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die + let live

Joe Francis reviews Die + Let Live
2.5 of 5 stars

Joe Francis reviews Die + Let Live

Written on 12/2/08 by Joe Francis

Plot Outline

Some dudes totally have a party right before and during a zombie outbreak. WHOA!

Review Summary

A fun little no/low budget zombie romp with a lot of fun, but no real gut busters.

The Review


Here's one for the press kit:

As far as low/no budget horror comedies go, this is among the best.

Here's the rest:

However, it's not great. It's good, and pretty fun for the most part, but nothing that dreams are made of. I'll get the gripes out of the way first, of which I only have two major ones.

1) The unnecessary SKA music and pop punk in tense, or really just about any scene. No good , makers of Die + Let Live, no good. What's funny is that the rest of the score and other songs that don't involve pop or horns and guitars happen to be really good. Especially the first end credits song. Fanny Pack equals awesome. Love the use of RULES THE SCHOOL, obviously. The score was great, and should have been used in lieu of the crappy pop punk poo poo in other areas. That's right.

Poo poo.

2) The shots were 87 1/2 % bland and uninspired. With a decently witty script, great looking locations, and fun actors..what would have boosted the movie up would have been some more interesting shots. Oh well.

On to the non gripes and not as much dookie.

While I never laughed out loud or really chuckled, the movie worked as a comedy. It worked damn well. I can see an audience eating it up (WHOA, PUN CITY BABY!) and laughing their asses of, but me alone in the bedroom? Yeah, it should be seen with people, friends, or close drug dealing associates. Maybe even people that work in pet stores that are all "What's up?" when you walk in, not because it's their job, but because they recognize you as that dude that buys the fancy dog food because you love your pet.

Crosby's effects were, well, effective. Nothing earth shattering, but they really worked and did their job. Dug it a great deal. I'm sure his work, and the rest of the main IWC people involved will grow to make better stuff with very little effort.

For a low/no, this movie is way above the average bar set by, sadly, a bunch of idiots with cameras. A bunch of boners that make dreck like other zombie movie's I've reviewed.

The comedy aspect was good stuff on the whole, these guys set a vibe to be on the same plane as a low level Apatow crew, winging a lot of stuff and hitting the marks they want to hit. Sadly, a bit too much of Kevin Smith style dialog hits close, which really doesn't fit the movie too well.

I caught on to the SANDLOT digs from jump street, and at first dug it..until it went a bit too far. The pay off later is nice, but could have been so much better had it not been a direct rip.

So, in closing, over all it's worth a view. Rent first, I'd say, just to make sure it's your brand of comedy tea. If you've seen Channell's previous RAISING THE STAKES then you know what you're getting into...so fucking buy it.

die + let live (2008)

Directed By

Justin Channell

Starring

Zane Crosby, Josh Lively

Opening Date

Mon, Feb 11th 2008

DVD date

Mon, Feb 11th 2008