About
Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes, Paul Giamatti, Glynn Turman, Doug Jones
Director: Don Coscarelli
“A new street drug that sends its users across time and dimensions has one drawback: some people return no longer human. Can two college drop-outs save humanity from this silent, otherworldly invasion?”(IMDb)
»Currently streaming on Amazon Prime«
What to Expect
Soy sauce
Bob Marley
Flying moustaches
Why You Should Watch It
This wacky adaptation from David Wong’s novel by the same name takes a non-linear approach to telling the story of two friends who have fallen into careers as “spiritualist exorcists.” It’s a little scary, pretty funny, and whole lotta weird. Even if you can’t piece everything together on the first watch, you’re still enjoying the ride.
Rainy Day Flick (C)
The Spoilers
As our good friend Robert Marley tells Dave (Williamson) upon meeting him, time is an ocean, and Coscarelli uses this concept throughout the movie. For instance, the very first scene shows Dave decapitating a zombie who later comes back to accuse Dave of weilding a much-repaired axe of slaying him. At what point in the story is this scene occuring? It’s hard to tell, since the narrative jumps between Dave in the “present” talking with Arnie, Dave and John’s (Mayes) first experience with Soy Sauce about two years prior, and Dave and John working as exorcists. Clearly Dave’s nonchalance at slaying zombies comes after his Soy Sauce revelations, but when? Is it happening just before he goes to talk with Arnie (Giamatti)? Is it something that occured while he was visiting another world?
Something tells me the zombie scene was just put in for the punchline at the end. What’s more important is the idea that a) other things are “out there. Even if you don’t tune into it,” b) ghosts appear to the living as the living choose to see them, not the other way around, and c) Bark Lee did more to save Earth than his two human companions. And he’s probably my favorite character.