In addition to the usual reviews and comments you would find on a horror movie blog, this is also a document of the wonderfully vast horror movie section of the video store I worked at in my youth.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

She's A Man-Eater.


Immediately after Late Phases, was the Canadian premiere of the hot new horror comedy, Life After Beth.


While still mourning his dead girlfriend Beth (Aubrey Plaza), Zach (Dave DeHaan) discovers she is still alive & kicking, holed away in her parent's attic. After being reunited, he soon realizes that Beth isn't quite the same girl she used to be.

I found Life After Beth entertaining, but wouldn't say it was anything spectacular. A lot of the jokes were featured in the trailer, and there wasn't much more depth to the proceedings than what was glimpsed in such. I certainly see the comment made within about relationships and the difficulties of letting go, but they didn't really land for me. I guess I prefer my zombie girlfriend pictures to be of a somewhat different tone. I did, however, appreciate that the movie opened up in the third act to give us Jeff Baena's version of the zombie apocalypse. There were a good amount of gore gags – almost a given when dealing with zombie fare – but the movie, save one or two clever exceptions, played things pretty safe.

Dave DeHann & Aubrey Plaza in  Life After Beth.

To Baena's credit, he assembled an impressive ensemble for this movie. DeHaan & Plaza make a deliciously awkward couple, even before all the undead insanity starts. I liked Plaza overall, but I did find her moments of rage a little cringe-worthy, so perhaps that's not in her range. I certainly give her kudos for enduring all that zombie make-up though, not to mention having a oven strapped to her back. The cast was rounded out by an all-too-brief appearance from Anna Kendrick, as well as John C. Reilly & Molly Shannon as Beth's off-kilter parents. Matthew Gray Gubler also kills it as Zach's war-hungry brother, Kyle.

Director Jeff Baena, Plaza & Matthew Gray Gruber.

I no doubt enjoyed the experience of watching Life After Beth – and it was awesome to see the lovely Aubrey Plaza in person – but this will likely be a movie that is soon forgotten by me.

*Q&A photo courtesy of Ali Chappell.

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