Movies
John Dies at the End
“‘John Dies at the End‘ is a wonderful irreverent horror movie. The great thing about irreverence is I think you have to have reverence before you can remove it. Don Coscarelli celebrates his and our love of monsters and cataclysm by reframing their cinematic power.”
John Dies at the End is a wonderful irreverent horror movie. The great thing about irreverence is I think you have to have reverence before you can remove it. Don Coscarelli celebrates his and our love of monsters and cataclysm by reframing their cinematic power.
David Wong (Chase Williamson) and his friend John (Rob Mayes) deal with supernatural problems all the time. A meat monster is just something they know how to handle. They do get in a bit over their head when a drug called Soy Sauce gives them psychic powers and unlocks their path to alternate dimensions and time.
All of these wonderful creatures and metaphysical tangent must come from the book by the real life Wong. It still makes a very special movie where talented artists bring these ideas to visual life. This breadth of this story encapsulates al different types of monsters from the paranormal to the surreal. I won’t give away any more specifics.
The banter between David and John is sly. Maybe not quite as fast paced as a Joss Whedon script but the right tone and a confidence in the nonchalant perspective the characters take.
The story covers a lot of ground, taking David and John to different realms and reaching through multiple time periods. It flows smoothly and you never lose your place as an audience. I found the pace a little slower in the beginning, establishing plot in between wild monster moments, but man, those moments were totally worth waiting for. I felt that way about Bubba Ho-tep too so maybe you all will like that aspect of it. Then it totally ramps up once all the balls are in motion.
Coscarelli makes the most of the indie spirit/budget too. The effects are top notch and film looks polished like a studio movie. It’s clearly working within the constraints of the genre, so instead of filling the world with clutter like a Hollywood movie, they focus on the one important element.
You might hope Paul Giamatti were in the movie more, but the only character that makes sense for him is really a bookend. Clancy Brown stands out too and Doug Jones has a nice non-makeup role, but it’s really about the guys.
I don’t know if it’s scary but I’m pretty immune to that anyway. I like entertaining horror and John Dies at the End is definitely that. There are other shocking horrific midnighters at Sundance that will satisfy the other need. I can’t think of the name off the top of my head but there’s at least one.
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallis.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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