NateWatchesCoolMovies It's almost impossible for me to describe Don Coscarelli's John Dies At The End without either giving too much away, sounding ridiculous or just confusing the reader. It is a ridiculous film, in the sense that Buckaroo Banzai or Bill & Ted are, a completely batshit, near stream of consciousness horror hoot that somehow just makes sense on its own terms and in it's own world. It all kicks off when best buds Dave (Chase Williamson) and trouble magnet John (Rob Mayes, pretty much a late 20's version of Rob Lowe) decide to try a dubious wonder-drug amusingly nicknamed 'soy sauce', a narcotic known for its space/time/dimension altering powers, and pretty much a surefire way to descend into hellish but very funny chaos where nothing makes sense and the story takes a dime store turn into bizarre schlock worthy of a Troma special. Among the delightful surprises in store for them are time travel, a meat monster, an ominous rastafarian stranger named Robert Marley (think they're so clever, don't they), aliens, dildos that materialize out of nowhere and all kinds of weirdness exploding from a seemingly endless grab bag of retro looking special effects. Poor Dave rushes to find John before they're hopelessly cornered by the forces of….. whatever lol, aided by his adorable amputee girlfriend (Fabienne Theresse) and a cop named "Detective Morgan Freeman", who isn't played by Morgan Freeman, before you ask. Somehow the film finds time for a brief appearance by Clancy Brown, playing some sort of super sonic Ghostbuster crossed with David Blaine (he's actually great) and an overarching subplot in which Dave recounts all this hullabaloo to a skeptical journalist, played by none other than Paul Giamatti, whose reactions upon eventually coming face to face with the results of soy sauce are priceless. Did I do a good job describing it? Who knows.. I'm not even sure the film itself does a good job of describing it, but it sure has fun trying and I sure did watching it too. If Mystery Science Theatre tried to put on an X Files episode while loaded up on whatever William Hurt took in Altered States, it might look something like this. Director Coscarelli is most famous for Phantasm and Bubba Ho Tep (a personal favorite), so if you've seen those then you'll have some kind of diving board of an idea as to what this one's all about. Only, here he flips the diving board upside down, throws it into space and abandons any usual drawing board for something that gets pretty off the wall, even for him. I say bring it on.

Jennifer oooo Was boring and disturbing. Had watched it w/ a male friend of mine who liked it. I found it to be very sexist. Pay attention to the role of the dude's eventual girl friend and the two women who follow that guy around. All the important roles are held by men and the women who did make it into this terrible movie are only there because they are nice to look at. Felt so degrading watching this. The worst was when the two guys went into that other world and there was a population of women led by a man (of course). They were all topless with their faces covered. Are you serious? Very disturbing. If you are a women, watch this if you want to hate men. If you are a man, watch this if you hate women, you will thoroughly enjoy this.

poe426 PHANTASM I-IV were all entertaining in a mind-boggling, time-bending, inter-dimensional kind of way. Like JOHN DIES AT THE END. Don Coscarelli seems to be in his element, here, and he dishes up body-snatching alien invaders from another dimension by the score. Being totally unfamiliar with the book upon which this movie was based, I have absolutely no preconceived notions about what the movie "should've" been: I know only that it's great fun in the spirit of the PHANTASM films and that the lead does an incredible job- the movie wouldn't've been half as good without him (OR his sidekick). The cameo by Angus Scrimm as a creepy clergyman was a nice little touch, too, but it was Paul Giamatti's jaw-dropping reaction to seeing into the Other Realm that really stood out in a movie laden with solid performances. The inclusion of Practical Effects was also greatly appreciated: the cold-cuts composite creature was as funny as it was unsettling and greatly ENHANCES the film. I couldn't stop laughing when Dave asks his "dead" friend, John, who he's talking to on a phone: "Where are you? In Heaven...?"

moviesmaniax A mind-bending film with so many awesome craziness and bizarre all in one film! This is a highly entertaining movie with engaging story and so much FUN to offer, if you like a fantasy/sci-fi/comedy/action/horror genre smashed up sort of film. There are also some nice GORES scene to enjoy and it gets pretty bloody and weird most of the time. The film is a comedy/horror mainly so don't expect much SCARE here, instead expect some good laughs and thrills along the way! After finishing this film, I can't help but rushing to book store to find this book it's adapting from! I felt like there's much more details that might be left out from the movie and I just can't wait to read it to get more clarification from the story. Overall, it's a mind-bending film with gores, craziness, laughs, and loads of bizarreness to be excited and had fun with, in which you will either LOVE it for what it is or HATE it for its silliness >>A-<<