Review of John Dies at the End at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Paul Giamatti is a welcome sight in Don Coscarelli's horror comedy.
Writer/director Don Coscarelli is a multi-generational fan boy favorite for his '80s horror franchise Phantasm, his swords-and- sorcery adventure The Beastmaster and his 2002 horror comedy Bubba Ho- Tep starring Bruce Campbell as Elvis Presley.
John Dies At The End, which makes its world premiere in the Park City at Midnight section at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, mixes all the laughs and gooey monster effects Coscarelli's fans have come to expect. Unfortunately, after a zesty opening involving multiple axes and the undead, John Dies At The End slowly loses its spark and dissolves into an average sci-fi and horror mash-up.
Soy Sauce is the new drug of choice due to the multi-dimensional trip it brings to its users. The problem is some Soy Sauce users turn into monsters after taking it.
John (Rob Mayes) and Dave (Chase Williams) are college dropouts who accept the responsibility of fighting the Soy Sauce-created monsters as well as the assorted creatures that escape through the Soy Sauce- created rifts in time and space.
Coscarelli flaunts his production team's creative shoestring throughout John Dies At The End and the result is a pulpy appearance perfect for his B-movie storytelling.
Prosthetic effects are courtesy of Kurtzman's Creature Corps with additional creature support via animator David Hartman and CG effects from Mike Mangan and Mars Sandoval of Sundrome Studio. Their creative collaboration pays off in the film's standout monster, a meat creature that comes to life from packages of meat in a basement freezer.
Newcomers Chase Williamson and Rob Mayes make affable, slacker heroes and they complement veteran Paul Giamatti and genre favorites Doug Jones (the Hellboy movies) and Clancy Brown in the movie.
Giamatti, who also executive produces the film, is plenty fun as a reporter trying to uncover the Soy Sauce story. Unfortunately, Giamatti's character never becomes truly involved in the monster- hunting adventures and fails to bring the film the boost it needs to succeed.
John Dies At The End claims a sizable fan base thanks to its success as a web serial and a popular book by David Wong, a.k.a. Jason Pargin.
Still, the film disappoints those genre buffs hoping for a film equal to Coscarelli's cult classic Bubba Ho-Tep.
Coscarelli stays true to Pargin's horror novel by emphasizing the film's frequent laughs as much as its scares. John Dies At The End has more clever touches than the standard gore-fest and welcome humor.
Still, the idea of a cult kingpin like Don Coscarelli adapting a favorite genre novel like John Dies At The End comes with high expectations and the movie fails to deliver on its genre potential.
Director: Don Cosacarelli
Screenwriter: Don Cosacarelli, based on Jason Pargin's novel John Dies At The End, written under the pseudonym David Wong
Cast: Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes, Paul Giamatti, Clancy Brown and Glynn Turman
Producers: M3 Alliance, M3 Creative, Midnight Alliance
Distributor: Available
Cinematographer: Michael Gioulakis
Editor: Donald Milne, Don Coscarelli
Music: Brian Tyler
Running Time: 108 minutes