Cinematic Autopsy: Burying The Ex (2014/DVD/RLJ Entertainment) Review

When it comes to director Joe Dante I have seen and enjoyed almost everything he has directed. One of my personal favorites has been "The Burbs (1989)" which is a perfect blend of comedy and horror to make one of the best dark comedies ever. Burying the Ex has a very similar style to The Burbs in which it blends horror and comedy perfectly, but does this film stand strong next to his many other great films?! Lets cut into this film and see what it has to offer!

It seemed like a great idea when all-around nice guy Max (ANTON YELCHIN, Star Trek) and his beautiful girlfriend, Evelyn (ASHLEY GREENE, Twilight Saga) moved in together. But when Evelyn turns out to be a controlling, manipulative nightmare, Max knows it’s time to call it quits. There’s just one problem: he’s terrified of breaking up with her. Fate steps in when Evelyn is the victim of a fatal, freak accident, leaving Max single and ready to mingle. Just as Max is thinking about moving on with what could be his dream girl, Olivia (ALEXANDRA DADDARIO, True Detective) – Evelyn has returned from the grave and is determined to get her boyfriend back...even if that means transforming him into one of the undead.

I am probably one of the few people amongst the horror fans I know that actually liked Joe Dante's film The Hole, which was better than I expected it to be. When I heard about Burying The Ex I actually got really excited for it. What I got was a well done comedy/horror film that had heart to it as well as some good humor and gore. The plot is pretty simple and straightforward which works perfectly. A movie that comes to mind when I first thought of this film is "My Boyfriends Back", but after watching this one I realized they both ate not much alike and Burying The Ex was way more enjoyable!

When it comes to the characters I absolutely liked Max, he is a horror film fan (like myself) and he is just very likable. Max is played by Russian born actor Anton Yelchin who I really liked in the 2009 Star Trek reboot. I really think he was a great choice for the character and I truly felt for him when he finds out his rare horror posters have been folded up and put in a drawer. Now when it comes to his overly pushy green peace girlfriend Evelyn, well I absolutely do not like her. She is overbearing, controlling, and simply does not care about what his interests are or what he wants to do. The other 2 main characters consist of Max's new love interest Olivia who owns a very cool local ice cream shop, and then there is Oliver who is his best friend and lives a carefree lifestyle which in ways you can tell Max kinda wants. I want to mention one other character and that is the local cop played by film legend Dick Miller.

Overall I think that Joe Dante did an excellent job on this film and it had the Dante style of feel to it. I just ask that if you go to watch this film please go into it with an open mind and remember that he did not have a big budget. Despite the budget there is some well done zombie makeup which progresses in stages of rot as the film goes further on. There was also great gore as well, which if I am right is all practical or a mix of practical and CGI. The only sad thing is that with such a fun and cool film they did not put any special features to go along with the DVD and that only Best Buy has an exclusive blu-ray release until sometime in October 2015. Also it kinda sucks that I did not get a blu-ray to review. I will say that the audio and video are top notch and simply look and sound great. If you can get this film, then pick it up!

-Daniel Lee

Director: Joe Dante
Lead Actor/Actress: Anton Yelchin
Genre: Horror/Comedy
DVD Release Year: 2015
Theatrical Release Year: 2014
Time Length: 89 mins.
Rating: R
Region Code: Region 1
Release Company: RLJ Entertainment
Website:

It seemed like a great idea when all-around nice guy Max (ANTON YELCHIN, Star Trek) and his beautiful girlfriend, Evelyn (ASHLEY GREENE, Twilight Saga) moved in together. But when Evelyn turns out to be a controlling, manipulative nightmare, Max knows it’s time to call it quits. There’s just one problem: he’s terrified of breaking up with her. Fate steps in when Evelyn is the victim of a fatal, freak accident, leaving Max single and ready to mingle. Just as Max is thinking about moving on with what could be his dream girl, Olivia (ALEXANDRA DADDARIO, True Detective) – Evelyn has returned from the grave and is determined to get her boyfriend back...even if that means transforming him into one of the undead. - See more at: http://www.us.rljentertainment.com/product/burying-the-ex/ba12a9fa-72a5-e411-877e-b8ac6f114281#sthash.FtxnRzco.dpuf