The dead don’t die, they say. But you might while waiting for this film to end.
HAWHAWHAWHAWHAWHAW!!!
I’m kidding. It wasn’t that bad.
Part of the issue is I’ve never gelled with the work of the director, Jim Jarmusch. Back in the 90s, when I lived in Seattle, he was the dark darling of the indie film world. More outre than Tarantino, looser than Lynch, all that jazz.
I remember a girlfriend getting me to watch 1986’s “Down By Law.” Years later, I watched “Coffee and Cigarettes.” Both films featured one of my musical heroes, Tom Waits, as does “The Dead Don’t Die.” Both films also bored me.
I just don’t get his schtick. And you have to give him credit for consistency, because 30 years on, he’s still making films I don’t get.
So what’s “The Dead Don’t Die” about? It’s your standard “on the precipice of a zombie apocalypse” setup. Scientists on the TVs in our small town setting have noticed some alarming phenomenon brought about by polar fracking. The dead start rising from their graves and eating people.
It’s a slow burn, which isn’t necessarily bad. This story is really the first act of most zombie movies.
There’s a “meta” quality at work, with characters occasionally referencing the fact that they are in a movie. Sometimes that sort of thing is comical, but it definitely kills any tension.
It’s billed as a horror comedy with zombies (a zomedy?) But it wasn’t very funny, and I was just left with a feeling of “what is the point of all this?”
A further complaint: there are a lot of big, often hipster, stars in this movie. RZA and Selena Gomez come to mind. But they play characters who go nowhere, often ending up as zombie chow. It really felt like Jarmusch was just buying off the cool kids by giving them minor parts in his film. (Maybe I’m projecting as the cool kids always ignored me.)
I will say that the Sturgill Simpson song “The Dead Don’t Die” (it’s played multiple times during the movie as a running gag) is pretty catchy.
My related reviews
- Night of the Living Deb (Zomedy)
- Lisa Frankenstein (Undead humor)
More on “The Dead Don’t Die”
Like horror? Check out my slasher novel The Mirror Man – available now on Amazon. Kindle Unlimited subscribers read for free.
