Director: Jim Jarmusch
Cast: Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Chloë Sevigny, Bill Murray, Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover
Rating: 15
Running time: 105 mins
Release date: 12/07/2019
Jim Jarmusch is one of the true eccentrics of Independent Cinema. You can be sure that whatever he reveals creatively to the world is going to be left field.
In his latest film, THE DEAD DON’T DIE, Jarmusch enters the realm of the late, great George A. Romero by attempting to combine one of his weird character tapestries with the zombie havens that that legendary horror director evoked so well in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968), ZOMBIES – DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) and DAY OF THE DEAD (1986) amongst others.
Small town Americana, in this case Centerville (Pop. 738) is the locality in question – and what a strange place it is with or without zombies, with an ensemble of characters, among them Police Chief Cliff Robertson (Bill Murray), Officers Ronnie Peterson and Mindy Morrison (Adam Driver and Chloe Sevigny), hardware store owner Hank Thompson (Danny Glover) and geek shop owner Bobby Wiggins (Caleb Landry Jones), Farmer Frank Miller (Steve Buscemi) and yokel homeless man Hermit Bob (Tom Waits) who lives in the nearby woods. Into the frame come some Ohio natives, led by Zoe (Selena Gomez).
The radio suddenly announces that due to polar fracking, the Earth’s axis has been altered, causing the Daylight Saving Time to eat into the late evenings, which cause the undead to suddenly start emerging from their eternal slumber. Will the locals survive? Perhaps with a bit of help from eccentric Scottish funeral facial preserver Zelda Winston (Tilda Swinton), but who knows….?
OK, you have a great setting here, which visually nails what we have seen before in Romero’s films. You have great visual gore and moments here too. You also have a cast to literally die for here – if you add Rosie Perez as a newscaster to the mix as well, there should be a box-office winner here.
However, the overwhelming feeling is one of deflated disappointment – and here’s why.
Jim Jarmusch, who also wrote the script here alongside his directing duties, was never born to be a legendary horror director like a Carpenter or a Romero and his attempt to try something different, whilst trying to keep the quirks and trademarks that have made films like NIGHT ON EARTH (199O) and BROKEN FLOWERS (2005) so appealing, falls far short here.
The advertising is a key problem, evoking something that should rank alongside films like SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2004) and ZOMBIELAND (2009), which were far more successful in their intention. Also, given that Bobby Wiggins is so knowing about horror films, particularly the Zombie genre, a fact that Driver’s character also reveals at one point, you wonder whether the film would have subverted expectations of what we see in so many key yardsticks in the Horror / Zombie Genre and really gone for broke.
Finally, to add insult to injury, there is a running gag in this film that leads to a pay-off that short-changes the audience beyond redemption, as well as a rather bizarre climactic moment that goes against the grain of what has transpired in terms of context and genre style.
That said, Swinton does offer some energy and intention with her eccentric funeral fashionista, given her chameleon-like talent as one of the best British actors working today on a regular basis and not even Bill Murray (for whom some will urge him to recapture some of that deadpan wonderment that rocketed GHOSTBUSTERS (1984) to blockbuster status) can salvage what at best will be an interesting cult experiment.
Neither too arty for its intended audience, or gory and horrific enough for the horror enthusiasts, THE DEAD DON’T DIE doesn’t punch enough into the heart of the audience.
What do you think of the casting for the film? Will you be watching the movie when it arrives in cinemas? As always, we like to know your thoughts, so leave a comment below, tweet us @filmandtvnow or drop us a comment on our Facebook page.
