"Burying The Ex" (2014) Dead But Still Here

The Trailer:

Director: Joe Dante
Writer: Alan Trezza
Main Cast: Anton Yelchin, Ashley Greene, Oliver Cooper, & Alexandra Daddario
Plot Summary: Max (Anton Yelchin) quickly begins to question the future of his relationship with his girlfriend Evelyn (Ashley Greene) after she moves in. To make matters worse, she dies on the day he plans to break up with her and comes back to life as a zombie hellbent on keeping the relationship alive.

What, a movie with a girlfriend dying then coming back to life? We've seen that before in a little movie called Life After Beth (which I wrote about just this past January). And if you read that little blog post, you'll know that I didn't think Life After Beth to be that great. In fact, I think I called it boring. So when I saw the trailer for Burying The Ex I thought "well this can't be any worse", and thankfully I was right. This film is infinitely better that Life After Beth, but it's still not great, not even good really.

First, let's start with the things I like. The production and special effects are awesome. Production wise, this is a solid piece of cinema. From Voltage Pictures, the production company, you shouldn't expect less. Cinematography is good, nothing spectacular but it gets the job done. The direction from Joe Dante is great with the practical effects and the kind of subdued weirdness that has come to be expected of him. The special and/or practical effects of Burying The Ex are phenomenal, as they are reminiscent of 80's horror. The blood, the makeup, the costumes are all real and they each really work well to compliment the story. Also, the score is fantastic. Again, there is this throwback to 80's horror with the score, with the intense violins, a big build-up, and with a loud "dun-dun"for the scares. It's cheesy and wonderful, and works for the overall quirkiness of the film. Awesome job, production crew!

Now for the things that I'm on the fence about. The humor is there without being too powerful or in-your-face. There are a slew of foreshadowing statements that are more ironically funny than they are laugh out loud funny, you know?  But there's definitely some over-the-top silliness that occurs as well. So you have a nice mixture of both irony and slap-stick, but all with a hipster, indie flair. That's where I begin to question whether it is quality humor or just overdone comedy. I have watched many a horror-comedy in my day and I have to say that the more and more they are made the more they start to emulate each other in terms of comedy: they all present this hipster, one-liner, obvious humor that, honestly, I'm getting a little bored with. After a while of seeing it time and time again, it loses that little spark that made it special. So, while I laughed at some bits, I couldn't help feeling like I'd already heard that joke. Moving on, the acting. Anton Yelchin has this perpetually sad-looking face and wimpy disposition that works well his character as Max: Max is miserable in his relationship with Evelyn, and then he's in mourning for months after her death. The sad face works if not a bit irritating to have to watch for 90 minutes. He reminds me of real people I know who are intense horror film buffs who know everything from the most popular horror films to the most obscure. So in a nutshell, he's a bit annoying as real-life film snobs are (uh-oh, do I fall into that territory?). Ashley Greene as Evelyn is obnoxious as the demanding, discouraging girlfriend. She has her positives, like her complete dedication and activism for the environment and... that's about it. In general, she is a totally unlikable, despicable character. She has no respect for Max's interest in horror cinema, and is outright mean and self-important. Which begs the question, how have they stayed together this long? Why would Max allow himself to be in such a suffocating relationship that doesn't let him be his own person? Oh yeah, because he's got a wimpy disposition. Anyways, Alexandra Daddario, as Olivia, is the perfect choice for the role, though yet again a bit annoying. She is the ultimate alternative girl, with her punky, novelty ice scream store (called "I Scream"), her compatible knowledge of horror films, her awkward disposition, topped off with purple streaks in her hair. She's so cool, right? And the fact that she can finish Max's sentences when discussing films is adorable, right? Wrong, it grates on my nerves. *Sigh*. And then there's Oliver Cooper as Travis, who is Max's sloppy, unkempt half-brother who somehow always gets the girls. He usually brings the comedic relief when the film is getting a bit stale in it's more dramatic moments, so I actually applaud him. The reason I'm the fence with this because on one side we have these actors who did a phenomenal job at portraying their characters— so phenomenal, in fact, that I hate them— and on the other hand these characters are the most irritating group of people that a movie could center around. It's such a shame because had they been written differently, I might've actually cared, but as they are I was just done with them as soon as I met them.

Now for the thing I didn't like: the substance. I don't mean the concept or the content, I mean the actual movie. Let me explain. Apparently Burying The Ex is based off a short film of the same name that was made in 2008. I cannot find this short film anywhere. I've looked on YouTube, I've scoured google and I've found nothing. But that's not the point. The point is that it is obvious this movie is based off a short film. You know how it's obvious? It feels like the creators took a concept/theme and stretched it to it's absolute limits so that now it is completely thin and barely there. There is an abundance of fluff and unnecessary moments within the movie that are sleep-inducing. Okay, maybe I'm being a bit harsh. The movie really isn't that bad, but if you're going to take a short film and bring it to feature length, make it so impeccably that viewers aren't going to wonder if the short is better. At this point, with how empty this movie feels, I am so curious about the quality of the short film. Plus the story has been done before, and will probably be done again, and again, and again...

I did say that this was better than Life After Beth and I still stand by that, even after I've just told y'all how annoying and empty Burying The Ex feels. It definitely made me chuckle more than Life After Beth did and is a lot more appealing to the eyes. But for the most part, I didn't like it all that much. It's just alright. Though I have my qualms about it, I would probably still watch it again.