Wild Zero is a 2000

2000 in film

The year 2000 in film involved some significant events.The top grosser worldwide was Mission: Impossible II. Domestically in North America, Gladiator won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor ....

 Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese "Jet rock 'n' roll" zombie horror comedy cult classic

Cult Classic

Cult Classic is a Blue Öyster Cult studio recording released in 1994, containing remakes of many of the band's previous hits.-Track listing:# " The Reaper" - 5:05# "E.T.I...

 directed by Tetsuro Takeuchi, and starring the Japanese garage punk

Garage punk

Garage punk is a fusion of garage rock and punk rock. It is fast-paced lo-fi music characterized by a dirty, choppy guitar sound—usually played by bands who are on independent record labels or who are unsigned...

 band Guitar Wolf

Guitar Wolf

Guitar Wolf is a Japanese garage punk power trio founded in Nagasaki, Nagasaki in 1987. The band is known for songs with piercing vocals and an extremely loud style of noise-influenced punk which emphasizes heavy distortion and feedback...

. It borrows many elements from other popular B-movie

B-movie

A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....

s such as Psychomania

Psychomania

Psychomania is a British horror film and cult film starring Nicky Henson as a devil worshipping gang leader and Robert Hardy as the detective in charge of bringing them in.It is also known as Death Wheelers Are.....

and Evil Dead II

Evil Dead II

Evil Dead II, also known as Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn, is a 1987 horror comedy film directed by Sam Raimi. It is a retcon sequel to the 1981 film The Evil Dead. The film was written by Raimi and Scott Spiegel, produced by Rob Tapert and starring Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams...

.

Plot

Ace, a wannabe rock star, is on his way to a concert of the band Guitar Wolf

Guitar Wolf

Guitar Wolf is a Japanese garage punk power trio founded in Nagasaki, Nagasaki in 1987. The band is known for songs with piercing vocals and an extremely loud style of noise-influenced punk which emphasizes heavy distortion and feedback...

 when space aliens invade the Earth. As a result the dead rise to their feet in the countryside setting of Asahi, Japan, with an appetite for flesh. Enlisting the help of his rock 'n roll blood brother Guitar Wolf, Ace and the members of the band get entangled in many misadventures with crazy rock managers in very tight shorts, transsexuals, naked women shooting guns in the shower, and bloodthirsty zombie

Zombie

Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...

s ready to tear them apart. Leather jacket

Leather jacket

A leather jacket is a type of clothing—a jacket-length coat—usually worn on top of other apparel, and made from the tanned hide of various animals. The leather material is typically dyed black, or various shades of brown, but a wide range of colors is possible...

s, loud over-modulated music, laser guitar picks, motorcycles, guns

Güns

Güns or Guens may refer to:* Kőszeg, Hungary * Kőszeg Mountains, Hungary * Akiva Güns , birth name of Akiva Eger, a Hungarian-Polish rabbi- See also :* Guns * Gün, a surname...

, muscle car

Muscle car

Muscle car is a term used to refer to a variety of high-performance automobiles. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines muscle cars as "any of a group of American-made 2-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving." Usually, a large V8 engine is fitted in a...

s, and fire abound. Guitar Wolf

Guitar Wolf

Guitar Wolf is a Japanese garage punk power trio founded in Nagasaki, Nagasaki in 1987. The band is known for songs with piercing vocals and an extremely loud style of noise-influenced punk which emphasizes heavy distortion and feedback...

, a Japanese trio signed to Matador Records

Matador Records

Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...

 in the US—and self-proclaimed coolest rock band in the world—star as the well-coiffed heroes. It is also a love story, between Ace and Tobio, a trans woman.

The music, in a garage punk

Garage punk

Garage punk is a fusion of garage rock and punk rock. It is fast-paced lo-fi music characterized by a dirty, choppy guitar sound—usually played by bands who are on independent record labels or who are unsigned...

 vein, plays an important role in the film. It features music from Greg Cartwright

Greg Cartwright

Greg Cartwright, also known by his stage name Greg Oblivian, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Memphis, Tennessee. He currently fronts Reigning Sound and lives in Asheville, North Carolina...

 of Reigning Sound

Reigning Sound

The Reigning Sound is an American garage punk band originally based out of Memphis, Tennessee, now located in Asheville, North Carolina. The band's current lineup includes former Oblivians and Compulsive Gamblers frontman Greg Cartwright on lead vocals and guitar, David Wayne Gay on bass, Lance...

 and The Oblivians. His 1997 song "Twice as Deep" by Greg Oblivian & the Tip Tops is featured.

This film is similar to another movie by a Spanish punk group, La matanza caníbal de los garrulos lisérgicos produced by Siniestro Total

Siniestro Total

Siniestro Total is a Galician punk rock group from Vigo . It was founded in 1981 by Julián Hernández, Alberto Torrado and Miguel Costas. After many changes in personnel, current members are Julián Hernández, Javier Soto, Óscar G...

 (a punk band from Vigo

Vigo

Vigo is a city and municipality in north-west Spain, in Galicia, situated on the ria of the same name on the Atlantic Ocean.-Population:...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

)

Guitar Wolf

Energetic lead singer and guitarist of the band Guitar Wolf

Guitar Wolf

Guitar Wolf is a Japanese garage punk power trio founded in Nagasaki, Nagasaki in 1987. The band is known for songs with piercing vocals and an extremely loud style of noise-influenced punk which emphasizes heavy distortion and feedback...

.
Rides a specially designed motorcycle (with a liquor bottle holder up front) and is the aggressive action hero of the group.
Also acts as Ace's moral guide, much like Elvis guides Clarence in True Romance

True Romance

True Romance is a 1993 American romance crime film written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Tony Scott. The film stars Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette with an ensemble cast consisting of Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Chris Penn, Tom Sizemore, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin...

.
Never without his guitar which turns out to house a samurai sword hidden in the instrument's neck. In another memorable scene, he throws guitar picks as if they were shuriken

Shuriken

A shuriken is a traditional Japanese concealed weapon that was generally used for throwing, and sometimes stabbing or slashing...

.

Bass Wolf

Band member, bassist, and drug enthusiast. Usually rides in car with Drum Wolf. Although more quiet than Drum Wolf, he is more violent, often punching characters who annoy him.

Drum Wolf

Drummer of the band.
Usually rides in car with Bass Wolf. He is usually seen with a cigarette, though in one scene he appears only to be chewing on it. He is the most loud and obnoxious member of the group, sometimes yelling at other characters.

Ace

Self-proclaimed "biggest Guitar Wolf fan in the world" with dreams of hitting it big as a musician himself (though he admits he does not know how to play guitar and is never seen with an instrument in the entire film).
Slightly goofy, but has heart in the right place, and is thoroughly filled with love of Rock 'N' Roll.

Tobio

Male-bodied damsel in distress with a hunger for love. The issue of whether Tobio is transgender

Transgender

Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....

ed or maybe intersexed is never made clear.

Captain

Guitar wolf's nemesis (and, as it is suggested, childhood friend), the manager of the club where Guitar Wolf was performing at the beginning of the film. His preference for money, drugs, and sex over the true spirit of rock n roll sparks the violent argument into which Ace storms at the film's beginning. Pursues Guitar Wolf throughout the film in an effort to exact his revenge for the loss of two fingers. He can be recognized by his wigs, pill popping, and hot pants.
Later on Captain gains the power to shoot lasers out of his eyes.

DVD information

• Encoding: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only).
• Format: Color, Widescreen
• Rated: NR
• Studio: Wea Corp
• DVD Release Date: September 30, 2003
• Run Time: 98 minutes

Trivia

• The zombies were played by Thai soldiers and their families.
• "Tobio" was played by a Thai actor and later dubbed for the dialogue.
• Reportedly, director Tetsuro Takeuchi begged Guitar Wolf to appear in this, his debut feature film, and they agreed on the condition that they could play themselves.
• Guitar Wolf said that the film was "stupid and fun".