Trailer out. If you want to read about the book, check out this thread.
I dislike calling the book “comedy horror”, but I guess that’s closest to what you can call it. The trailer, I think, seems to capture the mood of the book.
Been looking forward to this one.
Even if (as is almost certain) the movie is deeply flawed, just putting the images from the book into that trailer with such precise phantasmagoric vividness counts for a lot. Don Coscarelli gets it.
But yeah, hopes are high.
I had no idea this was a book, but I’m picking up as we speak. The trailer for this movie seems fantastic.
Lucky you. BTG turned me on to it and it’s fantastic.
H.
I don’t think I want to see this movie for some odd reason.
I remember reading this serially, online, over a summer whilst “working” in college. It was a fun time-killer. I knew it had been released in paperback, but had no idea about the hardback release or that it was going to be an actual movie with real actors. Very cool.
I bought the book when it came out to contribute something to David Wong for the serialized version. Of course, I didn’t remember that until I just went to buy it again; Thank you, Amazon. I need to dig it out and reread it. Glad to see this getting made and coming out.
I absolutely, utterly adore the book. I can’t imagine the film will be quite as amazing, but on the other hand, it is from the director of Bubba Ho-Tep. So, y’know, exactly the right pedigree for this material.
On the one hand, I really wanted to see a wig monster.
On the other hand, I never, ever want to see a wig monster.
Found out yesterday that you can watch the movie now through iTunes or Amazon VOD, so I invited some friends over and fired it up. They got probably less than half of the book up on the screen (which didn’t surprise me, to be honest), but it was a hell of a fun movie all the same. I’m interested to see what sort of reactions it gets from people who haven’t read the book, though-- especially critics-- because it’s probably going to freak a lot of people out.
This door cannot be opened.
They’re basically doing a VOD release with a supporting “roadshow” tour to help promote it. Given how inexpensive the movie must have been – it sometimes looks as bad as a Syfy joint – and how it’s uniquely suited to appeal to internet culture, I’m hoping it’ll be profitable. I didn’t care for the movie, but I’d love to see Don Coscarelli have enough success to go ahead with a Bubba Ho-Tep sequel.
-TomI read the book and then watched the movie over a two-day period at the request of a coworker.
I was particularly struck by the low production values. It really does look like something made for TV.
There are a lot of really good bits from the book that were either completely glossed over or didn’t translate well to the visual medium. The book is essentially divided into three stories, and the movie’s plot just sort of picks and chooses bits from each story and jams them all together.
The whole thing felt very rushed, as well. I get that an hour and a half is pretty much the sweet spot for horror/comedy movies, but I thought the plot could have used some extra room to breathe.
Agreed; the whole thing would be best told via a LotR-filmed-back-to-back-type trilogy, but no studio on Earth is going to bankroll a three movie deal on something as obscure as like John Dies At The End (although I really, really wish they would). Frankly, the idea that they bankrolled one movie on the book is pretty amazing.
I don’t necessarily agree with the SyFy(ugh… it hurts just to type that) comparisons-- it was clearly low budget, but it was certainly a step above (name1here)(animal1here) vs. (name2here)(animal2here) featuring (80’s popstar1here) and (80’s popstar2here). I got a lot more intentionally generated laughs out of the movie than the unintentional ones those dullards over at Asylum produce in their movies.
Just to clarify, my Syfy comparison was based on the quality of the effects, not the quality of the movie. As I wrote, “it sometimes looks as bad as a Syfy joint”. I’ve written a bit more here about my problems with John Dies at the End, but I am by no means accusing it of being as bad as you’re implying.
-TomThis movie didn’t work for me. The “This door cannot be opened” line was the best moment, and the movie has no others like it.
The two lead actors, no one I recognized, actually work well together, but unfortunately they don’t have all that many scenes with each other. The supporting actors, which I did recognize, all have very little of interest to do.
The movie is really just not weird or offbeat enough. Too much stuff just sits there listlessly. An example would be the guy in the police station, not the detective. You see the guy, you still see the guy, then you learn something about the guy, then it all kind of fizzles out. Putting Paul Giamatti in the movie made it worse, because his scenes do have life in them. Too bad those scenes go nowhere.
How “R” is this film? Language? content? Full frontal male nudity?
It’s a gore and language R. Don’t worry, there are no dongs.
-TomThis door CANNOT be opened.