The world of budgetary independent films is treacherous. A new film seems to arrive every week, and every week the reviewer goes into battle mode, bracing himself for yet another foolish half-hearted attempt at a film. Not all of these films are bad; every once and a while a good one injects something into these old veins and keeps the body going for a few more months.
Die and Let Live seemed to have appeared out of thin air. Tell me there was a premiere for it last December, and apparently it was quite the hit. This film did create a lot of noise, but for me there was barely a whisper.
Justin Channell’s film chooses to have minimal flashy preambles or dialogues, Die and Let Live gets straight into the zombie action with blood and gun shots. The quality shows that these young filmmakers were serious about their work. The plot, at least as far as the invasion of the zombies goes, is virtually non-existent. Emphasis here is not on a virus that raises the dead and spreading, but on two friends and a party.
‘Die and Let Live’ is first a comedy with enough bloody biting and ripping to please most horror fans. Romero’s Dead series has clearly made an imprint, but the filmmakers never go so far as to make it Ear-splitting.
This flick does try to keep the killings up there with the classics, and the qualitative superiority of gore compensates for the economical shortcoming. The make up effects are cheap and boring, but they do the job. When there is sufficient authentic humanity splashed across the screen, there is nothing wrong with over-the-top violence. Hell, this thing was even shot with more skill than bigger budgeted flops we have seen reach the direct to DVD market. It looks like money can’t buy everything.
The zaniness is backed up by the characters. The leads of the film, Benny and Smalls, are two best friends who are just like any other kids you went to high school with. They do not take life too seriously and are always ready to booze and get laid. What makes them likable is the absence of standard WB-issued schlock. We aren’t watching a group of 30-year-old supermodels trying to act like perverted teenagers. Are you listening Hollywood?
In Die and Let Live, most of the humor, thanks to good comic timing and delivery, hits the mark on most occasions. Come to think of it, a good 90 percent of the cast seem to have real acting ability which would make it even better if there was just a little less slackening of the film. Many times while watching the movie, the lines being sung sound more like just that: reading lines from a script; but more often than not it comes across as believable.
Die and Let Live can still make even the most basic elements amusing with their limited resources. When your best bud is attacked by a zombie, should you use a heavy brick or a long-handled pool cleaner? If the pool cleaner does not work, do you try to fish it out of the pool or use the conveniently situated brick?
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