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He Never Died – Movie Review

14 April, 2016 — by Matt Owen0

Henry Rollins is a fascinating, and frankly inspiring man. Raconteur, traveller, musician, poet, author, TV presenter and occasional actor, so it’s nice to see him finally step into a lead role with He Never Died, although the results are…. mixed.

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Let’s start by saying that He Never Died isn’t a bad film. Far from it. There’s some confident direction on display, which is coupled with a palette that’s broody but never dull, and the pacing manages to remain slow-burning without dragging. It’s a confident effort, but much like Rollins’ protagonist ‘Jack’, it’s lacking a certain something.

One of the main issues here is tone. It’s clear that director Jason Krawczyk is trying to craft something darkly humorous, but has unfortunately spent too much time on the ‘dark’ part of that equation. The film is full of scenes of oddball ultra-violence that if given more room, could be laugh-out-loud funny.

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As it is, the restrained hand elicits the odd muttered chuckle, but feels like a missed opportunity. There are a lot of ‘horror-comedies’ out there that sincerely believe that gore is inherently hilarious, but there’s a big difference between Evil Dead II and Zombeavers, usually marked by a willingness to invest in characters you care about, but being confident enough to really let rip when it’s time for the punchline. Krawczxk seems reluctant to do this, as though he won’t be taken seriously if he leans too heavily on jokes, and in this case it’s a shame.

The plot itself is fairly standard indie-flick fare, with a few interesting twists that are unfortunately signposted too clearly (the main character has two long scars on his back. Almost as though something were cut off… ). Rollins plays Jack, a curmudgeonly weirdo who is rudely shaken from his bachelor squalor by the arrival of a teenage daughter (a well cast Jordan Todosey) he barely remembers having. Comedy is derived from his reluctant attempts to reconnect, while keeping some of his odder habits concealed. Unfortunately the girl is soon picked up by local gangsters, pissed off at Jack for a variety of reasons, and thus the journey to the fireworks factory begins.

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Rollins himself suffers from the same issue as the rest of the film. His character has some fine touches, but is let down by being just a touch too close to mumblecore. He’s too reserved, meaning that even when he cuts loose you don’t quite feel the menace he’s supposed to be imparting. It’s a pity because Rollins himself has always been a damnably interesting looking person. That square jaw really does make it look like he could take a punch straight in the face and not even realise it until much later, but his physicality is under-used. He may be the right age, but Henry just isn’t built to be a sad-sack middle aged man, and I’ve been hoping for a while that someone will stick him in a Taken-style thriller, but for now I’m doomed to be disappointed.

As I’ve said, it’s not bad, but it’s a struggle to engage with the film. It’s entirely possible this is deliberate – an artistic flourish aligning form with content perhaps – although it’s sadly more likely that it just needs a slightly more experienced hand at the helm with the confidence to roll around in the ridiculousness of the concept. Worth checking out as a curio for now.

Check out the rest of the latest cinema releases in our new movie reviews section including UK sci-fi thriller The Call-Up or Nicolas Cage’s tonally unbalanced The Trust.

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He Never Died
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