Kyle says:
“We can thank director Joe Dante for many hours of good over-priced hot
buttered popcorn munching during his horror/sci fi films, comedies, and
horror/sci fi comedies, such as PIRANHA, ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HIGH SCHOOL, THE
HOWLING, GREMLINS, EXPLORERS, INNERSPACE, THE ‘BURBS, and GREMLINS 2:
THE NEW BATCH. There are enough moments of genre genius in these titles
for a film course dissertation. Dante’s current horror comedy BURYING
THE EX takes too long to get going, and lacks the outrageousness of THE
HOWLING and TWILIGHT ZONE; THE MOVIE — the sequence about Anthony and
his terrified family — and the anarchy of GREMLINS and GREMLINS 2: THE
NEW BATCH, but has enough of both to recommend it to potential
enthusiasts.
“Max (Anton Yelchin) is increasingly irritated by his relationship with
Evelyn (Ashley Greene), who has become so obnoxious about being ‘green’
that she surprises Max (unpleasantly) by painting their apartment the
most bilious shade of the color imaginable, and shocks him
(depressingly) by taking down from the walls, folding and ruining
valuable vintage horror movie posters. Inviting her to the local dog
walk for his own surprise, he plans on breaking up with her, prevented
from doing so by her death in a bus accident. When Max starts dating
Olivia (Alexandra Daddario), Evelyn inconveniently returns from the
grave, initially just to have sex with Max who wisely keeps postponing
the act, because Evelyn has some unfortunate new habits like vomiting
embalming fluid all over him. Max appeals for help to his lothario-like
half-brother Travis (Oliver Cooper), who unwisely allows Evelyn to see
part of a horror movie focusing on eating brains and entrails, and you
know what happens next. But even undead, a bro can still help out, and
Max and Olivia live and work temporarily happily ever after. Their
savior, Max’s half-brother zombie Travis, continues to pursue sexual
conquests on the streets of Hollywood, announcing confidently: ‘Once
you go undead, it’s never been better in bed!’
“As with both GREMLINS movies and much else in his oeuvres, director
Joe Dante’s humor relies upon mavens’ knowledge of filmic and pop
culture references that fly at them from every direction, as much as it
does on demented juxtapositions of images. BURYING THE EX avoids
overkill, but there is more than enough silliness to keep potential
fans laughing. Max and Evelyn are having sex at the beginning while
FRIGHT NIGHT (1985) plays on the TV, a reference to Yelchin having
played Charlie Brewster in the 2011 remake. Max and Olivia connect
after a local double feature of Val Lewton’s CAT PEOPLE and I WALKED
WITH A ZOMBIE, which is just what he does reluctantly with the undead
Evelyn. When Max delays sex with her by suggesting they go dancing,
they wind up in Club Death, where a girl looks at Evelyn’s rotting
flesh and comments to Max, ‘Your girlfriend is so Goth!’
“Max and Olivia finally go out on a date, to see the original NIGHT OF
THE LIVING DEAD (1968) projected on a mausoleum in the Hollywood
Forever Cemetery. When Max confesses to the police that he cannot break
up with his undead girlfriend, Grumpy Cop, who does not believe a word
of his story, is played by Dick Miller, who has enjoyed a long career
in hundreds of films and TV series, most memorably as an iconic
horror/science fiction character actor, from Roger Corman’s IT
CONQUERED THE WORLD (1956), THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1960), THE TRIP
and THE ST. VALENTINE’S DAY MASSACRE (1967), all the way through Joe
Dante’s THE HOWLING (1981), TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE (1983), EXPLORERS
(1985), and the two GREMLINS films (1984 and 1990). The climactic
confrontation between Max and Evelyn starts like this:
Evelyn — ‘You broke my heart, Max.’
Max — ‘I know, Ev, but it’s not beating anymore.’
“The end titles include a long list of acknowledgments for film clips
and cinema memorabilia. The zombie movie apparently being even more
popular than the vampire movie, you now have enough information to
decide whether this title is for you. 3.5
cats
“Friday, September 11, 2015, on Netflix, New York.” |
