6th: John Dies At The End
Dave (Chase Williamson, “The Guest”) and the John of the title (Rob Mayes, “Enough Said”) are two doofus college dropouts who inadvertently discover a sinister plot afoot. It involves getting humans addicted to a new drug dubbed Soy Sauce. This drug can give people out of body experiences like no other, and after people use it they’re no longer the same.
Veteran genre director Don Coscarelli (the “Phantasm” series, “Bubba Ho-Tep”) has more success with the overall presentation than the story, which at its core is really rather conventional. But there’s so many interesting and completely off the wall details that “John Dies at the End” is still very entertaining. Not that it completely works; sometimes it does get tiresome. But there are good lines, tons of elaborate visual and creature effects, and generally amusing performances.
Williamson
does a decent job of basically “reacting” to a nonstop assortment of insanity, while some of the other actors have more of an opportunity to just let it rip.
Cast
There is a very funny cameo by a certain horror series star; Glynn Turman of “Cooley High”, “J.D.’s Revenge”, and “Gremlins” has one of his more substantial film roles in a while as a weary detective, and Daniel Roebuck (“River’s Edge”, Rob Zombie’s “Halloween” films) is hammy as a character named Largeman. Paul Giamatti, who also takes an executive producer credit, is fun as the reporter to whom Dave tells his story. Clancy Brown (“Highlander”, “The Shawshank Redemption“) likewise amuses in one of his more off the wall roles. And Doug Jones (“Hellboy”, “Pan’s Labyrinth”) is sufficiently creepy in his brief time on screen.
5th: Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
Dale and Tucker is a comedy of errors that see’s two harmless hillbillies mistaken for “Deliverance” style serial killers by a group of vacuous college students on vacation.
Its a rather interesting premise that gradually unfolds as various innocent and often benevolent actions taken by the hillbilly’s are misinterpreted by the college kids. The misunderstandings build and then escalate infecting both sides, who come to believe, for different reasons, that the other group is out to get them.
Worst of the Worst
The result, predictably, is mayhem. The humor is of the physical kind. Set piece scenarios that lead to bloody, gruesome, if accidental deaths that intentionally pay homage to gruesome murders found in serious horror flicks. Its not terribly believable but its not supposed to be, its slapstick and proud of it.
Dale and Tucker tries to emulate films such as “Home Alone” but with sharp teeth. This film however only ever aspires to the humor found in flicks like “Home Alone”. Its nowhere near as creative or clever in its use of slapstick violence. As a result, the mounting deaths start to become rather repetitious, unnecessarily bloody and a little dull.
That said Tucker and Dale isn’t dreadful. It’s a nice idea, which would have shown with a sharper execution (pardon the pun). The key hillbilly leads are very likable and carry their roles convincingly. The students are suitably snooty and foolish. So take a look by all means but don’t come to this flick with high comedic expectations or you will be disappointed.
4th: Zombieland
We all know the plot of any Zombie movie. Here it says some mad cow diseases spread to humans making them mad humans then into mad zombies. Well its absurd but that’s not focus of the film. Much of it is about surviving the onslaught of zombies and to find the feeling of being a human in the world filled with these horrid creatures.
The Story
The story is of 4 such people who are referred to only by the names of the place where they come from. Jesse Eisenberg‘s nerdy yet disciplined for survival character ‘Columbus’ meets Woody Harrelson’s character ‘Tallahassee’ who is more of zombie kick-ass with a bit too much love for something called Twinkie.
This odd duo meet another duo of sisters Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) who again know all the tricks to survive Zombieland. Romance is thrown in which looked a bit forced but we are busy admiring the uniqueness of each character that it did not matter much.
The character of Columbus is hands down my favorite. His sets of rules to survive Zombieland which pop up every now and then were absolutely hilarious. The script is highly enjoyable with some really witty and hilarious dialogues. There is quite a lot of gore which wasn’t quite necessary but it adds to the horror element.
Best Zombie Film
There is also a surprising cameo by a great comedy star and his entire sequence was the funniest bit of the film. At the run-time of only 88 minutes it never gets boring.
The cast is only of 4 people (plus the cameo) and everyone else is Zombie. Each one of them was amazing to watch. It is a nice blend of horror comedy with the right amount of drama and thrills. Nothing feels a bit too much thus making it entertaining all the way.
I try to avoid Zombie movies because at the end all of them follow the same path. But Zombieland is not only one of the best zombie film among the few I have seen but also a very good comedy film. Even if you don’t like Zombie movies watch it. It is really fun, but make sure you can handle some blood and gore.
I would give Zombieland a 9/10, but the cameo part was a show stealer. It is one of the most hilarious sequences I have seen so gave it an extra star.