John Dies at the End

Plot:  A new street drug that sends its users across time and dimensions has one drawback: some people return as no longer human. Can two college dropouts save humankind from this silent, otherworldly invasion?

Director:

Don Coscarelli

Writers:

Don Coscarelli (written for the screen by), David Wong (based on the story by)

Stars:

Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes, Paul Giamatti

FYI, This movie is based on a book, and it's not the same as the book.  Go read the book.  The book is always better then the movie (unless it's a movie called "Titty Parade").  The book's popularity is what got this film made, it would not have worked the other way around.

This plot description by IMDB sucks, but it's not their fault.  It's just insanely difficult to describe this movie.  The movie is basically the protagonist retelling a wild story about aliens to a skeptical new reporter (Giamatti), so there is no suspense the entire movie.  Nothing kills the suspense like knowing that the hero isn't going to die.

The story is about dangerous aliens and a powerful drug called "Soy Sauce" that gives human's special powers.  It's a surreal movie and it seems like the director just wanted to screw with the audience's head.  There's no depth to the story; anyone can ascertain this when the heroes start battling a meat monster within the first ten minutes of the film.

It's hard to come up with a movie to compare this to, but I suppose Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy would be somewhat close.  It has that sense of surreal reality, making it more interesting than necessarily good.  Whereas Hitchhiker's had a message and semblance of a point to it's story, this is just a mushy pile of weird bullshit with no real point to it.

I have a hard time recommending this to anyone beyond sci-fi nerds that legitimately enjoy stories about space travel and aliens.  While it only held my attention because it was unusual, it really made me more curious about the book than ever wanting to watch it again.

 2/5 STARS