Movie #12 Burying the Ex 2014/2015

Before I dive into this review I feel like it behooves me to say something first. I cant stress how important Joe Dante was on my childhood. There are a handful of films that made a huge impact on me and as cliche as it sounds Gremlins was one of them. After multiple viewings I both loved and was terrified of those little bastards I even carried a flashlight around just in case I saw one of them (cut me a break i was a kid lol.) And The Burbs was another film that I watched many times and even though I didn't get all the adult jokes I still knew it was something special. "Burying the Ex" received some rather brutally bad reviews but despite this I set out to give it a fair shake. After all I dug "The Hole" but after looking closer maybe this one should have stayed put.

Movie # 12 Burying the Ex 2014/2015

Max is a typical horror film loving guy, who just happens to be dating a real nightmare of a girlfriend Evelyn. She is a stereotypical vegan green crusader who is hell bent on forcing her opinions on him and everyone around her. However in a chance meeting Max falls for hipster goth girl Olivia and decides that he needs to break it off with his current girlfriend. Growing a set of balls he decides to dump her and asks her to meet him for a surprise? (thats harsh) and while she crosses the street she is hit by a bus and killed. After mourning his ex Max starts dating Olivia but Evelyn risings from her dirt nap thinking she`ll now be with him forever. Its now up to him and his sex crazed half brother to make sure she rests in piece permanently.

It REALLY pains me to say but I can see why this movie got horrible reviews. Burying the Ex started off promising but it quickly is unraveled by its own "cool and clever" plot, which is predictable and not nearly as awesome as it thinks it is.What could have been an smart and morbid meditation on relationships using a horror element is dumb`ed down to lame jokes and a stale plot that is pretty much like "Corpse Bride" To make matters worse all the characters are all so stock and stereotypical. Lets look at the main characters. Evelyn is the annoying hot vegan psycho girlfriend that Max wants to break up with. They try and flesh her out by the out of place "dead mother" exposition (which never really pays off) but frankly it doesn't work at all.  Max is the hipster horror film fan that you often find on internet forums ironically loving stuff other people hate. Olivia the foil for our zombie is also the funky, playfully awkward goth hipster girl which is pretty much just a female version of Max. And who could forger the "lovable" annoying sex fiend sidekick Travis. None of the characters were engaging or likable. I truly believe despite its unoriginal plot it could have aimed alot higher, "dug deeper" with its characters and really mixed it up.The result feels like an anthology segment stretched painfully thin and ultimately it makes for a tepid viewing experience. I will always root for Mr.Dante because of the wonderful stuff hes done but its not enough to give this movie a pass. Honestly this movie has passed its expatriation date and should have stayed buried.