REVIEW: Burying the Ex

I’m a huge fan of director Joe Dante, the guy has been churning out hits for as long as I can remember.

Throughout the 80’s & 90’s Dante released a string of very cool films that blended kooky-horror mixed with retro-comedy. ‘Gremlins’, ‘The Burbs’ and ‘The Twilight Zone’ are no doubt on fan-boys favourites list and quite rightly so. Dante is a director I relate to and believe that if we were ever to hang out we’d get on as he digs the same things as I.

Dante drifted into TV since his last film ‘The Hole’ in 2009, so I’ve eagerly awaited his return for the last 5 years and when announced he was making a zombie movie, I was thrilled.

I reiterate that I’m really zombied-out at the moment. There’s just too many zombie features being made and now were starting to get the zombie-romance films, which I don’t really get at all. Anyways I trusted Dante would add his own style and it would change my concept about the whole thing…unfortunately not!

The story follows couple Max (Anton Yelchin) and Evelyn (Ashley Greene) complicated relationship whereas Max is on the verge on dumping her and Evelyn being very obsessive and basically taking no for an answer. When Max finally plucks up the courage to let Evelyn down gently, she is mowed down by a truck. (This effect has been done a million times). In a strange sort of way this is the answer to all his prayers as he can now focus his attention on new squeeze Olivia (Alexandra Daddario) who he has more in common with than his now deceased ex. That’s not the end of Evelyn though as she returns from the grave all zombie-up, Thriller-style and goes about being with her loved one forever.

There are a few elements that are true Dante and connect with us obsessed with pop culture. Max works at a horror themed memorabilia store and loves his Italian horror, hence the posters his ex-girl removes from his walls to redecorate. The introduction of Olivia who seems to love everything horror and geek. Max even bumps into her outside the cinema as she’s been watching some cheesy b-movie alone, but is far too hot to be ever sitting on her own. Yep I go the cinema alone to get my celluloid-fill, but I’m completely sad, but I’ve never seen girls like her there? Dante presents Olivia as every geek-boy’s dream. It works to a degree, but didn’t seem current in narrative as things have changed a lot since the 80’s and the ‘Weird Science’ days.

The zombie-e x girlfriend storyline just didn’t go anywhere and is mostly confined to Max’s apartment. There’s a lack of any gore, blood, laughs, nothing really and only one scene where Evelyn tries to eat Max’s half-brother, but is so watered down its pathetic.

The look of the film and the score are both appalling. It almost looks like a TV movie at times and the music is just god-damn annoying. I won’t say it’s the worst I’ve ever seen, far from it, but this is Joe Dante man? This guy deserves a better viechle than this. It was strikingly obvious the budget wasn’t there for him to flex his muscles and that’s fine, I dig low-budget films, but you still need imagination and passion whatever the budget. This had neither. Even Yelchin’s performance seemed wooden and Greene’s zombie-girlfriend just generic as the material is so poor.

Daddario and Oliver Cooper as Max’s nutty half-brother are the stand-outs of the piece, but they’re better than this and I only presume that they got on board because of Dante as it certainly wasn’t the script.

All directors have stinkers in their lockers and I’m sorry to say this looks like Dante’s. It’s predictable, un-imaginative and diluted. I really thought after his sabbatical Dante was going to come back hitting hard, but ‘Burying the Ex’ lacks any soul at all.

Review by- FOLKLORE
Twitter @folkloreart
@SlaughteredBird