If Evil Dead (the original 80s version not the dodgy remake), met the Supernatural brothers in an alleyway and they got into a fight, this film would most likely emerge, dusting itself off, out of the aftermath. (aka David Wong) horror comedy is chock-a-block full of dark slapstick humour, freakishly mind boggling scenes and enough gristly gore to make one’s stomach pack up and leave town.
The film’s concept is difficult to tie down, as overall it delivers an experience which is quite odd to say the least. A loose combination of three stories covered in Pargin’s book, the plot bounces from one series of events to another at a hectic dazing pace, unravelled through the first person account of college dropout David Wong (a caucasian chap who’s decided to change his last name to maintain anonymity, although it’s never really clear why).
David attends friend John Cheese’s band’s gig where he encounters Amy Sullivan who’s dog Bark Lee has run off after biting Jamaican purveyor of illegal street drugs, come soothsayer Bruce Matthews. Whilst assisting in the search for the dog, Wong encounters Matthews, who uncannily recounts the last dream he had. After finding Bark Lee and heading home, Wong receives a late night call from Cheese, who claims to have purchased a drug called ‘Soy Sauce’ from Matthews at the concert and is currently tripping out on it. Wong goes to Cheese’s aid, and through a series of mishaps finds himself jabbed with the drug, where it’s otherworldly heightening of senses, time manipulation and inter dimensional travelling properties are revealed. Other-worldy beasties and demons materialise, preparing an imminent invasion on Wong and Cheese’s reality, leaving the fate of the universe resting on the shoulders of the unlikely pair.
Funnily enough the script, whilst dripping with cheese is cleverly written, although it does take the usage of pondering riddles and weird facts too far, from the opening question of ‘if an axe head and handle are broken and repeatedly replaced through bludgeoning and decapitation, is it still the same axe?’ through to inter dimensional being Roger North’s fun fact of ‘once a human learns a new word, they will hear that word repeated to them in the first 24hrs’. Whilst these start off as interesting and engaging, they get tiresome and tend to overcrowd the writing as they increasingly get shoved in willy nilly.
There are some hilariously off-beat comedic moments involving props such as prosthetic hands and CGI engineered penises, that result in an ‘oh they went there, took a picture and came back already’ slapstick quality. It’s humour derived from the being overly ludicrous rather than calling on intelligent or sarcastic wit, and it works. Though honestly, it’s Chase Williamson’s incredibly good acting as Wong, that successfully brings to life the film’s comedic element.
For a less than blockbuster budget, the special effects component has been put together really well. Nothing feels out of place, there’s a an extremely entertaining Gwar-esque meat man creation scene which adds to the zany light-hearted vibe of the genre, as well as a very cool switch to a gory animation sequence part way through, that changes things up visually. There are also a couple of delightfully surprising cameos from Paul Giamatti(30 Rock, Sideways) as reporter Arnie Blondestone and Glynn Turman(Gremlins, The Wayans Brothers) as Detective Lawrence Appleton which help inject some star power and energy.
Ultimately, there’s a lot to like about this film, for those familiar with popular 80s-90s horror comedy, it’s smacks of that vibe and is quite nostalgic to watch. It’s written and shot with an intense mind bending quality that is reminiscent of a Twilight Zone episode, which starts off clearly enough, but at some point ends up collapsing, entangled and confused in a heap. However, that seems to work in this movie’s favour resulting in something out of the ordinary, unpredictable, freaky and utterly non-sensical. In fact it’s so ridiculously enjoyable, it could be on it’s way to becoming the next cult classic.
Review Score: THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Running Time: 1 hour 39 minutes
John Dies at the End screened as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival for more information on the festival please visit: http://miff.com.au/
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