I was debating whether or not to blog about this movie, but I've decided I am because I want to spare you the waste of time. It's true I don't write about everything I read or watch, but when a movie sticks with you for a few days after, I feel like it's worth taking the time to share why. I really was so hopeful. The Dead Don't Die is billed as a horror-comedy, my favorite kind of horror, with an all star cast. Sounds great right? Wrong. "This isn't going to end well."
***SPOILER AHEAD***
The basics, which you could have probably guessed from the poster is that it follows a small town police department battling zombies. *scratch that* it follows people in a small town and how they turn into zombies except for a few kids (we think) and Hermit Bob. So really nothing to do with the poster.
The people in the town notice that daylight savings time is messed up, the news reports the Earth is off it's axis, and polar fracking might have contributed to the change. It's also the reason the dead come back to life. The zombie kills in the movie start pretty quick, and there's a ton of subplots that you wish were elaborated on. So it touched on abuse of the Earth kinda.
The zombies are pretty good, they are the traditional slow moving kind, and killed with decapitation or a blow to the head. What's interesting is that instead of blood gushing out when they are struck it's what looks like CGI black powder. That was a little different. They also "gravitate toward what they did in real life". Maybe a bit of a social commentary on how we are are live zombies.
The characters are a jumble of people you probably know in real life. A horror movie buff that runs a shop (hey that's me!), weird funeral parlor owner, racist, farmer, hippie hermit, teens that are too smart for adults, hipsters on a road trip, the friendly UPS guy, and cops that have worked in a small town too long. I feel like the good the actors weren't utilized enough. There's a bunch of nods to other movies like Star Wars, Night of the Living Dead, George Romero, The Thing, Lord of the Rings etc. that they tried to cram in. All the pieces are there for a good movie but the dialog and plot just didn't complete it for me.
Side note: I try to include animals that die in the movies I review so you can be prepared...In the first ten minutes there's what looks like a skinned cat, and it's mentioned that a lot of the animals go missing or are acting out of character.
Bill Murray's deadpan acting is perfect and Tilda Swinton's alien performance made the movie. There was a couple laughs, but ultimately I felt like I was watching an indie, adlibbed movie that had inside jokes I wasn't privy to. I was left asking what happened to the kids that escaped? Overall I'd give it one coffee out of five. The funniest parts are in the trailer below...
Trailer...
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