10 Times Horror Directors Admitted They Went Too Far

Adapted from David Wong's novel of the same name, Lovecraftian horror John Dies at the End constantly shifts between timelines, hallucinations, and alternate realities. The protagonist, David, recounts events to a journalist, but his story keeps changing, so it’s hard to tell what's true. One moment, David is describing a strange drug called Soy Sauce, and the next, he’s battling a sausage monster.

Although there are times when the story is intentionally comprehensible, director and writer Don Coscarelli had to be wary of where to draw the line. Coupled with the otherworldly imagery and WTF gore, Coscarelli knew it would be daunting to do the project justice.

During an interview with Bloody Disgusting, Don explained his dilemma during production.

"If you slip a little too far over the edge, you tumble into camp and parody. There was a year of editing and deleting things that I thought were maybe too far out there, then deciding that maybe they weren't far out there and putting them back in."

It must've been a nightmare for Coscarelli to decide what stays in the movie and what's discarded, but it seemed to work out, since John Dies at the End has since developed a cult-following.