Weg mit der Ex

A guy (Anton Yelchin)'s regrets over moving in with his girlfriend (Ashley Greene) are compounded when she dies and comes back as a zombie.

Apparently this film has largely negative reviews. That surprises me. I can understand mixed reviews, because this is definitely not Joe Dante's finest film. But where are the horror fans who appreciate all the great references? This is definitely a love letter to horror fans, the ones who are gore to the core.

Maybe the humor was a little off. I thought the sex factor was played up a bit more than it ought to have been (but I am also very prudish). And Ashley Greene was somewhat annoying (though this was how her character was scripted, so that should be a compliment). Overall, this was enjoyable and light. I can see it getting improved reviews as time goes on.

More often than not, when I rate a film two or two and a half stars, I'm coming from a place of "Well it's not really for me, but I guess I could see why it might have appeal". Burying the Ex on the other hand comes from a place exactly opposite to that. It's like every five minutes there was something dropped precisely to cater to my interests, but there's no appeal at all. And no amount of goth bars I'd kill to have in my town, horror-themed ice cream parlours, Joe Dante directorial credits or Alexandra Daddario getting her kit off in a graveyard can make up for that.

It's not outright boring, which is certainly welcome, but it's horror that's not scary, comedy that's not funny, and bears not one but two life lessons that seem well learned until they're *both* dropped in the final scene.

I'm not going to make any "Should have stayed buried" digs, because it's really not *that* bad, but I'm not going to recommend it either.

Wuss (Anton Yelchin) works up the courage to break up with his girlfriend (Ashley Greene) but, before he can go through with it, she's hit by a bus and killed. Just as he is about to start a new relationship with another hottie (Alexandra Daddario), the dead girlfriend returns as a zombie.

I had a hard time liking Anton Yelchin's character. He's this wimpy hipster unmotivated guy that I doubt I could stand for five minutes in real life. Surprisingly, there's no mention of his smoking weed as there usually is with characters like this. You're slacking on your clichés, Joe Dante. He also doesn't contribute much in the humor department. That's left on Ashley Greene's shoulders. Oliver Cooper plays Yelchin's half-brother, which is itself supposed to be a joke of some kind. It's repeated throughout the movie despite never being funny. Some people have half-siblings. I don't get what's funny about that. Outside of that 'joke,' he's pretty much the Jonah Hill character. You know, the fat gross guy who is inexplicably attractive to women and whose material is something that was envelope-pushing decades ago but now seems trite. Consider yourself warned he is naked in this so don't eat while watching. As for Ashley Greene, she owns this thing. She delivers all of the movie's laughs and things just seem less interesting when she's off-screen. Sexy Alexandra Daddario is given little to work with but does fine.

I'm glad to see Joe Dante is still around and hasn't completely lost it. I mean, this is nowhere near the stuff he made in his prime, but it's better than anything John Landis has made lately. It's got a lot of the expected Dante touches (perhaps too many), such as old horror movies constantly playing in the background, a moving truck with the name Romero on it, and an amusing guest appearance from Dick Miller. It almost feels like Dante is homaging himself at this point. Aside from these touches, there really is nothing about this that stands out from a thousand other directors with less status. The movie looks as though it could have been made for television, honestly. It's a watchable horror comedy, funny in parts and gross in others. Worth a look but don't expect much.

"Burying the Ex" is the soon to be released flick from director Joe Dante, who brought us the '80s classics "Gremlins" and "The Howling." This time around, we follow horror-movie-loving Max (Anton Yelchin, ie. Checkov from the "Star Trek" reboot series, but without the Russian accent), struggling to rise above the manipulative people in his life. He's working in a dead-end job in a kitschy Halloween curio shop with a demanding boss; living with his controlling girlfriend Evelyn (Ashley Greene from "Twilight"); and dealing with his brother (I mean half-brother, a running gag) Travis (Oliver Cooper from "The Hangover III") who really just needs Max's apartment as a destination to take his booty-calls to.

An odd little statue arrives at the shop that promises to grant a wish… but because it's a "Satan-Genie" (and according to a tag attached)– it has to be granted the "evil way." Cut to the "Satan-Genie" being within earshot of a post-coital promise made between Max and Evelyn: "We will always be together… always and forever"… and the "evil-way" is set in motion.

Max's relationship with Evelyn continues to deteriorate. Evelyn freaks out at a friendly ice cream shop owner named Olivia (played by the comely Alexandra Daddario from True Detective); turns their apartment into a "green, eco-friendly zone" … and relegates (read: jams) his expensive horror movie posters into a drawer… At his wits end, Max takes the advise of brother (half-brother) Travis, and invites her to a public place to break up with her. Max chooses a dog park, which leads Evelyn to believe he has gotten her a dog, and in her enthusiasm, rushes out to meet him and is killed by a bus.

You can guess what follows. Evelyn returns from the grave, hell-bent on rekindling their relationship, and determined to keep Max away from the very-alive ice cream owner, Olivia. And she has a plan to make good on their promise to "always be together… always and forever" that Max is not too keen on.

There are some genuinely funny moments, and director Joe Dante is in great form, but comparisons to the Jeff Baena film "Life After Beth", released last year, are inevitable. Both movies involve girlfriends coming back from the grave to despondent boyfriends who have all kinds of regrets after their deaths; both girlfriends are adamant in reviving their "dead" relationships (and deflecting any interest from any potential "living" girlfriends), all the while slowly deteriorating physically and mentally into zombie-ness (and rage). And according to both films, returning from the grave makes girls super-strong and really horny.

Those are the plot similarities. Burying the Ex is a really fun movie with great directing, photography, physical special effects and outstanding acting that illustrates Dante's pedigree, delivering a far more polished film than Life After Beth. Don't let seeing Beth dissuade you from checking out Burying the Ex. It's a fun watch for those wanting to expand their zombie movie horizons.

Cute movie. I don't know why it has such a low rating.

This is not your typical zombie-type movie. It's more of a zomedy (zombie comedy :p) So, don't watch this expecting something like The Walking Dead.

The acting was good, and the writing clever. The zombie makeup was interesting. The flies flying around Greene was funny, and it was one of the things The Walking Dead never implements, but you have to figure that zombies would have a lotta flies buzzing around them.

Anton Yelchin did a good job in the lead, and Ashley Greene was the sexiest zombie you'll ever see.

In thought this would be awful, but I was very entertained. I recommend this.

Some will not like this, because they don't like zomedies, but it will be their loss.

I gave this a 6-star rating.