John Dies at the End Reviews

Two slackers try a new drug at a rave that gives them psychic powers and the ability to combat an extra-dimensional invasion by body-snatching worms. This hallucinatory sci-fi adventure has penile doorknobs, Theseus' paradox, a monster assembled from sausages, and flying mustaches: what's not to love?

While I respect John Dies At The End's creativity and ambitiousness, it never finds its focus. What's the point in this movie? There is none. What's the plot of this movie? There seems to be one, but in reality there isn't. It does make a lot of unexpected twists and turns that steer away from convention, but it's the film's burning desire to do this that messes up the whole thing in the first place. It all becomes a convoluted mess of ideas mashed together. The acting in this film is good as is the cast. But so much adds up to nothing and it becomes both confusing and infuriating. I do see that the film avoided having a pretentious feel about it, which is good. A lot of fan-base focused films suffer from being made just for the fans. I don't know about this one though. I've never read the book. I'm saddened to say this (I was actually expecting something of this film), it all turned out to be a waste of time. I did enjoy Don Coscarelli's first film Bubba Ho-tep, it was slow-paced and it actually took its time with characterization. It also delivered awesome b-movie laughs and thrills. John Dies At The End however tries to become the same thing Bubba Ho-tep did. A cult classic. You can tell they tried hard to recreate that feeling Bubba Ho-tep brought. But no. John Dies was fast-paced insanity that tried to shove a bunch of sci-fi nonsense down our throats in an hour and a half with generic characters and a boring story. I did enjoy some of the dialogue despite it never really delivering any laughs. Overall- The content within John Dies may be chock full of potential, but it never pays off. Knock knock Jokes have a set-up and a payoff (as does every other kind of joke). A knock knock joke without a payoff is just a "knock knock" and then a "who's there" but with no answer. This movie is a question shot into a crowd full of people expecting someone to answer it. There may be some people who understand and answer it, but a lot won't. They may say no question is a dumb one, but there are some that don't need to be answered and should just be left alone. So in general, I'm saying this movie may seem like an interesting path to wander but leads to a dead end. Letter Grade: D

Robert Marley: Time is an ocean, not a garden hose. Space is a puff of smoke, a wisp of cloud. Your mind... is a flying corn snake hovering through all the possibilities.

"Just so you know... They're sorry for everything that's about to happen."

The best way I could go about trying to describe John Dies at the End would be to call it a trippy mindfuck of a horror/drug/comedy/sci-fi film. This isn't your typical movie you throw into the DVD player to kill some time. It has a mind all its own. It has originality, inventiveness, and it knows how to make its messy plot come across with a weird sort of genius precision that could only come from a certain type of mind. Trying to describe this plot would be like trying to describe an acid trip; it's not going to happen. Basically you just have to give yourself to the ridiculousness that is John Dies at the End, and let it take you where it will. 

I can see why there's a lot of people out there that can't stand this movie. It's off the wall, outside the box, deranged, twisted, and oddly prophetic. It's a movie that is going to have a small audience, but the people who populate that audience are in for one hell of a fun time. From Giamatti's performance as a writer talking to one of the guys who is on the drug to the endless absurdities of a plot that has snail like alien creatures popping up everywhere, a bratwurst that can serve as a telephone, a dog that can drive, and all the different dimensions and time differentials. 

Like I said, this isn't for everyone and it isn't one that I would necessarily recommend to anyone unless I knew for sure that they had the taste for it. In the end though, John Dies at the End was a pleasure to watch and an incredible, trippy experience. It's one of those movies that seems like it was made for anyone who has seen something that isn't really there while under the effect of something. 

John Dies at the End get's one star for being original and creative. The second star for having some of the movie filmed in my home town. I didn't know this before hand. But then when David is leaving the police station, which isn't a real police station, I was surprised to see that it was Center St. in my home town. Weird. But the movie itself was really cheesy with so/so acting. It's not something I would watch again.

It would've been hard for ANYONE to translate the book to film, but overloading it with voice-over narration and crappy special effects is not the way to do it. After the axe bit, everything falls to pieces and quickly, with few laugh-out-loud moments and numerous completely asinine action scenes.

Question: Have you ever watched an entire film and then wondered, "Perhaps I should have taken some sort of hallucinogenic in order to better understand it?" I am not advocating taking any sort of illegal narcotic, but I sat through John Dies At The End, and I am perplexed at what I just watched. And to be honest I have no idea if I liked it or not.

The story is a bizarre one, and I didn't quite know what was going on until about two-thirds of the way through. I did not watch the preview prior, didn't read a stitch about the film or the book. This year (2013) I am attempting to see more films, watch ones that others recommend and view the ones my readers have asked me to take a look at. John Dies At The End opens January 25th, 2013 in theatre but is available on VOD now which is how I saw the film - in the privacy of my home.

Now, what can I say about the film? It reminded me of Naked Lunch and possibly The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai - although it's been 20+ years since I have seen either of those films, or maybe watching John Dies At The End screwed around with my head. So, don't hold me to those comparisons. This film is just so bizarre, and when I think of bizarre, sci-fi/fantasy movies and the feelings they evoke, those two films pop in my head.

I would catorgorize John Dies At The End a sci-fi film but it is listed as a fantasy, comedy, horror. It is comedy but I wouldn't really call it a horror. It's creepy, yes. There are strange creatures that infest people; and there were a few moments where I had to cover my eyes but it was more about the grotesqueness of what was on screen not that it was scary. To me, this was a buddy story where drugs were consumed and the valley between real, not real or where other worlds consist only if you are one of the chosen (when you see the film, you'll know what I mean) is very hazy - especially for the viewer.

One of the main reasons that I watched this film was for Paul Giamatti. He is one of our finest actors that is not in enough films, in my opinion. I also found out that he was one of the executive producers of this particular flick. The director may sound familiar to you: Don Coscarelli. He also wrote the screenplay which was adapted from David Wong's novel (John Dies at the End). And for those you who
don't recognize Coscarelli, let me list a few of his others films: Phantasm (and all the sequels), The Beastmaster (and its sequels), The Rules of Attraction and Bubba Ho-Tep. Yes, these are all cult-classics for the most part and can see why he was chosen to direct John Dies At The End.

So, quick synopsis - a couple of college drop-out are introduced to a drug called Soy Sauce and they are chosen to pretty much protect our world from other strange ones that no one knows about or can see unless on the drug. However, the drug isn't a normal one and only allows some to have the power. We are along for the trippy ride with these unlikely heroes. No more details. This is one you just have to check out for yourself to learn about the odd storyline.

As I mentioned in the beginning, I really don't know if I liked it or not. So I am going to give it an average score. This will either become another cult-classic that many adore or will quickly fade into obscurity. And I may change my mind, either way, but for now this was just a so-so story for me, but I have a good feeling many will really like John Dies At The End.

Review: 5 out of 10

Don Coscarelli is one of the most outstanding directors in the horror genre. His films are some of the most original and he is one of the few directors who still manages to make quality horror yarns worth seeing. This being his first directorial effort in film since 2002's Bubba Ho-tep. Coscarelli unlike other directors in the genre still has the knack for creating good films. I thoroughly enjoyed John Dies at the End, and I thoroughly enjoyed the film and I thought it was original, funny, horrifying and had all the necessary ingredients to make for a good horror comedy. At times the film shows its weaknesses, but it manages to be a fun and entertaining film that will surely please genre fans. The film emphasizes on gore and darkly humorous tones to create something unique. The performance of Paul Giamati is the highlight of the film, and Don Coscarelli delivers another memorable picture that is surely going to become a modern cult classic. There are enough things to enjoy here to make this a worthwhile horror going experience that is among the better low-budget horror titles that has been released in recent memory. John Dies at the End is a flawed, but memorable horror flick that overcomes its flaws by relying on an original concept that delivers good comedic elements with effective horror. Coscarelli is a great director, and unlike many working in the genre today, he is able to craft a film that has many original ideas and are fun to watch. Whereas classic horror directors are lacking that touch which made them unique in the first place. Coscarelli still manages to make good films, and John Dies at the End is proof of that.

Have you ever wondered what Alien would be like if the entire crew of the Nostromo was a bunch of easily-distracted, silly drunken jackasses? Well I've got the movie for you! Ever since I heard the plans for this movie, I've been itching to see it. In fact, I might have skipped TIFF this year entirely if this hadn't been part of the roster. It's about an interdimensional monster that is trying to infiltrate our world by tricking people into taking a drug and then inducing hallucinations. The only ones who can stop it are a pair of slackers who aren't particularly motivated. John and Dave are two regular guys who'd much rather get back to their game of Mario Kart than be action movie heroes and save the world. It's like watching a horror movie starring my best friends. This movie is pretty surreal and the story gets a little muddled a few times, but that is kind of the point. I love the book, and I think Don Coscarelli's greatest triumph here is completely nailing the tone; it's a horror movie that has the potential to be oppressively terrifying and nihilistically grim, if not for the two main characters laughing and saying "can you believe this shit"?

'John Dies at the End'. Trippy, confusing and pure WTF at times, but I can't say I wasn't entertained throughout!

yeah...I just didn't get it.

A pair of slackers, Williamson and Mayes, discover a new drug which sends its users through time and space, sometimes returning in alien form.
Horror and comedy are probably the two most difficult genres to pull off. Combining the two is generally a recipe for disaster and that's the case here. Coscarelli, known mostly for his fun debut 'Phantasm', achieved a good balance between the two recently with 'Bubba Ho-Tep' but fails to make it work in his latest effort. 'JDATE' can be best described as 'Men In Black' for stoners and is every bit as bad as that sounds. Giamatti, a huge 'Phantasm' fan, had wanted to work with Coscarelli for years. It's a shame their collaboration had to be this garbage. John may die at the end but that's further than most viewers will make it.

Surprisingly good, Kept having the feeling it was going to loose my attention at any minute, but the film kept me hooked. Tripped out, really creative and i'd like to see more!

Quite an odd ball movie to grasp from beginning to end, but I'll admit it had its moments. Just not enough of them. You'll run into a few recognizable faces in John Dies at the End, but the performances don't involve much of an acting background. The premise is entertaining enough to follow, speaking of a drug that helps people see different worlds (mostly evil). It's like Roswell meets the Matrix meets Men in Black. Along those lines, it's a combination of horror (more comic horror) Science Fiction and Fantasy. Worth a watch with a few friends if you've got some drinks or other 'drugs' to help the journey.

After a very promising start, this wacked out experience turns into an alien-multi-dimension noir thriller, with horror elements, dark humor, plenty of gore, outrageous moments, bad special effects, completly over the top or ridiculous roles that appear miscast and much more. Confused? You should be. There's just so many things tangled up in this one, sometimes it's hard to keep track at if this is trying to be a story driven thriller, a bunch of random segments stitched together, a horror flick or something else different. I think it aimed for the later but the super tiny budget didn't help this much but it's energetic when it has to be and features some laugh out loud memorable moments to be just dismissable. It's different from many other peers but with an entertainment value in mind and that is always a plus. Think of Scott Pilgrim with no budget, on hardcore hallucinatory mushrooms and with the blood faucet on.

A crazy, weird sci-fi/horror/comedy and I liked it a lot.
Great performances by Rob Mayes as John, Paul Giamatti as Arnie Blondstone and Chase Williamson as Dave.

It was a gutsy move for Don Coscarelli to bring David Wong's virtually unfilmable novel to the screen, but "John Dies at the End" ends up being a pretty incredible disappointment. Its clever premise and quirky characters are quickly put to waste with cheap, laughably bad visual effects, narrative incoherence, silly plotting and a nonsensical, terribly-made finale. There's nothing about "John Dies at the End" that's relatively interesting or even remotely entertaining, and even though it has this bizarre attitude about itself that makes a lot of the badness easier to endure, it doesn't come close to saving it from being a total failure.

If you're a fan of 'Bubba Ho Tep', this is a movie for you.

The kind of sci-fi/horror cinema that one expects from Don Coscarelli (Phantasm and Bubba Ho-Tep), John Dies at the End. A film that uses a Burroughseque alien invasion to explore the notion of meaning and meaninglessness, John Dies at the End is truly unique and entertaining blend of comedy, horror, action, and sci-fi bizarreness.

A great funny, crazy, horror, science fiction movie! May be a little confusing at first, but you understand what is going on by the end! When drug called soy sauce come alive, it bites you and you can travel between worlds.

I can't fully explain what the hell happened in this movie, yet I feel fulfilled. Phantasm director Don Coscarelli takes the audience through one trippy exploit after another. I'm under the impression that the filmmakers are aiming for fun rather than cohesiveness. This is made clear when the heroes are attacked by a creature made entirely from pieces of frozen meat. In a crazy way, John Dies at the End works, particularly for fans of camp and absurdity.