In the first section of True Fear, the cast and crew are engaged in the chaotic production of a low-budget zombie film set in an abandoned water filtration plant. Their director, Takayuki Higurashi, driven by mounting debts and frustration over the actors' performances, attempts to conjure real horror by having a blood pentagram painted, hoping to summon actual zombies from the site’s haunted history. The situation spirals out of control when the cameraman turns into a zombie and bites the assistant director, Hiroshi Ichihara, thereby transforming him as well. Three characters—actress Yuzuki Akiyama as Chinatsu, actor Kazuaki Nagaya as Ko, and makeup artist Harumi Shuhama—manage to lock the zombies outside, but Higurashi insists on continuing the shoot with the newly risen undead.
As the chaos escalates, the sound engineer, infected and zombified, is brought back inside the plant by Higurashi, who films the terrifying event. In a moment of desperate action, Nao decapitates the sound engineer, leading to a rain of zombie blood that splatters across the set.
Chinatsu, Ko, and Nao try to flee the madness, but are met with a harrowing attack from zombified Kasahara, also captured by Higurashi’s camera. In a gripping moment, Chinatsu faces the advancing horde but is saved by Ko. They regroup with Nao, who begins to suspect that Chinatsu might be infected. Convinced she must eliminate the threat, Nao pursues Chinatsu, dispatching several zombies in the fray. The chase leads to a rooftop, where Nao meets her end at Ko's hands, who uses an axe to protect Chinatsu.
Feeling she may be turning into a zombie, Chinatsu takes refuge in a nearby building marked with a pentagram. After a narrow encounter with an unidentified zombie, she goes outside to find Ko, but shockingly discovers he has succumbed to the infection. What follows is a tragic confrontation—Chinatsu, in an echo of earlier events, is compelled to act against her zombified friend. Amidst this horrifying climax, Higurashi criticizes her for diverging from the script. In a moment of rage and survival, Chinatsu kills Higurashi and ends the first section standing on the bloodied pentagram, entranced by the gruesome scene before her.
Moving into the second section, the narrative shifts to a nostalgic flashback focused on the lives of the fictional cast and crew of a film titled One Cut of the Dead. This film-within-a-film adds complexity as viewers learn about Takayuki Higurashi, who is approached by network executives seeking a director for a one-take zombie film aimed to launch a new channel. Despite his initial reluctance, he seizes this opportunity as a means to reconnect with his daughter, Mao, a dedicated horror fan.
In the third section, the screen shifts once again to the behind-the-scenes madness of shooting One Cut of the Dead. Due to the absence of key cast members, Takayuki and his wife, Harumi Shuhama, are thrust into their roles. As the filming unfolds, the set is rife with comedic chaos: from Takayuki's over-the-top acting to actors succumbing to various mishaps, the production becomes a whimsical disaster. The crew resorts to improvisation, navigating through physical comedy as they grapple with on-set challenges, including Harumi’s unexpected assault on other cast members during an intense scene.
Notably, the misadventures culminate in a creative solution to a broken camera crane: the crew forms a human pyramid to capture the final scene, with Mao precariously holding the camera from atop Takayuki’s shoulders. This faux-crane shot concludes the hectic shoot, bringing relief and elation to the cast and crew.
As the film wraps up, the credits roll over real footage of the crew from One Cut of the Dead, immortalizing their journey, which includes the climactic faux-crane shot captured from a ladder, leaving audiences with a sense of triumph amidst the pandemonium of filmmaking.
