There are two words that spring to my mind when I think about WHERE THE DEAD GO TO DIE:  disturbing and brilliant.  I can’t decide which one outweighs the other, but there’s plenty of both elements in this film.  Be warned though:  this film will not be for everyone and will offend some people.  

 

If you are not familiar with this film, here is the plot synopsis courtesy of the press release:

WHERE THE DEAD GO TO DIE revolves around a troubled group of children living on the same block.  They are haunted by a talking dog named Labby who brings them on surreal hell-rides between different dimensions and time periods.  On the night of a lunar eclipse, he informs Tommy about the devil fetus living inside his mother.  The same night he attempts to help Ralph court the girl across the street, who is an unwilling  participant in her father’s child porn tape trading ring.  Add in a memory-stealing junkie living inside an abandoned church and you have 90 minutes of pure mind melting insanity!

I didn’t realize when I requested this film that it was animated.  This is not a bad thing at all, as it actually helps to lessen some of the shock value of the film.  But viewers should be forewarned in advance, if CG is not your thing.

 

WHERE THE DEAD GO TO DIE is probably the most bizarre film I have seen in years.  The visual imagery is beyond surrealistic, with some insane and heady depictions of hell, both physical and mental.  The physical characterizations of individual torment accentuate this visual imagery, resulting in three wickedly dark and foreboding tales.

 

There are some very graphic depictions in this film, including scenes of nudity, death, gore, and more.  But they are very well done.  Nothing is stylized or glamorized in any way; if anything, this film could be used as a deterrent for certain deviant behavior, as most of the characters get what they deserve in the end.

 

But while I thoroughly enjoyed the film, WHERE THE DEAD GO TO DIE will certainly not appeal to everyone, nor will everyone that watches this film be able to stomach it.  The grisly detail will probably overload some folks, but that’s quite ok...this type of film is not for everyone, for sure.

 

Still, if you can soldier through it, WHERE THE DEAD GO TO DIE is an amazing foray in hyper-surrealism, a dark and twisted journey into several hearts of darkness.  I am obviously not going to delve into the plot details, as you can see from the synopsis above that it is quite involved.  Check this one out, if you dare.

 

Score:  5/5