Review of John Dies at the End (2013) by Mark V — 12 Apr 2016

A monumental task to try to turn this book into a movie. For the first 40 minutes, you swear they had succeeded. Felt that the plot was moving along at a fantastic pace. It was constantly moving forward not too fast as to be completely lost. Some of the effects and set were downright creepy. The longer you get into the movie, however, you see the issue. Trying to cram almost 400 pages of plot into an 1 hr 39 min movie.

Yes, I've read the book. That helped me figure out what was happening. I'd be hard pressed to find someone who might understand this movie without reading the book. The crux is there, but the little nuisances (like why anyone would ever care about David, what the deal with Amy was, who this Korrok fellow really is etc.) is left out. Unfortunately, it's one of those stories were, if parts are left out, it really detracts from the entire story. The complete second half of the book is gone. If the ending feels abrupt, well, it really was.

The second half of the movie borders on pretty unenjoyable. This is the part where we rush through the plot to finish the movie in the time allotment. I can't take these 2nd half of the movie effects. The tone of the movie never settled. Is it trying to be genuinely scary? Or is it camp? It flutters the line and I wish it would have stuck to one or the other. For example, whenever there is a bug, like a leech or a roach, it looks amazing. It looks like a practical effect. Then you have CGI penises running around and big CGI eyes floating around and big fake Twister level of CGI at points. It's abrasive.

The good thing is that the movie was probably about the best you were going to get with what you had. I thought the casting for David was pretty damn good. Unassuming white guy who is a bit of a weirdo. I hated John in the movie, stupid haircut. Maybe that's the point. The movie is an okay enough story, but stick with the book. No debate.