Horror

John Dies at the End

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: John Dies at the End
  • IMDb: link

john-dies-at-the-end-poster

Based on the comic-horror novel of the same name by Cracked editor David Wong and brought to the screen by writer/director Don Coscarelli, John Dies at the End is a bizarre dark comedic horror film about a powerful hallucinogenic drug known as Soy Sauce, parallel universes, time travel, the heroic nature of dogs, and an alien invasion that threatens all life on the planet Earth.

We’re introduced to our main character, David Wong (Chase Williamson), as he tells his unbelievable story to reporter Arnie Bloodstone (Paul Giamatti). Through long flashbacks we see the events that have led David to a Chinese restaurant to unburden his soul. Of course by the time we meet David he’s already addicted and high on Soy Sauce, which makes him the definition of an unreliable narrator whose words (and, at times, admitted lies) can only be taken at face value.

The story really begins with David’s best friend John (Rob Mayes) who scores some Soy Sauce off a fake magical Jamaican (Tai Bennett) one night at a party and changes both their lives forever.

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Kill For Me

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Kill For Me
  • IMDB: link

kill-for-me-dvdWould you kill for someone you just met? Kill For Me starts out as a basic thriller involving a pair of new roommates, Amanda (Katie Cassidy) and Hailey (Tracy Spiridakos), involved in some PG-13 college lesbian experimentation and the accidental killing of Amanda’s abusive ex-boyfriend (Ryan Robbins). Despite the fact the death is an open-and-shut case of self-defense, the two girls decide to hide the body. And that’s where things begin going downhill very quickly.

Kill For Me devolves into a series of twists, each more inexplicable and illogical than the last, as Hailey’s true motives become harder to discern as she goes to extreme lengths to blackmail her roommate and lover into helping Hailey seduce and kill her abusive father (Donal Logue). Given it’s ridiculous final hour the film’s only saving grace is it’s relatively short running time (95 minutes).

The only extra included on the DVD is a 13-minute behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of the film featuring cast and crew interviews from the set.

[Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, $22.99]

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Fatale #12

/ / Comics

Fatale #12Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips return with another one-shot offering us a glimpse of another fatale in 13th Century France as a young witch is tortured and burned at the stake by a religious order only to survive in the company by a hermit in the woods named Ganix.

The hermit takes in Mathilda and nurses her back to health and allows her to live with him in the obscurity of his modest home deep in the undergrowth for years before members of the order eventually find her and set a trap that’s all too easily sprung.

Mathilda’s tale is an interesting one, and I enjoyed it, but a single issue is about all that’s required to delve into it completely. The late twist works well seeing another woman like Josephine deal with her effect on the world and those who want to use her to their own ends adds to the overall story arc as well. Worth a look.

[Image, $3.50]

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine #18

/ / Comics

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine #18Buffy, Illyria, and Koh work together to take down Severin, but things get a little complicated when they discover what he’s after (Illyria’s power) and why (to rip apart the fabric of space and time and change the past to save his girlfriend’s life).

The issue also includes Xander‘s growing frustration with Dawn‘s mysterious illness (which apparently is leading to another “let’s trap Dawn in another goofy body” storyline), and the continuing misadventures of Billy the would-be Slayer who continues to investigate Buffy’s disappearance that left Billy and Detective Dowling at the mercy of a mob of zompires.

The Billy story aside, the comic works well as Severin’s motives (if not his logic) are easily understood and Illyria’s ego certainly hasn’t been damaged too much for her time in Los Angeles. However, the last few panels make me a little concerned that the old one’s time in Season Nine may be very short-lived. Worth a look.

[Dark Horse, $2.99]

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A Post-Apocalyptic Zombie Love Story

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Warm Bodies
  • IMDB: link

warm-bodies-posterNever was there a tale of love condemned more than that of Julie (Teresa Palmer) and her zombie boyfriend (Nicholas Hoult). One is a human-acting zombie from the wrong side of the tracks. The other is the tempestuous daughter of the leader (John Malkovich) of the army obsessed with blasting the brain-eaters off the face off the Earth.

From writer/director Jonathan Levine (50/50, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane) comes a post-apocalyptic zombie love story take on William Shakespeare‘s classic Romeo and Juliet which definitely has a pulse.

Presented from the point of view of R (Hault), a thoughtful zombie who begins to believe he can be more than just an undead scavenger after meeting Julie (Palmer) and eating her boyfriend’s (Dave Franco) brains, Levine’s script is far more clever than I expected. Warm Bodies may not reach the heights of Shaun of the Dead, but with some heart and a good sense of humor this new take on a classic love story embraces the more absurdist elements of it’s premise and is a surprisingly compelling and entertaining story.

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