10 Hidden Meanings Behind Confusing Horror Movies
4. John Dies At The End
Despite the brazen spoiler inherent in its title - which isn’t necessarily accurate - John Dies at the End is an unpredictable whirlwind of practical effects and theoretical ponderings from beginning to end.
Granted, it’s made by the one-of-a-kind Don Coscarelli (Phantasm, Bubba Ho-Tep), who lovingly brings his trademark renegade strangeness and dense mythology to Jason Pargin’s source material.
Told in a non-linear fashion, it finds supernatural slacker David Wong (which used to be Pargin’s actual pen name) recounting mysteriously macabre but amusing events to an increasingly sceptical but playful reporter (Arnie Blondestone).
In the process, John Dies at the End's dynamic editing, unrelenting pacing, and colorful personalities sustain its many intricate implications and ongoing uncertainties - including the influence of a shape-shifting dog, multidimensional monsters, and John forcing David to talk to him from the past via a cellular hotdog.
In a way, it’s what you’d get if Friedrich Nietzsche and Twilight Zone mastermind Rod Serling mixed Evil Dead II and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World into an existential creature feature. John Dies at the End offers a lot to think about concerning self-actualization and the degrees to which people are responsible for how their lives turn out.