John Dies at the End

Cult favorite director Don Coscarelli knows which way to twist the knobs and navigate through the static of mindfuckery that follows.

John Dies at the End is easily funnier than it is scary, and much like the drug at the center of the story, it offers one hell of a trip.

Despite its astronomical body count, John Dies at the End never takes itself seriously, and neither should you.

Gonzo freakiness in such doses that cult status is practically ensured.

Another is how the film manages, in the absence of a coherent plot, to be so funny and engaging until, somewhere around the midpoint, it goes as flat as a stepped-on creepy-crawly.

Every single thing wrong with John Dies at the End might have been avoided had John died at the beginning, along with all the other characters, transforming an awful full-length movie into a harmless five-minute short.

John Dies at the End is a product of a parallel universe where slacker flippancy never got old-and, oh, it is terrible.

Strange movie with an absolutely incredible performance from the young lead.

It gets points for originality, craziness, and pretty funny moments. It loses points for not making a lick of sense. This isn't some movie that's actually pretty deep once you look past all of the absurdity and immaturity. All of it's philosophical remarks feel like someone throwing a bunch of hipster crap together and hoping some of it sticks with some sense of cohesion. It doesn't really succeed. By the time this mess stops meandering about while rambling on about nothing and finds some semblance of a plot things get a bit better. Of course you've also lost all hope of understanding what's going on. It's also pretty much over. At least there's some crazy weird crap to keep you entertained. It hooks you with it's nonsensicality and desire to throw as much crazy crap onscreen at you as possible. Gore, drug trips, hallucinations, maybe a little magic, and a stupid sense of humor all come together to create something strangely enticing despite all of the narrative flaws and cheap looking special effects. There aren't really any characters here outside of Dave. Everyone else is just kind of there to die violently or move the plot forward in incredibly weird ways. The non-stop feeling of "what the heck am I watching?" is what will keep you going. It's actually a pretty entertaining ride. An unconventional experience to say the least. One that's enjoyable just because there isn't anything else like it out there. Yet, it can't entirely use it's quirkiness to escape the fact that pretty much everything feels slapped together in ways that just don't quite work that well. The movie is a mess. A creative mess, but a mess nonetheless. Perhaps with a better structure and actual fleshing out of the material, we could end up with something great for a sequel. Too much just goes under-explained. Darn, if it isn't fun though. It's definitely one you need an open mind for. Just be warned that if you try to dive into it's mysteries, you might just end up coming back up disappointed. This pool isn't as deep as it first looks, and there are some leaks.

If you take a ghost/demon horror movie and smash it together with an alien horror movie and sprinkle in some dry humor jokes, you get this. If you like either of those genres, you'll probably be okay. If you don't, you can skip this. I never read the books, but I get the feeling that this film left a lot out to try to save time. Unfortunately, it just made the whole thing feel incoherent and rushed by the end. It's got some interesting concepts, but none of them are really new.

Interesting premise but a huge let down. There are a few moments that are kind of fun, but half the time you are like how is that happening and that and then that. Things just get stupid and pointless.

I might be really biased, I actually read and really liked the the book, but the first half of the movie was enjoyable. On the other hand, towards the end it just took a wrong turn. Felt like they rush the end. The cheap effects at the end didn't help either.