Vanessa McMahon

The film ‘John Dies At the End’ (2012) screened at the 45th Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival (October 4-14). ‘John Dies At the End’ won 3rd place for The People’s Choice Award at the 2012 TIFF’s Midnight Madness. The film’s veteran ‘fantastic’ director Don Coscarelli (‘Phantasm' saga; Bubba Ho-Tep, 2002) attended the Sitges screening of his latest film where he was awarded the Time Machine Award for his prestigious and influential life’s work.

The film is based on a short story by writer David Wong and follows two twenty-something American dregs of society, John and David (played by Rob Mayes and Chase Williamson), as they trip out on the new It drug ‘Soy Sauce’, which not only alters reality and gives the ability to jump in and out of worlds, but enables one to be dead and undead simultaneously. The fantastical events that take place throughout are recounted by David to Arnie (Paul Giamatti) inside a dream-like Chinese restaurant where raw meat coagulates into terrifying destructive beasts and where people disintegrate into bloody raw meat.

After seeing his film I told Don that I couldn’t help but notice parallels to quantum physics theory- alternate realities, predicting future events and the idea that death is only a relative perception of changing forms. Don said: ‘Well, you’re not going to believe this but a computer actually chose me to make this film’. I replied: ‘In any other conversation I might think you totally nuts, but here I actually believe you.’

‘John Dies’ is a genius out-of-the-box sure to become cult-classic that will leave you laughing and repeatedly asking yourself ‘WTF?’...Whether you watch it for plain entertainment or dare to dig deep into its dangerous depths it is one film you are sure to never forget. 

written by Vanessa McMahon

view trailer here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=my9Pr-W92SM