Director: Don Coscarelli
Distributor: Zenopictures.be
Duration: 95 minutes
John Dies at the End (DVD) – Movie Review
Just like with many books, the cover and the title are often better than the actual piece of literature. Sadly, the same can be said for many movies, where the title and trailer make things seem incredible impressive, whilst the flick itself often shoots blanks. Nonetheless, we stumbled upon one of the most alluring titles we had seen in quite some time, namely John Dies at the End. This simple phrase immediately made us wonder, does John die at the end? Well, we won’t tell. We were pretty much amazed by the fact that the title was catchy and the movie actually proved to be worth it.
Dave (Chase Williamson) led a fairly normal life not that long ago, at least until he came into contact with ‘soy sauce’, and we’re not talking about the kind you get buckets worth of in the local Chinese restaurant, but an out-of-this-world kind of drug. When the sentient living drug first chose Dave, he ended up in one crazy event after another, especially when John (Rob Mayes) calls him in a panic, telling Dave he can’t leave his own apartment or he will perish. Dave rushes over, to find a partially nude John hiding behind his couch, still in the same state of panic. When Dave tells him they should go, although he does not really know why, the bizarre events truly kick off. Even though John is sitting next to Dave, he receives phone calls from John, while John in front of him is not actually calling him. These phone calls continue, even though the ‘physically visible’ version of John never picks up his phone.
While John is supposedly dead when the local police department interrogates the pair, Dave still receives phone calls from John, telling him where to go, to make things eerily clear. It seems that the weird Jamaican man Dave met at the party earlier, who demonstrated his weird psychic powers, is tied in with all the ongoing events.
Honestly, the story of this movie is painfully hard to describe, as the movie is one amusing horrific action packed sequence after another. It’s clear that Dave has been through a lot, and thus he is telling his story to a reporter, Arnie Blondestone (Paul Giamatti), to go public with all that has occurred. The fact that Dave sits alone in front of Arnie makes the throbbing question of John’s supposed demise even more present.
Overall the flow of the movie is spot-on, even though everything is very unclear at the beginning. Slowly the pieces of the puzzle will fall into place and everything becomes a very enjoyable experience, with more than enough going on to keep things interesting from the start to when the credits start rolling in.
Seeing this movie is categorized as a horror comedy, it’s only natural that gruesome monsters and a bit of gore are present, nonetheless they are handled in a rather ‘cheap’ way. Of course, it feels like it’s intended and it never becomes bothersome, as it fits the topic of the movie perfectly. That being said, there’s enough for the eye to see which provides provide a witty experience.
Acting performances of the movie are quite easy, as Chase Williamson tends to steal the show, with Rob Mayes and Paul Giamatti providing the proper backup. Clancy Brown is also present in the movie, with a rather amusing psychic role, falling in line with the rest of the characters. Glynn Turman plays a rather depressed detective, who is up to speed with what might be going on and wants to take matters in his own hands.
The extras that are implemented on the DVD release are quite typical, offering features such as the making of, cast screenings and other simple bonuses. Nonetheless, if the movie entertained you, these are certainly welcome to quench your thirst for more.
Conclusion
John Dies at the End might not be the next movie in line to receive an Oscar, but the film is very good in what it does and in its specific genre. Whilst you’ll never truly laugh out loud, you’ll certainly fly through 95 minutes of content with a small grin on your face. This nonsensical story is truly amusing, if you can look past the sometimes shoddy special effects. We end this review with our original food for thought: Does John Die at the End? Do let us know.
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It was fun to watch once, but it was just so …… strange ….