10 Movies That Would Make Better TV Shows
1. He Never Died (2015)
The story of Jack, a depressive, taciturn misanthrope just trying to get by on a day to day basis who finds his past won’t stay dead and buried, He Never Died is a breath of fresh air: a low budget genre flick that doesn’t disappoint, that relies on a dry, inventive and witty script and note perfect performances to sell itself.
It helps that the high concept for the film is solid, and kept in the background for the most part, teasing out information and cryptic hints as to who or what Jack is and what the deal is with all the eating people. Oh, that’s right: Jack’s a cannibal, unkillable and ridiculously strong, who’s been around for millennia.
Jason Krawczyk’s brilliant, darkly comic horror was only properly released in spring of this year, but if any film needs to be adapted to the small screen, it’s this. It’s sharp, funny and oddly touching, and it showcases a first lead role for punk rock icon and renaissance dude Henry Rollins, after a sporadic movie career covering more than two decades.
If anyone was born to play the part of Jack - weary, antisocial and withdrawn from human contact - it’s Rollins. He’s not that guy, but he knows exactly how to tap into the parts of himself that are, and he’s ideal in the role, given pitch perfect support from Kate Greenhouse, playing a waitress that Jack may or may not have found a connection with… that is, until she’s caught up in his problems.
The murky secrets of Jack’s long and tortured past seem to range from committing medieval genocide to working with small time criminal enterprises to pay the rent. He’s killed thousands in his time, and is haunted by a mysterious silent stranger that only he can see, who could be Death or the Devil himself...
Make no mistake about it, this is a really great movie - and it’d make an even better TV series. Krawczyk has reportedly sketched out a first season as he shops the movie around as a de facto pilot: with centuries upon centuries of history and secrets galore locked up behind that thousand yard stare, this is a character around which any story can be told, preferably with the same deadpan approach as the film takes to the premise.
And if you’ve seen the film and think there’s little room for expansion, then I’m afraid you don’t know Jack… and that’s the point.