Burying the Ex

Embracing the corny B-movie allure, Burying the Ex takes advantage of its modest yet mildly fun concept. It produces decent comedy with pop reference, fitting acting and smart script. The movie is still stuttering with odd plot development, but all things considered it's a fun popcorn flick worthy of a few giggles.

Max (Anton Yelchin) has been bothered by his shifty relationship with Evelyn (Ashley Greene). Theire personalities almost always clash, not to mention Evelyn can be incredibly volatile. Things get worse as a shady curse of some sort bind them both forever, this includes afterlife. After a tragic accident Evelyn rises from the death to fulfill her eternal love. The premise is by all means average romcom, but it is delivered with adequate conviction and wit.

Ashley Greene fully welcomes the quirky role. She's equally obnoxious as living eco-obsessed girlfriend and a creepy zombie lady. The change of tone and behavior is done realistic enough, despite the exaggerated set-up, to ensure their situation is oddly identifiable. The cast isn't large, only four main characters, and it keeps the pacing moving relatively well.

The script is done with tongue-in-cheek approach. Dialogues are occasionally cringeworthy, though most of the times they contain enough modern pop references or silly puns, audience can't help but laughing at them. Plot can be shady and a bit forced, but if audience can overlook some of these obscurities, there's mild fun to be had here.

Burying the Ex is a simple B-movie, yet it is presentably humorous in the scale it plays on.

"Burying the Ex" is the soon to be released flick from director Joe Dante, who brought us the '80s classics "Gremlins" and "The Howling." This time around, we follow horror-movie-loving Max (Anton Yelchin, ie. Checkov from the "Star Trek" reboot series, but without the Russian accent), struggling to rise above the manipulative people in his life. He's working in a dead-end job in a kitschy Halloween curio shop with a demanding boss; living with his controlling girlfriend Evelyn (Ashley Greene from "Twilight"); and dealing with his brother (I mean half-brother, a running gag) Travis (Oliver Cooper from "The Hangover III") who really just needs Max's apartment as a destination to take his booty-calls to.

An odd little statue arrives at the shop that promises to grant a wish… but because it's a "Satan-Genie" (and according to a tag attached)– it has to be granted the "evil way." Cut to the "Satan-Genie" being within earshot of a post-coital promise made between Max and Evelyn: "We will always be together… always and forever"… and the "evil-way" is set in motion.

Max's relationship with Evelyn continues to deteriorate. Evelyn freaks out at a friendly ice cream shop owner named Olivia (played by the comely Alexandra Daddario from True Detective); turns their apartment into a "green, eco-friendly zone" … and relegates (read: jams) his expensive horror movie posters into a drawer… At his wits end, Max takes the advise of brother (half-brother) Travis, and invites her to a public place to break up with her. Max chooses a dog park, which leads Evelyn to believe he has gotten her a dog, and in her enthusiasm, rushes out to meet him and is killed by a bus.

You can guess what follows. Evelyn returns from the grave, hell-bent on rekindling their relationship, and determined to keep Max away from the very-alive ice cream owner, Olivia. And she has a plan to make good on their promise to "always be together… always and forever" that Max is not too keen on.

There are some genuinely funny moments, and director Joe Dante is in great form, but comparisons to the Jeff Baena film "Life After Beth", released last year, are inevitable. Both movies involve girlfriends coming back from the grave to despondent boyfriends who have all kinds of regrets after their deaths; both girlfriends are adamant in reviving their "dead" relationships (and deflecting any interest from any potential "living" girlfriends), all the while slowly deteriorating physically and mentally into zombie-ness (and rage). And according to both films, returning from the grave makes girls super-strong and really horny.

Those are the plot similarities. Burying the Ex is a really fun movie with great directing, photography, physical special effects and outstanding acting that illustrates Dante's pedigree, delivering a far more polished film than Life After Beth. Don't let seeing Beth dissuade you from checking out Burying the Ex. It's a fun watch for those wanting to expand their zombie movie horizons.

More often than not, when I rate a film two or two and a half stars, I'm coming from a place of "Well it's not really for me, but I guess I could see why it might have appeal". Burying the Ex on the other hand comes from a place exactly opposite to that. It's like every five minutes there was something dropped precisely to cater to my interests, but there's no appeal at all. And no amount of goth bars I'd kill to have in my town, horror-themed ice cream parlours, Joe Dante directorial credits or Alexandra Daddario getting her kit off in a graveyard can make up for that.

It's not outright boring, which is certainly welcome, but it's horror that's not scary, comedy that's not funny, and bears not one but two life lessons that seem well learned until they're *both* dropped in the final scene.

I'm not going to make any "Should have stayed buried" digs, because it's really not *that* bad, but I'm not going to recommend it either.

The Plot.

When Max (Yelchin) learns that his new live-in girlfriend, Evelyn (Greene) is controlling and manipulative, he is afraid to end the relationship.

However, fate occurs and Evelyn is killed in a freak accident.

A couple months have passed and Max meets his dream girl, Olivia (Daddario).

The new romance gets tricky when Evelyn comes back from the grave and insists on continuing their once relationship by all means.

This is NOT a train wreck in the slightest. It's easy to watch and entertaining. Not really sure why Dante never caught fire after the Gremlins. Maybe it's because his style is more suited for TV. Who knows?

This film was a good surprise. If you are a fan of really bad B horror/sci fi films like I am and like Dante is, you'll get a bonus by watching this movie.

Too be sure, it's a small film with a limited budget, but you can do a lot worse.

A guy (Anton Yelchin)'s regrets over moving in with his girlfriend (Ashley Greene) are compounded when she dies and comes back as a zombie.

Apparently this film has largely negative reviews. That surprises me. I can understand mixed reviews, because this is definitely not Joe Dante's finest film. But where are the horror fans who appreciate all the great references? This is definitely a love letter to horror fans, the ones who are gore to the core.

Maybe the humor was a little off. I thought the sex factor was played up a bit more than it ought to have been (but I am also very prudish). And Ashley Greene was somewhat annoying (though this was how her character was scripted, so that should be a compliment). Overall, this was enjoyable and light. I can see it getting improved reviews as time goes on.