John Dies at the End (2012)

A new street drug that sends its users across time and dimensions has one drawback: some people return no longer human. Can two college drop-outs save humanity 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

2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chase Williamson	...	Dave
Rob Mayes	...	John
Paul Giamatti	...	Arnie Blondestone
Clancy Brown	...	Dr. Albert Marconi
Glynn Turman	...	Detective
Doug Jones	...	Roger North
Daniel Roebuck	...	Largeman
Fabianne Therese	...	Amy
Jonny Weston	...	Justin White
Jimmy Wong	...	Fred Chu
Tai Bennett	...	Robert Marley
Allison Weissman	...	Shelly
Ethan Erickson	...	Sergeant McElroy
Kevin Michael Richardson	...	Korrok (voice)
Riley Rose Critchlow	...	Girl with Rastafarian

Storyline

It's a drug that promises an out-of-body experience with each hit. On the street they call it Soy Sauce, and users drift across time and dimensions. But some who come back are no longer human. Suddenly a silent otherworldly invasion is underway, and mankind needs a hero. What it gets instead is John and David, a pair of college dropouts who can barely hold down jobs. Can these two stop the oncoming horror in time to save humanity? No. No, they can't.

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Plot Keywords:

multiple dimensions | male friendship | cult film | mind altering drug | bullet time | 

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Taglines:

Just so you know...they're sorry for anything that's about to happen.

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for bloody violence and gore, nudity, language and drug content

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Don Coscarelli stumbled on David Wong's novel as a result of an email product recommendation: "True story: I received an email from a robot on Amazon.com, and it told me if I liked the zombie book I just read, that I would like John Dies at the End. I read the little logline, and it was just amazingly strange. I thought, 'Well this might even make a good movie.' Plus, it had arguably the greatest title in motion picture history."

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Goofs

When David meets Arnie in the Chinese restaurant, Arnie takes out a notebook. He opens it on the first page, with several ripped out pages. In the next scene, when he starts writing, the missing pages are gone and he is writing somewhere in the middle of the notebook. Later, the notebook is again shown with ripped out pages.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Dave: Solving the following riddle will reveal the awful secret behind the universe, assuming you do not go utterly mad in the attempt.
Dave: Say you have an ax - just a cheap one from Home Depot.
[slow zoom in on man chopping]
Dave: On one bitter winter day, you use said ax to behead a man. Don't worry, the man's already dead. Maybe you should worry, 'cause you're the one who shot him. He'd been a big twitchy guy with veined skin stretched over swollen biceps, tattoo of a swastika on his tongue. And ...

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the credits there's a warning that 'any unauthorized duplication and/or distribution (...) may result in civil liability, criminal prosecution and the wrath of Korrok'.

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Alternate Versions

The original ending was a TV interview with Marconi. It was deemed anticlimactic by the filmmakers according to their DVD commentary. This, and other deleted scenes, are included on the DVD release.

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Connections

References Hawaii Five-O (1968)

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Soundtracks

My Moonlight Maiden
Written and performed by Paul Ratajczak
(Spozzy Song Music - BMI)

User Reviews

An ambitious mess

'John Dies at the End' is like the Matrix. One cannot be told what it is. They must see it for themselves. Veering wildly between inspired and tedious, it ultimately comes off like a (very) strange mish-mash of better and more coherent films like 'Ghostbusters', 'Dude, where's my car?', 'Bill & Ted's Excellent Adenture', 'Big Trouble in Little China' and the TV show 'Supernatural'.

Director Don Coscarelli ('Phantasm', 'The Beastmaster', 'Bubba Ho-Tep') is the king of quirky cult cinema, and he's certainly in his element here. But the increasingly odd plot mechanics at play in 'John' are beyond even his skill to corral into something approaching entertainment.

'John Dies at the End' is not a good film, but it's so *odd* that I feel I have to recommend it for the experience alone.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 December 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dave's Story

Filming Locations:

Hot N Tot Cafe - 2347 Pacific Coast Hwy, Lomita, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,467, 27 January 2013

Gross USA:

$141,951

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$141,951

Company Credits

Production Co:

M3 Alliance, M3 Creative, Midnight Alliance

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1