John Dies at the End
Magnet Releasing | Release Date: January 25, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
7
Negative:
7
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Paste MagazineScott WoldApr 3, 2018
Cult favorite director Don Coscarelli knows which way to twist the knobs and navigate through the static of mindfuckery that follows. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJan 31, 2013
It lays waste to linear narration, thematic coherence, psychological plausibility and just about everything else you might expect to encounter. It zigs, zags and trips over its own feet and on its own home-brewed hallucinogens. It's a ridiculous, preposterous, sometimes maddening experience, but also kind of a blast. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'HehirJan 25, 2013
Is this an "indie" film with a deliberately messed-up chronology and an ambitious narrative you'll appreciate even more the second time through? Yes. Is this a deliberately trashy horror-comedy with a few decent jolts and several big laughs, best viewed with a gang of friends and a consciousness-altering agent of your choosing, parasitical or not? That too. Read full review
80
SlateDana StevensJan 24, 2013
A gleefully crummy buddy comedy that uses horror-movie conventions as catapults to hurl the audience down one "whoa, dude!" narrative wormhole after another. Read full review
80
VarietyRob NelsonJan 9, 2013
Give or take the titular disclosure, John Dies at the End is a thoroughly unpredictable horror-comedy -- and an immensely entertaining one, too. Read full review
75
Film.comWilliam GossFeb 26, 2013
John Dies at the End is easily funnier than it is scary, and much like the drug at the center of the story, it offers one hell of a trip. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsFeb 7, 2013
Some of the themes and the hallucinatory special effects are reminiscent of Cronenberg’s “Naked Lunch,” and there are cheeky allusions to “Dawn of the Dead” and even “Eyes Wide Shut,” but a viewer with an open mind might say that this midnight-style movie is more enjoyable than any of them. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaFeb 7, 2013
John Dies at the End isn't deep. But it is deeply amusing, in the sickest possible way. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubNathan RabinJan 9, 2013
It's a mess, but its best moments are exhilarating, getting hopelessly lost in Pargin's surreal, completely disorienting world. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezMar 14, 2013
Despite its astronomical body count, John Dies at the End never takes itself seriously, and neither should you. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrFeb 21, 2013
This loopy slacker horror farce is so intent on playing with your head — and time, and space, and paranoid conspiracy theories — that it doesn’t care about making sense. Which doesn’t stop the film from being a pretty good bad time. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesCharlie SchmidlinFeb 7, 2013
Coscarelli knows how to exploit horror/sci-fi tropes and adeptly meld a practical effect with a well-timed gag. Many could depict a man's disembodied moustache with the right degree of farcicality, but few can imbue it with such an oddball credibility. Read full review
63
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreJan 30, 2013
Before it trips over its own overly complex plot, before the comic leads have exhausted their modestly amusing repertoires, this odd stoner/sci fi creature feature blows out of the gate and threatens - for about thirty minutes - to blow your mind. Then it doesn't. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversJan 25, 2013
Coscarelli junkies won't be bothered by the film's herky-jerky rhythms. Go for the freaky fun of it, though a little soy sauce on the side sure wouldn't hurt. Read full review
60
EmpireJames WhiteMar 18, 2013
Gonzo freakiness in such doses that cult status is practically ensured. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanJan 31, 2013
This is really the kind of movie that was made to be watched in a haze after midnight, at which point it would all, no doubt, make perfect sense. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleJan 24, 2013
Flaked with offbeat witticisms, cheese ball effects and fanboy splatter gore, the surreal John Dies at the End has the vibe of a shaggy dog story, which works both for and against it. Read full review
55
NPRScott TobiasJan 24, 2013
Once the colorful anecdotes sprawl out into an actual narrative, the film gets convoluted and loud, amplifying the weirdness without doing much to clarify it. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJan 24, 2013
Another is how the film manages, in the absence of a coherent plot, to be so funny and engaging until, somewhere around the midpoint, it goes as flat as a stepped-on creepy-crawly. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJan 24, 2013
Coscarelli's screenplay introduces an abundance of intriguing concepts but never goes very far with any of them. The characters are paper thin and the special effects are laughably bad. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeJan 9, 2013
A supernatural action comedy that can never live up to its exciting opening scenes, Don Coscarelli's John Dies at the End mixes horror-tinged mayhem with smart-alec laughs but loses momentum early and gets bogged down in exposition. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsFeb 7, 2013
This is a fantasy grab bag in which nearly anything can happen. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleLeah ChurnerFeb 21, 2013
The whole movie is an inside joke, a shaggy-dog tale that asks us to pay close attention to its twists and turns, but never rewards us for doing so. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleFeb 7, 2013
Every single thing wrong with John Dies at the End might have been avoided had John died at the beginning, along with all the other characters, transforming an awful full-length movie into a harmless five-minute short. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle SmithJan 31, 2013
A supernatural horror-comedy that's frighteningly lacking in wit, John Dies at the End thinks it's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" for dudes. But in its randomness, its vulgarity and its level of humor, it's more like the collected writings on the walls of a roadside men's room. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineChris CabinJan 21, 2013
The frantic, grotesque imagery ironically only highlights Don Coscarelli's inability to truly cut ties with the constraints of accepted storytelling. Read full review
20
Time OutKeith UhlichJan 29, 2013
This frenetic horror-comedy from "Bubba Ho Tep's" Don Coscarelli is of the make-it-up-as-you-go-along school of storytelling. Read full review
10
Village VoiceNick PinkertonJan 22, 2013
John Dies at the End is a product of a parallel universe where slacker flippancy never got old-and, oh, it is terrible. Read full review
More From This Movie

53 Critic Reviews

6.7 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 71 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL