The Dead Don’t Die Could Have Been A Cult Classic

The Dead Don’t Die could have easily been the cult classic it intended on being. Instead it fell flat in many places. But is it still worth a watch?

When I first head about The Dead Don’t Die I immediately thought this could be the next cult classic. I love a comedy horror film as much as the next person, and then you bring in this amazing cast, what could go wrong? Well, apparently a lot. I struggled to get through this movie, and though some parts were fantastic, it mostly fell flat. 

Adam Driver and Bill Murray star in this movie alongside some other incredible acting talents such as Tom Waits, Chloe Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, and Danny Glover. From the very beginning it was apparent that this movie was not going to take itself seriously.

As the police officers, played by Driver and Murray, are on patrol, Murray mentions that a song sounds familiar. Driver mentions that is because it is the theme song to the film. I laughed out loud and thought to myself, man, this is going to be a great movie if they are going to break the fourth wall like that right off the bat. But then it wasn’t.

WARNING: Minor spoilers ahead for The Dead Don’t Die.

Adam Driver Was The Best Part Of The Movie

Adam Driver was by far the best part of the film, but unfortunately he could not carry it himself. Many of his one liners had me cracking up. He was totally perfect in his role, and seeing him drive around in a tiny little smart car was hilarious. Probably my favorite thing about him was that his keys had a Star Destroyer keychain on them — which they talk about in the movie. Because he plays Kylo Ren in Star Wars. Get it? 

But for real, Driver is the best part of The Dead Don’t Die by far. He repeats the same line throughout the film, saying it is going to end badly, finally admitting he knows because he read the script. Again with breaking the fourth wall. He said it so nonchalantly — it was perfect.  

The Zombies Were Confusing

I know, I know, it is a zombie movie — don’t think about it too much. But I can’t help it. These people come back from the dead (due to polar fracking knocking the Earth off its rotation by the way) and they go after what they most cared about in life. This could be cellphones, comic books, toys, coffee… the list goes on. They walk about muttering this like you might imagine a zombie muttering the word “brains”. 

However, they still eat people. Not their brains though. Just their flesh and body parts. However, they still wonder around calling out for what they liked most in life. A totally confusing concept that could have been done much better. To me, it made no sense that they would attack people, while talking about free cable.

Some Major Plot Points Were Skipped

While the hotel manager was out at night looking for his cats, he is bitten and turned into a zombie (which we all saw coming). He turns back toward his motel, and later we seeing him walking with an arm muttering Cleveland. Selina Gomez and friends came from Cleveland, we know that. I turned to my husband at this point and asked if he had just killed the hipster kids. To which my husband replied no way, they would have shown us that. 

Yea, I thought they would have too. Later in the movie Adam Driver and Bill Murray show up at the hotel to discover the hipsters dead. Driver cuts off their heads to make sure they don’t turn undead, which makes sense. But what doesn’t make sense is why we were not shown their deaths. They seemed like major enough characters and it was just strange and confusing to completely cut that out.

Tilda Swinton Was Just…Weird

Swinton plays the new undertaker in town, and everyone thinks she is a little strange. She practices Samurai at the morgue and seems totally unphased by the undead, so yes, she is very weird. But she also seemed like a totally unnecessary part to the movie. 

She doesn’t really save any of our “heroes”, she just kills some undead, and then goes home to her planet after using the police computers to contact her home planet. Oh yea, she is an alien. But if you didn’t see that coming from the first moment we saw her on screen, you need to get your eyes checked.

Overall Thoughts

The Dead Don’t Die has all the components of a cult classic, but it was not executed correctly. Unfortunately this movie is all over the place, and not even a stellar performance by Adam Driver can hold it together. If you are a fan of comedy horror movies, go ahead and watch it, just don’t go in with high expectations, because they will be crushed.

And don’t get me started on the kids that live at the CDC because they were totally pointless… I don’t know why they were there. And I don’t care why they were there. Clearly the point of them was to explain what is going on with the Earth at the beginning. I would have been happy never seeing them again after that.

About The Dead Don’t Die

In the sleepy small town of Centerville, something is not quite right. The moon hangs large and low in the sky, the hours of daylight are becoming unpredictable, and animals are beginning to exhibit unusual behaviors. News reports are scary, and scientists are concerned, but no one foresees the strangest and most dangerous repercussion that will soon start plaguing Centerville: the dead rise from their graves and feast on the living, and the citizens must battle to survive.