Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

In short, this movie is just as odd as its premise makes it sound. A young homosexual zombie wandering around, isn't exactly a premise for an everyday movie but then again "Otto; or, Up with Dead People" isn't your average everyday movie. It's something unique and original and you will most likely either love it or hate it. Me personally; I quite liked it.Above all things, this is a movie that is taking a very artistic approach. Watching this is a true special experience. Visually its a great looking movie, that is being quite creative and seemed to be full with great ideas. Now, granted that not everything works out well or interesting but overall "Otto; or, Up with Dead People" remains a good watch throughout.You shouldn't take everything in this movie too literally. Seems to me that its entire main concept was a metaphor how lots of people still look upon homosexuals and how they treat them. In lots of places they are still being seen as not normal, to put it mildly and as meat 'eating' animals. That's why the main character of the movie feels like- or thinks he is a freak, or a zombie in this case. At least that's how I interpret things. But who knows, maybe you will get something totally different out of this movie. But fact remains that this is a very homosexual orientated movie and everything revolves around this.This also means that the movie is not just showing kissing men but also some far more explicit moments. There is a fair amount of male nudity and even a couple of graphic sex sequences, involving male characters.The entire movie was obviously quite cheap to make but I think that director Bruce La Bruce did a great job with his material. The way he shot the movie makes it almost irrelevant that it has a quite cheap look to it. It's directed with lots of class, which often makes the movie a visually great one to experience.Don't watch this movie expecting a lot of story though. There isn't really a clear main point to the movie and the movie is more about its underlying messages. Some movies however can do just fine without a clear main story, as this greatly artistic- and as such an effective, movie demonstrates.Still some stuff just remains too odd and distracting. Such as for instance the fact that basically every character the main characters comes across turns out to be an homosexual, male of female. Seriously, what kind of world was this movie supposed to be set in, since you clearly can't call it a realistic one.It also seems odd that this is a German movie, with mostly German actors, speaking all in English. Don't know what's the entire story behind this but it just seems to me that it's more easy for Bruce La Bruce to make movies in Germany but he still wants to reach an international audience, so he wrote and shot all of the dialog in English. This means you can hear a lot of thick accents throughout the movie.Call me weird but I for most part quite liked this movie!7/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

This IS a serious film. If you get past the gay porn and the expectation that this will be some zombie thriller (stumbling blocks that seem to have gotten in the way of many of the reviewers here), then it becomes quite clear that this is NOT primarily a gay politics film, and NOT a thriller.For me, the relevance of this film comes through with full reference to Lacan and Zizek, who both discuss the different types of desire/drive that motivate the human subject. Most of us are stuck in the subjectivity of desire, pursuing our love objects--and losing them--but always in the grip of the idea that somehow we can have IT. The subject of desire is always motivated by 'lack' and the attempt to fill in the lack; but the subject of drive is motivated by excess and the weariness of always having 'too much'.In the film, Otto had IT, but as is clear in the scene when he re-meets his old love, the guy really wasn't all that worth it. But this does not lead Otto to attempt to replace his lost love; instead he has the realization that his lost love is infinitely replaceable by any of the clones out there pursuing mindless connections. The scene with his lost love comes late in the film, but it suggests that some structural aspects of it were behind Otto's becoming a zombie in the first place. There is a realization that leads Otto to lose his 'desire' and become a zombie--he lives with the curse that the object of his desire is endlessly repeatable--he is condemned always to having this realization, which essentially makes him neither alive nor dead.The end of the film suggests that Otto achieves a different kind of jouissance than that merely had by the 'subject of drive'--but it is only a suggestion, and Labruce goes no further with it than that. This is where I think the film falls short: it is an excellent expose of the emptiness of desire and of the flatness of desire's corollary, drive. But the film does not satisfactorily navigate what lies beyond the desire/drive deadlock.Nevertheless, this film is far beyond most film-schlock of the moment that never even rises to a decent consciousness of the chains of desire. It is a great exploration of the subjectivity of displacement and intimates that that is an aspect of ALL of our understandings, whether we perceive it or not. I agree with the reviewer who calls this an "entirely original work of art."

"Otto; or, Up With Dead People"- yes, that is the title- is a film (student-esque looking, really) about... well, not really 'about' because the plot barely delves into a story about him- except that he had an ex-boyfriend... a zombie named Otto. He walks around. A lot. Then in an Otto-unrelated situation, some other zombie fornicates with another zombie through a self-made stomach-hole. The film was like, half mockumentary and half some other crap. I'm sure there are some political revolutionary symbols that one could find relating the zombies to sex-repressed humans or blah blah, but I've seen political living dead films before, and this ain't it. Okay, I'm not one to completely tear apart some other artist's work, so I will say that the cinematography was great in certain scenes- like Otto walking through a field of yellow flowers- the colors were great, and there was one character that was a walking silent-film... that was pretty neat. So, when it all comes down to it: What Drew Me To See It: I was perusing through IMDb and saw the keywords "Gay Zombie Movie," and though, "Hey. That's new to me." What I Was Doing While Watching It: Falling asleep. I tried really hard to get into it. I was at a point where I felt like I would be ostracized on the internet horror-movie community if I didn't watch the whole film. So I watched it in 2 parts. Two long, long, slow-moving, confusing parts.Stood Out For Better: The walking silent film, some visual scenes, and my want to keep watching for the first half. Otto was interesting as well. I just wanted to keep watching him, at first. Oh, and the stomach-screwing was notorious with me.Stood Out For Worse: The stomach-screwing was okay with me- I'm a fan of outrageous gore and exploitation, but the big orgy of bear-biker zombies towards the end was just too much. And the 'freshman year in film school at the most' vibe of the film really threw me off. It had a hard time drawing my interest and keeping me entertained. I was more anxious to stay awake than I was to watch.Overall: I hate to be harsh, but this film gets a C-. The only reason I didn't give it a D was because I really wanted to watch it. I didn't enjoy watching it! But I did want to.

I just watched this and I should warn all viewers, especially fans of gore, that Otto; or Up with Dead People starts out remarkably slow paced. This film takes it's time getting started with the plot and it will likely challenge most people to continue watching. It may be too slow for many viewers. However, if you stick with it, you will most definitely be rewarded! This latest film by Canadian filmmaker Bruce LaBruce is fantastic. It's my second favorite Bruce LaBruce film after The Raspberry Reich. It is always an interesting experience to watch any of his films and this one sure didn't let me down! Otto is a gay pornographic zombie horror movie. Judging from that description, it should be quite obvious that this isn't for all tastes. Then again, not all Bruce LaBruce films are! Otto was, in a way, the movie I have always been looking for. I love zombie films, I love horror films, I love gore films, and I love films with gay themes. If you are a fan of all of these genres, this film should satisfy you. It is among one of the more satisfying gay films I have seen for quite some time. The film is scary, it's gory as hell, and the sex scenes rock.The plot basically follows around Otto, a German zombie with memory problems who has risen from his grave. He travels to Berlin and meets an underground filmmaker who wants to make a political zombie porno and finds a fondness for Otto and chooses him to be the poster child for the film. However, things get complicated when he discovers his boyfriend's identity and agrees to meet with him. From there, things get extreme.This movie is just plain fun. It works as a satire and as a horror movie in equal measure. I found it to be hilarious at times. The movie-within-a-movie trick often gets misused and can easily turn a film into a mindless mess a clichés. Otto does not fall into this trap. Instead, this film takes the idea in a unique direction. While the film, by no means, should be taken seriously, there is still a lot to admire in the artistic details of the film. The film is startlingly gory at times. There are scenes that go so far over-the-top in shocking behavior that the film manages to walk that fine line on surrealism and tastelessness. Whether it is either of those is irrelevant because it is hilarious to watch some of these scenes take place.Politically, the film certainly has something to say. While Bruce LaBruce's films have always dealt with politics, this film manages to not push that so far as it does play off of that idea. Bruce LaBruce satirizes himself with the German filmmaker, and as a result the film hits the right clever notes. Otto, the zombie, is ridiculously beautiful to look at. The soundtrack is certainly very cool, as most soundtracks to the films of Bruce LaBruce are. Most importantly, the film is alive and it flows with heart. This is truly the work of somebody who loves the conventions of film and the endless possibilities of originality in film-making. Definitely check this one out if it sounds like your kind of film. You especially won't be disappointed if you're looking for the next great surrealist picture of the 21st Century.