Review: ‘Otto; or Up with Dead People’

‘Otto; or Up with Dead People’
Written & Directed by Bruce La Bruce
Starring:
Jey Crisfar … Otto

Horror film is often used as a mirror for the fears and anxieties of a culture, and so it remains the norm with ‘Otto; or Up with Dead People,” the latest film from Canadian writer/director/photographer, Bruce La Bruce. If you’re familiar with La Bruce’s previous films, then you have an idea of what to expect. First timers ought to be shocked at least once.

La Bruce films meld art house indie aesthetic with gay porn. This new film has that vibe, but with the added bonus being that it also has zombies, and the consumption of flesh. So, it should go without saying, if alternative sexual lifestyles and gore aren’t your cup o’ tea… you’ve been warned.

Adventurous cineastes, however, will find a lot to love in this movie: a highly stylized sound design, rousing soundtrack, and wonderful editing by  Jà ¶rn Hartmann (aka Michael Huber). First time actor Jey Crisfar is perfectly cast as the melancholy zombie, Otto. La Bruce’s direction deserves mention, too, for its meld of detached dread and innocent whimsy, existing somewhere between Herk Harvey’s ‘Carnival of Souls’ and the early films of Richard Lester.  Ã‚  

There is also, of course, the novelty of gay zombies, and it is this plot point where the film sets itself apart from the rest of the zombie crowd. The sight of eroticism amongst undead men, as they eat each others entrails and fuck open wounds, will give this little film some notoriety amongst the cult enthusiasts.

However, that is where innovation ends and the aforementioned mirror begins. This meta-horror film holds up its mirror and sees… the same fears and anxieties George Romero saw in 1978: rampant consumerism, conformity, hedonism, bigotry. We are a society cannibalizing itself.  

No shit, right?

The whole affair never takes itself too seriously, though, and the meta-narrative has enough surprises to keep things moving along through the second and third acts. It is a film that is clearly a love letter to the works that have inspired Bruce La Bruce, wrapped up in a socio-political tract. It is hardly groundbreaking, but it is a satisfying entry into a tired genre.  

Look for it later this year as it should have a very limited theatrical run, followed by a quick release to DVD.

  

[rating: 4/5]