John Dies at the End (2012)

 

 

I’m not going to lie, I read the book this film is based on years ago and I wasn’t a fan so taking me twelve years to see the film isn’t a big surprise.  The film (of the same name) is directed by Don Coscarelli who has also directed Phantasm and all the subsequent follow-ups as well as Bubba Ho-Tep so I’m familiar with his work and I am a fan.  Starring here is Chase Williamson (Scare Package and Victor Crowley) as Dave and Rob Mayes (Deep Blue Sea 2 and Sorority Wars) as John.  Dave and John are two friends who try to fight off some sort of invasion but with the title of the film, it would seem at least one of them isn’t going to do too well.  Also starring is Paul Giamatti (The Truman Show and The Holdovers) as Arnie Blondestone, a man who Dave is telling the story of what has happened to him.  John Dies at the End is told in flashbacks as Dave speaks to Arnie. 

 

 

 

Doug Jones (Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water) is Roger North who just shows up suddenly in the back of Dave’s car and slips a weird creature down Dave’s shirt.  He tells Dave to drive and then disappears shortly after.  There are time paradoxes galore as at one point while Dave and John are in a restaurant, John from another time calls and talks to Dave on the phone.  There are drugs that induce hallucinations and causes people to slip into alternate dimensions that Dave accidentally injects himself with so everything after that is suspect to me.  But it’s still fun.  John and Dave are taken in to be questioned by Detective Appleton played by Glynn Turman (Bumblebee and The Way Back) about the party the two of them had attended.  It seems that the two of them are the only two people who attended the party and has not disappeared or died.  Who knows what happens next but it’s a ride for sure.  Also starring is Clancy Brown (Highlander and The Shawshank Redemption) as Dr. Albert Marconi, a psychic and exorcist.  There’s also a cameo by Angus Scrimm, who was The Tall Man in all the Phantasm films, as Father Shellnut, a priest. 

 

Trust me when I say this film was a little easier to understand and enjoy than the book was for me is an understatement.  The film retains much of the originality of the book and can relate the story much better than I was able to when I read it.  But this story is all over the place in the best of ways.  Try not to take anything too seriously and don’t expect explanations for all the plot twist and turns, the less you want explained the better it will be for you.  The special effects are gross and at times shocking I am happy to report as well.  Also, with as much as I am telling you here there is so much other stuff that I am not telling you because, to be honest, it must be seen.  No words on a computer screen would do this justice.  One of the bigger pleasant surprises I’ve had this year.  Let’s go three and a half phantom limbs out of five for this impressive comedy horror.