OTTO

(A.k.a. OTTO, OR UP WITH DEAD PEOPLE)

"Once upon a time in the not-too-distant future, there unlived a zombie called Otto".

Thus begins the loosely narrated tale of Otto (Jey Crisfar), a young man who co-exists in a very present day-looking Germany alongside the living. We're told by our narrator Medea (Katharina Klewinghaus), a lesbian filmmaker who sounds half-asleep, that she developed a fascination with the enigmatic young monster the minute she first laid eyes on him.

Through Medea's continued monologue and some attractive documentary-style footage, we learn that the world has come to accept zombies as being able to walk among the living with no problem. Otto, therefore, is capable of staggering through the city streets in broad daylight, eyes corpse-white, without no-one stopping to take a second glance.

Otto seems lonely. He sits alone on park benches watching the world go by, wishing he had the stomach to sate his desire for human flesh. Instead, he resorts to frequent excursions to a local wood where he feeds off deer and birds. In one amusing scene, his aimless street-wandering is curtailed by the scent of dead pigs being chopped up in a butcher shop's window.

The homeless, jobless Otto continues to trawl the streets looking for food and - specifically - a purpose, unable to remember key factors of his former life such as family. The one vague recollection of being alive that he has is that there was a boy in his life. He can't remember his name, but can remember his smell.

Did I neglect to mention that Otto is a gay zombie? And he's not the only one. As Medea's narration reveals, there is a rather large gay undead population - as early scenes demonstrate (one in particular is sure to raise eyebrows: a zombie disembowels his male victim, then fucks the open wound in his stomach - no FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN coyness here, we get explicit cock-in-gash action).

Anyway, after a few more episodic adventures with Otto - kids throwing stuff at him in the street, his bloody tryst with an unwitting clubber - he finally spies a poster on a wall appealing for zombies to appear in a film. He answers the call, and meets Medea.

Medea is struck by Otto's vulnerability and immediately casts him as the subject of her latest project, a documentary following the undead as they go about their unlives. First though, Otto must meet her brother Adolf (Guido Sommer), her girlfriend Hella (Susanne Sachsse) and be subject to their painfully pretentious arthouse film-in-the-making "Up With Dead People".

Taken in by Medea and happy to become part of her group while he tries to remember the beau he left behind in a former life, Otto remains largely oblivious of Medea's political motivations for the most part.

But when Medea introduces Otto to the star of her other film, Fritz (Marcel Schlutt), a discovery in the actor's apartment triggers our anti-hero's memory and leads to an obsession that can only end badly.

OTTO is a weird mix of social commentary, pseudo-horror movie, arthouse, black comedy and political satire. With a large dose of content of a gay interest thrown into the gumbo. It all makes for a frothy mix, and one that weirdly works for the most part.

The social commentary and political satire come mainly from Medea's (Media, get it?) film, and her aspirations of creating something that will speak out against the establishment. OTTO also takes up from where Romero left off and offers a few interesting fresh perspectives on the observations regarding the similarities between the living and the dead. Indeed, the film poses the question on more than one occasion: who are the real zombies? Keep watching and there is even evidence to suggest Otto himself is not all that he at first seems ...

As a black comedy, the film relies heavily on deadpan performances and writer-director Bruce La Bruce's sardonic one-liners. It's not as funny as it thinks it is. Typical example: Otto is about to enter a gay nightclub when a reveller exits the club and tells him, without irony, that "it's dead in there".

The horror elements of the film are pretty effective. Benefiting from decent compositions, some atmospheric lighting and an excellent soundtrack supervised by Kevin Banks. There are moments of successful gore, and the downbeat tone should sit well with fans of modern-day grim genre fare.

The languid delivery of the dialogue, spoken in broken English by a European cast, may prove too annoying for some to stick with. Elsewhere, the film's arty aspirations will also not be for everyone. In that sense alone, the film's mix of outrageous horror material and well-shot arthouse trappings reminded me of Jorg Buttgereit's NEKROMANTIK 2. The black-and-white footage that Medea shoots of Otto is particularly sumptuous, while the decision to transform all scenes of Hella into window-boxed silent movie-type sequences is as interesting as it is baffling.

La Bruce (NO SIN OFF MY ASS; HUSTLER WHITE) is apparently known for his self-indulgence. I'd not seen one of his films before, so I can't comment on his previous efforts but OTTO does have that slight whiff about it. It's certainly slow after the initially brisk opening 30 minutes. Having said that, I had heard of La Bruce - which is remarkable as I'm not knowledgeable about gay cinema at all. So, I can only assume that he's quite renowned as a filmmaker within his own circles. On the strength of this, I can see why. OTTO is intelligent, thought-provoking, aesthetically sound and stays respectful to the horror genre while gently subverting it throughout.

The film is presented uncensored on Peccadillo's screener disc, in a very good-looking anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer. Colours are strong, blacks are free from compression woes and detail is sharp throughout. At least half of the film appears to have been shot on HD, and it makes for an extremely attractive visual proposition as a result.

English audio is provided in a clean and clear, consistent 2.0 mix. There is also a very small amount of dialogue spoken in German. The screener disc came with well-written, easily readable optional English subtitles.

There were no extra features or menus on the promo disc provided. Apparently the retail disc contains 13 minutes of deleted scenes.

Bruce La Bruce's OTTO is not going to be for everyone. Yes, there are gay kisses and a few hard cocks. But to dismiss it as a homosexuals-only genre film would be a shame, as it has a lot to recommend it. The polemical rants of Medea are almost worth watching this for alone. But, beyond them, this a well-shot film only mildly hampered by its uneven pace and unfortunately lazy performances. If this interests you, also keep an eye out for La Bruce's follow-up L.A. ZOMBIE.

Review by Stu Willis