Gonger Reviews: Dead Don't Die

Starring: Bill Murry, Adam Driver, Chloe Sevigny, Tom Waits, Iggy Pop, Rza, Danny Glover, Steve Buscemi, Caleb Landry Jones and Tilda Swinton.

Synopsis: Local law enforcement are completely and utterly useless while dealing with the legion of the undead. 

Cinematography: Its the man Fredrick Elmes at the helm! You might know him from Eraser Head (1977) and the beautifully strange Blue Velvet (1986) and just like those master crafts this flick oozes that hazy dream like essence. I love this guys style. There where some lighting glare issues that bugged me. Thats it. A minor issue that happed in two scenes completely unravelled this whole flick for me... my world is shattered. 0/2

Haha just kidding its a 1.5/2 its simple camera work for a humble horror/comedy and it harkens back to the zombie flicks of yore. Are we doing English accents for this review! Pip pip and Mary Poppins hoe! No. We’ll save that for another one. Sorry to get ya’ll excited. *gasp* western accents!

Soundtrack: The Dead Don’t Die by Sturgill Simpson! Oh shit dog! Thats my favourite song! So true! 2/2

Writing: One thing I got to say when it comes to a Jarmusch penned script is the guy has intent. This flick is weird and has its flaws but it all makes sense even when it seems like it doesn’t. I like that. It’s fun to have my mind toyed with and usually I have to pay my lobotomist 100 bucks a pop to do that. There are some throw away bits that had me thinking edited for time or perhaps budget issues but the script has all it needs with a beginning middle and end. Its funny and somber as fuck to! 1.5/2

Directing: Oh you know your watching a Jarmusch flick with this one! Its light and silly and heavy in all the right ways. One thing to note is that its the most produced flick I think the director has done and that would have me worried as he may fall into the trappings of becoming parody unto himself! No worries though as he grounds himself and delivers an instant cult classic. 2/2

Acting: Of course the acting in a Jarmusch flick is going to be top grade. Murry and Driver opposite of each other is a friggin cinematic treat. Glover has this warm charming quality that brings a wholesomeness to this flesh feast and Swinton is just down right weird. Waits character is more observer and is seen very little, its his voice that propelled the story narrative through the narration (I know, narration doesn’t work... unless Waits is doing it!) from being just a silly zombie flick to having a bleak atmosphere at the end of the day. Its a fun bleakness though, like instead of “oh shoot its the apocalypse” its more like “OH shoot its the apocalypse.” You know what i’m saying? You know what I’m saying. 1.5/2         

Oh wow 9.5/10 thats pretty high!