Director Don Coscarelli has become one of those directors that are known to deliver some strange yet fun films. Best known for the Phantasm series and his last brilliant film Bubba Ho-Tep, but the trailer to his latest film John Dies At The End promises something very unique and possibly way out there. Could his latest strange project based on the novel by David Wong deliver what the trailer promises or will it end up so spaced out it becomes too confusing to follow?
John Dies At The End follows two college dropouts who can barely keep jobs that are forced to try and stop the oncoming horror thanks to Soy Sauce, a drug that promises an out-of-body experience. Those using this new drug drift through time and dimensions, but don’t always return human. Can these guys save humanity, the answer is clearly no. This is one of the most bizarre brilliant films to come along in some time. It is clear that Coscarelli loved this project and most likely was the only person with enough vision and testicular fortitude to be willing to attempt it. The story is all over the place, but makes complete sense. It plays up as a hardcore acid trip full of strange visions, even stranger creatures and enough over the top characters to keep any fan happy throughout. While this film doesn’t really play as horror, the nature of some of the creatures and story direction could convince some viewers otherwise. The effects are all well done and work great here, even the ones that seem ridiculous. The performances are great across the board with everyone seemingly working well together. It’s always great to see some great A-list actors such as the always brilliant Paul Giamatti show up in strange films like this as it shows their true love of the craft. The film also features the always fun Clancy Brown, the go to creepy guy Doug Jones, and Glynn Turman
This is easily the most bizarre film you will see in some time, but one that you should give a chance. It will most likely be a case of either love it or hate it, but if you are able to keep an open mind and let it do its job, you are in for a fun experience. Once again Coscarelli has delivered a borderline masterpiece to add to his already impressive resume. Let’s just hope this film gets enough push to bring him back to bring the follow up novel This Book is Full Of Spiders: Seriously Dude, Don’t Touch It.
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