REVIEW: EVERYBODY DIES BY THE END

• Director: Ian Tripp, Ryan Schafer
• Writer: Ian Tripp
• Stars: Vinny Curran, Brendan Cahalan, Iliyana Apostolova, Bill Oberst Jr, Ian Tripp,

Review

Mockumentaries are fraught with danger, they need to be planned but look natural and thankfully Everybody Dies At The End is not only meticulously planned and looks natural but it is also very funny and just really fucking good.

The film opens with an interview with cult filmmaker Alfred Costella (Curran) getting dragged over the coals for his violent films. The interviewer (Oberst Jr) than says phrase that sticks with Alfred and he promptly kicks off and destroys the set. Fast forward some time later and documentary maker Calvin (Tripp) has got an email from Alfred and he wants Calvin to document the behind the scenes of his new and final film. Being a huge fan Calvin immediately agrees and the documentary gets underway. As the shoot progresses Calvin and his crew begin to think that things are not as they seem.

Everybody Dies By The End is in the same house as One Cut Of The Dead, whilst both are vastly different films, they have similar DNA in the terms of how the making of a film requires everyone to work together or to follow the directors vision. We get Alfred admonishing his actors and then praising them, wanting particular shots, getting upset over nothing and getting calmed down by his offsider, Grant (Calahan). All tropes of directors by its rings more authentically due to Curran’s performance. This film is an ode to film making, cult film making and violent low budget horrors whilst offering up an entertaining horror film in its own right.

Curran is fantastic as the eccentric director and does steal the show, his offsider Grant (Calahan) is also a great foil for him, trying to keep everyone happy and everything on track. The rest of the cast is great, actual its a fairly fault free ensemble, nailing their characters, acting in a naturalistic way keeping the documentary feel of the film.

Tripp and Schafer direct this really well, from the hand held, off the cuff stuff to the study of the director at work, they get the feel of this exactly right. Tripp’s writing is funny without cramming it down the audience’s throat, the story does flow nicely and despite the ending of the film being inescapable and a bit contrived, Everybody Dies By The End is a very entertaining watch.

Played at Arrow Frightfest 2022

Ryan Morrissey-Smith | Twitter: @TigersMS78