On DVD: John Dies in the End

(2012, Don Coscarelli)

In the spirit of House II (1987) and Big Trouble in Little China (1986) comes the irreverent reverence that is John Dies at the End. Don Coscarelli (Bubba Ho Tep) is a "horror" director better known for the Phantasm movies. This however is an extracosmic psychedelic mash-up of a film that has a lot of nice qualities that echo Hellraiser and Gremlins in some ways. Chase Williamson and Rob Mayes star as Dave and John two unlikely heroes who gain various mental abilities through exposure to the living drug/ organism Soy Sauce and battle the extradimensional forces of darkness. I shouldn't say much more. John Carpenter's They Live is also similarly related to perception and things unseen just beneath the surface of apparent reality and good versus evil. So watch and think about Gremlins, and Hellraiser, and They Live, and House II: The Second Story, and Evil Dead II and Big Trouble in Little China and then realize that Paul Giamatti was a producer on this movie. What does all that have to do with anything? Dunno. Maybe this is a pilot for a TV series. . . .  (5/7)

Trailer

David Wong