressive theme that is literally shouted in your face at multiple times with brash, boldly infectious passion.

Although, despite having a ridiculously heightened premise, the overall vibe of "Wild Zero" is actually much more casual and laid-back as opposed to constantly laying its foot on the pedal in a way that you might expect from hearing that plot description. It has a compellingly shaggy sort of energy, like a hangout film for the turn-of-the-century counterculture as blasted through broken speakers played at maximum, ear-shredding volume. And speaking of "maximum volume", the soundtrack for this thing is truly on another level. Outside of Guitar Wolf, we have The Phantom Surfers (featuring Dick Dale!), cult beloved Teengenerate, and a whole ton of stuff from personal favorite Greg Cartwright (Oblivians, Greg Oblivian & The Tip-Tops, Reigning Sound).

If I saw this movie back in high school when I was actually still in bands that were making music like this, I think it's safe to say that it would have became a religion for me (the same way that "Six-String Samurai" did). And while it didn't hit me quite as hard as it might have in my sweaty garage punk youth, I still unabashedly enjoyed this fiercely passionate and endlessly entertaining little motion picture. What can I say! It's charmingly low-budget 90s era genre filmmaking at its finest, which is just kryptonite to me.

In other words: what "Wild Zero" lacks in production value and polish, it more than makes up for with giddy imagination and untamed sincerity.

I swear by my leather jacket and my rock 'n' roll, I love this movie.