As a measure of Joe Dante’s vast motion picture knowledge, I would appeal to your own film interest and listen to his insights on the website, Trailers From Hell, where he—as well as countless other directors and producers—narrate their opinions over trailers of older films as well as some new ones. I’ve especially enjoyed Dante’s expositions over the trailers from sci-fi films of the 1950s, as he usually had firsthand experience with them, being able to explain that he’d actually seen some of these films when they were released in theaters.
Unlike Joe Dante, a lot of directors who had made a name for themselves back in the day sometimes lose that appeal over the years. I can easily say that John Carpenter is my favorite director of all time, directing so many memorable movies in the 1980s, yet it appears he has kind of lost his touch over the years. It could be that these directors just can’t cut it anymore or it’s just that movie studios forget about them and won’t give them the money for anything they believe in. But Joe Dante seems to remain in the positive column, never looking as if he’s losing his movie-making steam.
Speaking of the Trailers From Hell website, that was the first time I’d heard about the film, Burying the Ex. Its trailer was actually featured on the website and Dante himself was the narrator of the video, breaking it down and presenting it in a marketing point-of-view. I’d liked the plot description and knew that Dante excelled in the comedy-horror fusion of films, so I knew I had to see it.
You know the drill…here’s the synopsis…
Max (Anton Yelchin) has regrets over moving in with his girlfriend, Evelyn (Ashley Greene), but those feelings are compounded when she dies. After her death, Max meets and falls for a local ice cream shop employee, Olivia (Alexandra Daddario), and begins to have a relationship with her. Evelyn ends up coming back from the dead as a zombie, but one that is intelligent and wants to continue with Max as if nothing has happened. He then has to juggle his relationship with Olivia while hiding the fact that Evelyn is back from the dead and wants to continue her life with Max.
Obviously, after reading that synopsis, you can tell that this movie has a comic tone to it and I’d stress there’s definitely more comedy in Burying the Ex than there is horror. The only reason that horror would be in the mix is the inclusion of someone coming back from the dead in the story as well as the quandaries that said someone gets themselves into throughout the film. We all know that zombies are typically mindless creatures that simply try to eat people with no speech or comprehension, but Dante changes the rules here and I like where he went with it. Much like the zombies from The Return of the Living Dead, the zombie here has rational thought and speech, only falling back to its instincts when feeling hungry.
The supporting cast in Burying the Ex helps the film as well in its exceptionalism. Ashley Greene playing Max’s girlfriend has just the right touch of likability, yet mixes the slight bitchiness in there perfectly, to make us understand why Max would continue his relationship with her. Even as her character slowly turns into a zombie, she adds the perfect blend of a normal pretty girl with the nastiness of someone—a zombie—decaying into a walking corpse. All that with a nonchalant hint of humor gives this movie the right amount of a dark comedy that I think most people would enjoy.
Seeing that this flick is a rom-com wrapped up in a zombie genre type of film, it still has the ingredients of your typical funny chick flick. Like other films before it, the archetypal plot of a guy stuck in a love triangle with two girls, there’s always the friend who is loud, a little unlikable, and will tell it like it is. In this movie, that part is played by Oliver Cooper as he embodies the character of Travis. With Yelchin playing the straight man here, Cooper gives us some of the laughs to keep the whole situation lighthearted.
Playing the part of Olivia is Alexandra Daddario, an actress who has been making a name for herself in the last decade or so. I first had seen her in Texas Chainsaw 3D in 2013 and have noticed her in such films as Bereavement (2010) and San Andreas (2015). She does exceptionally well here as an obvious soulmate to Yelchin’s Max due to their shared interest in everything horror. The interaction between Daddario and Yelchin felt real and genuine, never seeming forced, as if these two were a real couple. As I’d said, this film is basically a romantic comedy and the former-girlfriend-coming-back-from-the-dead aspect could be taken out, leaving this film just as enjoyable.
When checking out the writing credits, I’d noticed that Alan Trezza is credited for this film. The amusing thing about this is that he’s been only credited for three projects, one of which is a short film with the same name as this one. I had never seen it, but the synopsis basically describes the same situation in this film, with only the name of the main character changed from Max to Zak, as well as being all different actors and actresses. The remaining project within his résumé, Sanctuary, hasn’t been completed yet and doesn’t even have a release date listed.
Anyway, I’ve discussed this film enough…what’s my final “bit” on Burying the Ex?
Thanks for reading!
