The Civil Dead

As I sat down to watch the 2023 comedy "The Civil Dead", I had never actually heard about it. I happened to stumble upon the movie by random luck, and thus, I opted to sit down and watch it.

However, writers Clay Tatum and Whitmer Thomas didn't exactly churn out some of the greatest material here. Sure, "The Civil Dead" was watchable, but it was a rather monotonous viewing experience. And for a movie, then the script was rather devoid of funny contents. And that made it even more of a drag to sit through, truth be told.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, but usually a movie that stars the same people whom writers and directs the movie isn't a particularly good sign.

Sure, "The Civil Dead" was a fair attempt at making a movie, however, writers Clay Tatum and Whitmer Thomas just failed to entertain me with what they concocted here.

This is not a movie that I will ever return to watch a second time, nor is it a movie that I will recommend for comedy fans to rush out and get to watch.

My rating of "The Civil Dead" lands on a three out of ten stars.

This movie was such a breath of fresh air, not just to the comedy genre but to the entire industry as well. What I liked the most about this film was that the director was generous in showing the entire experience of the characters. The production's 70's vibe and feel complemented really well with the theme. One cannot help but admire the friendship that the two characters. It seemed at the beginning that these two would be inseparable towards the end, until an unexpected twist took place. And the attitude of one of the characters served as clue to the occurrence of the said twist. It was entertaining and funny. A must-see for everyone.

When his wife goes away for a weekend, "Clay" (Clay Tatum) is quite happy just dragging the mattress in front of the television and beering out! He's a photographer by trade and wandering around the city he encounters "Whit" (Whitmer Thomas) whom he knew years earlier. Their's is an uneasy friendship, but he is polite enough and the two spend a day together that concludes in the most unlikely of revelations! It appears that "Whit" isn't quite what he seems! Of course scepticism abounds, but a conversation with his neighbour confirms the worst - nobody else can see "Whit"! What now ensues are a fun series of increasingly exasperating escapades as the former man finds his new gadfly pal persistently more and more annoying and demanding whilst he just wants to get on with his life - especially when his wife returns! Perhaps a few days in a remote mountain cabin for the two men might provide a solution? Although it's really dialogue heavy and the scenarios do repeat themselves a few times, this is still an entertaining film with plenty of quirkiness and two engaging performances from the lead characters who try to avoid the obvious "Scooby-Do" style stereotype spooks. The end of the film rather entertainingly explains the beginning, too. No, you'll never remember it afterwards, but it's quite an enjoyable tale of the geek and his beast.

I never write reviews for movies, but hot damn, these guys are just great. I've been following them since there too shortly lived animated show "Stone Quackers" and I love there podcast too. There chemistry is undeniable and I love that kinda of humor so much. Going into this movie I didn't really know what to expect but I can honestly say it surpassed whatever I thought it was gonna be. So insanely clever, funny, weirdly dark at times, and I just really loved it. Hope to see much more from them again soon!

The description does not do this movie justice. It makes it bland. The trailer is what made me watch this movie immediately. A guy down on rent meets a friend who turns out to be a ghost. That's THE hook of the movie. That's what got me interested. I actually stopped watching the trailer once the ghost part dropped because I was hooked.

And the rest of the movie explores that. How do they get along? Do they fight? Does the ghost help him? How'd he become a ghost? How does having a ghost buddy complicate your life?

The acting is great. It's funny. It's even sad. Love the camera work, too. The script feels polished. I wound up enjoying this far more than I expected.

I even like the ending (which seems to be very controversial). But I'll say the ending is a bold choice and absolutely memorable. In fact, I even understand the ending and respect the character's decisions decision, given what the movie set up earlier.