Ever since watching Anton Yelchin’s performance in Odd Thomas, I became an immediate fan. When I first got wind of a new zom-com directed by Joe Dante of The Howling and Gremlins fame and starring Yelchin, I knew I was going to be in for a treat. I have to tell you, I was not disappointed either! Burying the Ex turned out to be a great time all around.
Horror fanatic, Max (Yelchin), isn’t happy with his overbearing, overly annoying, green girlfriend anymore and just have to break things off with her. When he finally gets the nerve to do it at a local dog park, she tragically gets hit my a bus. Little does Max realize, however, Evelyn (Ashley Greene) is destined to come back from the dead, since they made a promise to each other in front of a satanic genie statue that they’d be together always and forever. Now Max has to come up with a better plan if he’s going to get rid of his now extremely strong, extremely irritable, extremely undead girlfriend.
Similar to another film I reviewed a little while back, Life After Beth, Burying the Ex is a comedic take on the zombie sub-genre. There are actually some pretty great laugh-out-loud parts to this one, which is kind of rare nowadays, especially considering I usually am not even a real huge fan of horror comedies. Alan Trezza’s writing, along with performances by a talented cast, was more than enough to keep me entertained throughout the film’s entirety.
I knew I would enjoy Anton Yelchin’s contribution to the film, but I was more impressed by some of the other actors who star in Burying the Ex. Most of the comedic value came from Max’s sleazy half-brother, Travis, played by Oliver Cooper. I loved a lot of his one-liners and was pleasantly surprised by almost all of the stuff that came unexpectedly out of his mouth. In addition, Alexandra Daddario was very impressive as Max’s new love interest, Olivia. In fact, I feel she is much more effective in her role as the quirky ice cream shop girl than she was in that not-so-good Texas Chainsaw 3D flick from a few years back. She was cute and fun and I was rooting for her and Max to end up together the entire time!
Burying the Ex was made for horror fans to have a good time. It is not to be taken seriously and I can appreciate a film of this nature from time to time. I mean, we can’t be serious all the time, right? There are plenty of laughs to be had, the zombie make-up and effects are respectable, and the film overall is a lot of fun. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys zom-coms and just wants to kick back and relax with a good flick.
Be sure to pick up your copy on DVD, available now from RLJ Entertainment. If you stop by your local Best Buy, you can pick up the film’s exclusive Blu-ray release, also on shelves now.
I give this one 4 Go Green blog entries out of 5.