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Thursday, October 05, 2023

31 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 - Day 5: THE DEAD DON'T DIE (2019)

 

Just another day for Iggy Pop.

 So... THE DEAD DON'T DIE, a film that's very much the baby of its singular director, Jim Jarmusch. It's basically "NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) set during a time of environmental science denial in the Trump landscape," so it's more political than one might think after seeing the trailers. It also references the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and DAWN OF THE DEAD in a number of ways (in-jokes and zombie rules), and though a comedy, it's about as played-straight and dryly delivered as a comedy can possibly be. It has just enough gore to please the more sanguinary/offal-minded audience members and Adam Driver and Tilda Swinton steal the move, but the film is a VERY slow burn that may not be for all tastes. Lastly, I cannot really go into plot details as that would spoil some major plot surprises — and I do mean MAJOR — so I'll just say that I recommend it, but mostly for Jarmusch groupies and horror comedy completists.

Poster for the theatrical release.

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