Don Coscarelli’s horror-comedy John Dies at the End is on its way to the Sundance Film Festival, and if you think the big finale has been spoiled by the revelatory title, you must not have seen a Coscarelli film before. With him, the twisted, strange journey is the prize. As we prepare to ramp up our Sundance coverage, we have a one-sheet for Dies to share. It’s below, courtesy of AICN:
John Dies adapts David Wong’s online webserial of the same name, with John (Rob Mayes) and Dave (Chase Williamson) going through a series of unusual adventures once they are exposed to an experimental drug known only as “Soy Sauce.” Over the course of the story, they team up with a dog named Molly, encounter some truly disturbing paranormal events, and – maybe – commit murder.
Writer-director Coscarelli’s ideal for this type of material, having helmed the Phantasm film series before going on to 1982’s The Beastmaster and the gorgeously deranged Bubba Ho-Tep with the legend himself, Bruce Campbell. While Coscarelli is leaning on newcomers in the key roles of John and Dave, he’s surrounding them with fantastic talent, from Paul Giamatti (as Arnie) and Clancy Brown (as Dr. Albert Marconi) to Doug Jones as Roger North. I can’t wait to see how the featured weapon – the Bible Beater – is used to vanquish evil in Coscarelli’s picture, but you can be sure that a baseball bat wrapped with Bible pages and enhanced by spiky nails will be able to inflict some supernatural damage.
If you can’t make it to Sundance, look for John Dies at the End in theaters later this year.
