Wild Zero (1999)

Wild Zero (Japan, 1999) 98 min color DIR: Tetsuro Takeuchi. PROD: Kaichiro Furata. SCR: Satoshi Takagi. MUSIC: Guitar Wolf. DOP: Motoki Kobayashi. CAST: Guitar Wolf, Masashi Endo, Makoto Inamiya. (Synapse Film)

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Wild Zero is truly my favourite Rock and Roll movie of all time. There really is nothing like it. The film stars the cult Japanese noise punk trio Guitar Wolf (Bass Wolf, Drum Wolf and Guitar Wolf make up the band), who dress like 50s greaser rock and rollers (greased hair, sunglasses and leather jackets), and who play some of the loudest punk/ rock/ noise you’ve ever heard. Their microphones shoot flames while they perform on stage, they repeatedly shout “ROCK AND ROLL” over and over, pausing only to comb their hair.

The film begins in the bedroom of Ace, one young fan of the band (he’s going to a Guitar Wolf show tonight). While Ace readies himself (dressing like they do, combing his hair etc), we are introduced to the other major players, and out into outer space where we see a swarm of flying saucers heading towards the earth. Cut to a club in a small town, Guitar Wolf take the stage and blast out their hit song “Jet Generation”, while Ace rocks out in the crowd. We jump to the end of the show and Ace is waiting around to meet his idols, while they argue with the club manager (aka The Captain; a man with a terrible bowl cut, clad in polo shirt and hot pants, and a penchant for cocaine, hookers and guns) about getting paid. Of course he doesn’t want to pay the band…chaos ensues, the captain pulls a gun, Ace pushes Guitar Wolf out of the way, giving Guitar Wolf a chance to pull his magnum (of course all Rock and Rollers carry big guns) and blows off the captain’s fingers. Guitar Wolf gives Ace a golden wolf shaped whistle and thanks him for saving him saving; “If you need help, blow the whistle”, then off they go in their car and motorcycle (whose mufflers shoot flames a la Batmobile) and they ride off into the night.

Now the film really gets going. We are introduced to more characters in a series of cutaway scenes; a trio of teens looking for a crashed meteor, a beautiful female arms dealer and her nervous clients, a young girl left by the side of the road. Ace drives down the highway on his motorcycle, singing American punk songs. And that’s when the zombies come. In typical zombie movie fashion, the characters all end up near or in a small town that seems deserted. Ace meets the young girl (Asahi-Ho), and they run from the zombies. Guitar Wolf meets the arms dealer, and they hide out in her warehouse, the trio of teens gets zombified and two of them (Masao and Hanako a couple who used to argue habitually) cry out for each other as zombies, still very much in love. The pace of the film is frenetic. The sound blaring, and the zombies explode in just about every scene from here till the end of the film.

Ace and Asahi-Ho hide out in a warehouse, cuddled together, and frightened, they “comfort” each other, that is until Ace realizes that Asahi-Ho is a boy in girl’s clothing and runs away. He realizes he has the whistle and blows it, and the band comes running to Ace’s side. Ace tells them about Asahi-Ho, and Guitar Wolf bestows the wisdom that love knows no age, or gender. A very enlightened rock and roll attitude.

Not soon after the big showdown occurs between the band the zombies, a UFO, and a very angry and now radioactive and superpowered Captain (who’s been chasing the band looking for revenge). It is pure spectacle: rocket launchers, laser eyes, a guitar that turns into a samurai sword, everything but the kitchen sink, really. The day is saved, the flying saucers flee the earth in the face of the mighty power of Rock and Roll, and all is well again in the universe.

Now to say that Wild Zero is cartoonish is really an understatement. Everything is elevated to the point of absurdity, the flame shooting cars, the frequency exploding zombie heads, the band yelling “Rock and Roll” while they fight the zombies, and how they comb their hair after each battle. It’s irreverent, loud, obnoxious, and a riot of a good time to watch. Once while googling Wild Zero, I happened upon a Wild Zero drinking game (all great rock and roll films should have a drinking game!). The rules of the game were simple: 1) any time someone combs their hair, take a drink. 2) any time someone says “rock and roll”, take a drink. 3) any time something shoots flames, take a drink. 4) any time someone puts on or takes off their sunglasses, take a drink. 5) any time a zombie head explodes, take a drink. Now a few folks I know (including myself) played this game while watching the film. Needless to say in less than a half hour, we had mostly run out of booze and could barely move… this was the best way to experience the film I think (although sometimes you can’t even keep up with how many drinks you should be chugging in some of the zombie battle scenes).

So why talk about the drinking game? Well I think it captures the essence of the film in some way. It’s total nonsense, a mishmash of multiple genres: alien invasion, romance, comedy, gangster, zombie, rock and roll. It’s like mixing one of those crazy drinks in a blender that get you smashed before you’ve finished just one. It’s a fun film with its tongue planted firmly in its cheek. It’s fast paced, and wild, just as the name suggests. It’s one of those films you want to view with other people though, to share in the fun, sort of like Rocky Horror or Rock and Roll High School. Really though it’s just another movie about super hero rock stars saving the planet with their music, and that alone makes it worthwhile. 

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Originally presented in Vol. #1, Issue #17, “Rock And Roll Goes To The Movies”. This review was initially paired with Kiss Meets the Phantom for a piece called “Rock And Roll Star As Comic Book Hero”.