Jason Krawczyk’s new film “He Never Died” is a fun little horror noir, with a few tricks up its celluloid sleeve and a good sense of humor about itself.
Henry Rollins stars as Jack, a quiet intense man who lives alone and spends much of his time sleeping, eating oatmeal, and playing bingo at the local senior center/church. He has a Mild crush on Cara, a local waitress, but he’s very socially awkward and doesn’t quite know his way around other people.
Unless he’s hurting them. Or killing them. He’s good at those things.
Jack’s estranged daughter shows up, and rocks Jack’s boat of calm solitude a bit. Complicating matters is Jeremy, a hospital intern who procures oddly-shaped packages for him (which end up in Jack’s fridge), in exchange for money. Jeremy owes a big debt to a low-level mafia guy, who just happens to be Jack’s old boss, and when Jeremy is kidnapped, Jack comes to his rescue.
Stakes are raised, more people are kidnapped, hurt, and killed, and throughout it all Jack remains stoic and single-minded in his purpose. He also remains, curiously, unhurt, even after getting stabbed. Or shot. Who is he? What is he? And why did he rip that guy’s throat out and then eat it?
The mystery of Jack’s background is eventually revealed, and it’s a fun trip getting there. As more and more comes to light, the film seems to loosen up and find humor in all the violent and gory events transpiring.
It’s not a perfect movie by any means: some of the characters’ motivations seem a little fuzzy and/or convenient, but the effects are really good, the dialogue is snappy, and the acting is uniformly effective and natural. I believed these characters, even as they confronted some unreal situations.
Uncle Mike sez: check it out. Oh look! A trailer!
