In October, Magnet Releasing rolled out the official one-sheet for Don Coscarelli's first movie since the great Bubba Ho-Tep a decade ago. That poster, included at the bottom of this page, is a bit deliberately retro-cheesy.
Today, Magnet unveiled an alternate one sheet at Coming Soon, and while it's easy to see why this wasn't actually selected to sell John Dies at the End to a wide audience, it'll still look good framed on somebody's wall.
Based on the novel by David Wong (a pseudonym for Jason Pargin, who started out writing the story as a popular online serial), the movie is several different kinds of off-kilter. David and his best friend John, played by Chase Williamson and Rob Mayes, are two small town misanthropes who stumble into contact with Soy Sauce, a supernatural hallucinogen. The two basically become low-rent paranormal investigators and end up in a unique position to save the world. It's complicated and horrifically absurd.
If this doesn't sell John Dies at the End, I just don't know what could. Maybe this red band trailer from late last month? Or a less risque trailer from around Halloween? Give these a try.
Williamson and Mayes are not hugely well-known, but by all accounts they carry the film with an easy chemistry and believable friendship. They're supporting by a bunch of ringers such as Paul Giamatti, Glynn Turman, Clancy Brown, and even Doug Jones, who anyone interested in this particular movie should probably know by name.
John Dies at the End is currently available via VOD and arrives in theaters on January 25th.
Here's that official poster and synopsis:
On the street, they call it "soy sauce." It's a paranormal, psychoactive
drug that promises an out-of-body experience with each hit. Its users
drift across time and dimensions, but some who come back are devoid of
all humanity. While most of Earth's inhabitants remain blissfully
oblivious to its threat. Make no mistake, an otherworldly invasion is
under way, and mankind needs to be saved. Enter John and David, a pair
of college dropouts who can barely hold down jobs. How can these guys
possibly be expected to rescue mankind from certain destruction?
Originally erupting from the devilishly ingenious mind of David Wong,
alter ego of Cracked.com's senior editor Jason Pargin, JOHN DIES AT THE
END began as a Web serial that became an Internet phenomenon. In the
highly capable hands of legendary cult horror director Don Coscarelli
(Phantasm, Bubba Ho-Tep), Pargin's wildly trippy vision is forged into
big-screen eye candy. The end result will take you to places in your
subconscious that you shouldn't be allowed to visit.
