Otto; or Up With Dead People is a 2008 independent film directed by Bruce La Bruce, with the acting talents of Marcel Schlutt, Katharina Klewinghaus and introducing Jey Crisfar as Otto. The movie tells the story of a handsome teenage zombie that awakes from the dead and roams the city trying to make a living.
Tropes:
- Bury Your Gays: Subverted. Many gay characters die, both before and during the film...but as it's a zombie film, death doesn't mean they're out of the story.
- But Not Too Gay / Hide Your Lesbians: Averted: the film features explicit gay and lesbian content
- Cute Monster Girl: Otto is a rare male example.
- Fauxlosophical Narration: Medea provides such speeches in her movies.
- Le Film Artistique:
- The films that Medea Yarn directs are straight examples.
- This movie features very long shots with static cam, anachronic order, creepy music, seemingly unconnected scenes and other common associated tropes.
- Gorn: Quite literally.
- Lipstick Lesbian: Medea Yarn and her girlfriend, Hellabent.
- Looks Like Cesare: Otto, though his hairstyle is rather sleek instead of shaggy, but he has the black hair, pale-white skin, dark rings under his eyes and black clothing to pull it off.
- Manly Gay: Most of the actors starring in Medea's movie are, Fritz is the most prominent example.
- Mind Screw: Very much at first, but at the end everything is explained -somehow.
- Not Using the "Z" Word: Averted, Otto refers himself as a zombie.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: It's implied Otto may not actually be a zombie, but just have a mental disorder that makes him act like one. Although, he bit a guy earlier in the film who thus turned into a zombie, so...
- Our Zombies Are Different: The zombies in the film have a conscience and keep part of their personality, but their memories of the time they were alive are blurry.
- Perky Goth: Hella, but Medea has her moments
- Porn with Plot: As a typical La Bruce film, but with more plot than porn
- Pretty in Mink: Medea wears a black fur coat when she meets her girlfriend.
- Prima Donna Director: Medea.
- Random Events Plot
- Retraux: Hella has a weird atmosphere that makes everything around her to look like a black and white.silent film
- Rummage Sale Reject: Otto's outfit, he is mistaken for goth in-universe, but on the internet has been classified as either punk or emo. He is dressed with skinny jeans, combat boots, a striped gray and black sweater, a white shirt, black necktie and a black hoodie.
- Vegetarian Vampire: Vegan Zombie — Otto was vegetarian before turning zombie, and now has mixed feeling about eating meat. He survives primarily by eating roadkill, but he eats the guts of a human being in one occasion.
- Zombie Apocalypse: The zombies in Medea's film try to invoke this for the sake of their queer-zombie revolution, but is Deconstructed quickly.
- Zombie Gait