Skip to main content

Burying the Ex (2014) - Joe Dante


Horror Comedy has become so complacent. The jokes and atmosphere is stale, it's tough to pull off in a good way. This is one of those complacent movies. It has a good amount of star power, but the writing falls flat. The gore and practical effects are the saving grace. Veteran Joe Dante knows his stuff and happens to be the one person that is trying. It's just lame. 

Max (Anton Yelchin) is in a crappy relationship with a controlling and manipulative girl, Evelyn. Fate smiles upon our young friend Max and kills off the girlfriend by having her struck by a bus. After a bit of grieving, Max has the freedom to start seeing a new girl, Olivia. Things get complicated when Evelyn comes back from the dead as a brain craving zombie. Evelyn seeks to rekindle her relationship with Max while physically deteriorating in front of him. And Max is trying to move on, keeping his dead ex-girlfriend a secret from Olivia for now. 

This one is brought to us from horror movie legend, Joe Dante. It follows the usual humor found in most Dante pictures. It had hints of the usual schlock-ness, but comes off as more mature than his previous entries. The movie leans heavily on the comedy angle and succeeds at being funny during a few scenes. However, the overall story is just bland. The details are great but it's not enough to carry the picture. 

Burying the Ex is a decent date movie. It's not good enough to care about if things go in your direction, so you wouldn't be missing much. The movie is not scary in any way whatsoever. It's too fun. Or at least, it tries to be fun. It's not going to give you nightmares and is safe enough for just about anyone. It may be a bit too risque for the younger ones, but teens would love it. 
Initial release: September 4, 2014
Director: Joe Dante
Initial DVD release: August 4, 2015
Screenplay: Alan Trezza
Music composed by: Joseph LoDuca

Did ya know...
Near the beginning of the film a moving truck can be seen with the name Romero & Sons. A reference to George A. Romero who is the father of zombie movies.
When Max and Evelyn are having sex at the beginning of the film, the movie Fright Night (1985) is playing on the TV. Anton Yelchin played the lead role in the 2011 remake, Fright Night (2011).


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ju-On (2000) - Takashi Shimizu

Watching Japanese horror is similar to watching British comedy. If you enjoy dry whit then you probably enjoy the boys of Monty Python in drag. That's the joke, they're dressed like women. Get it? Well, that's British humor. But if you're like most Americans you probably prefer Adam Sandler farting his way across a football field and hooking up with chicks that are way out of his league. Americans usually prefer this more in your face, crass brand of humor. My point is funny in England is different from funny in the US. The same goes for J-Horror. What the Japanese consider scary is very different from what Americans consider scary and it shows in this horror film. Japanese horror is generally slow (a little too slow sometimes), suspenseful and creepy. Ju-On is a creepy effing film. The movie has almost no soundtrack. It is incredibly suspenseful and the pay-offs are pretty awesome, but I think that it was done better in the American version (cultural t...
Post a Comment
Not scared yet? »

Sleepy Hollow (1999) - Tim Burton

Tim Burton's take on the old Sleepy Hollow tale is really interesting. He adds his own flair of course. He delves very deeply into the original story by Washington Irving. The casting is usual for Burton. Johnny Depp of course in your lead. Helena Bonham Carter, thrown in for some flavor. The score is done by Danny Elfman. It's literally just the Ichabod Crane story run through the Tim Burton machine. But in a good way. Sleepy Hollow has a problem with a guy, running around, taking people's heads. Like, a lot of people. The town sends word for assistance and the nervous  Constable Ichabod Crane reports. He starts to unravel clues that take him down an incredibly strange path. With the Horseman still murdering patrons, Crane tries finding who's next before they lose their head.  I've always been a big fan of the Disney cartoon,  The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad . This movie is a far cry from Bing Crosby and quaint animations....
Post a Comment
Not scared yet? »

Le Manoir du Diable (1896) - George Melies

According to Wikipedia in August of 2011, Le Manoir du diable by Georges Melies is the first horror movie. Well, actually its a short film (about three minuets or so) but film was really hard to come by in that time so this counts as a film to me. The plot of the film is basic, you have your hero being tormented by demonic things in a crazy castle room... However, that plot isn't what brought the crowds. The thing that drove the popularity of these films was the fact that you were seeing motion on screen. I suggest going and seeing Hugo. That film is spectacular. It answered so many questions that I had. It really sets the scene and the tone. The film has strong christian overtones and actually ends with Christianity prevailing over the "tides of darkness". I provided a link at the bottom of this review for anyone that would like to see this pioneer in Horror Film. The movie uses very, very early "movie magic" that is an abundance of smoke and m...
Post a Comment
Not scared yet? »