John Dies At The End is a movie that has cult hit written all over it. Directed by Don Coscarelli
(of Phantasm and Bubba-Ho-Tep;fame), this movie is based on the book of the same name by David Wong
(Senior Editor at Cracked.com).
The film stars Chase Williamson and Rob Mayes as Dave and John, two best friends who are almost responsible for ending the world. If you’ve read the book then you’ll be happy to know that Coscarelli stays as close to the source material as budget constraints would allow.They dropped a few characters and took out the Las Vegas section altogether, but the finished product does a very good job of conveying the insane world created by David Wong.
The film opens up with a riddle, knowing the answer to said riddle is believed to unlock the awful secrets of the universe. We then cut to our hero David sitting at a table in a restaurant called “They China Food” waiting for a reporter named Arnie Blondstone (played by the always awesome Paul Giamatti). Once Arnie arrives David starts his tale of insanity featuring a giant monster made of meat, a drug called soy sauce and the best dog in the history of film named Bark-Lee.
The overall pacing can be a bit slow at times and some of the humor comes off as really dry, but it is well acted by the cast and minus a few cosmetic changes, if you’re a fan of the book these are the same characters you originally fell in love with. I don’t believe in a number score, so we’ll say that this film is highly recommended.