I saw the Dead Don't Die...

I like horror comedies...zombie comedies, from "King of the Zombies" to "Return of the Living Dead". In more recent years, the likes of "Fido", "Shaun of the Dead" and "Zombieland" have enthralled me, due to their kooky yet identifiable characters and set-ups. On the other hand, I thought "Zombie Strippers!" missed the mark, getting too damn high and mighty in its world-affairs views: no laughs in any of that. 

Now comes writer/director Jim "Dead Man" Jarmusch's "The Dead Don't Die" (not to be confused with the Curtis Harrington flick featuring Reggie Nadler). It's a flesh-eating zombie fable with particular focus on a trio of deadpan, Ohio police officers who must combat the infestation.  

Portraying these Buster Keaton variants are Bill "Zombieland" Murray as droopy Chief Cliff Robertson (surely a homage), Adam "Force Awakens" Driver as reliable Officer Ronnie Robertson and Chloe "American Psycho" Sevigny as queasy Officer Mindy Morrison. 

Steve Buscemi costars as Farmer Frank Miller (yet another homage or perhaps, just an unjust, conservative jab?); Danny Glover as downhome Hank Thompson; Tom Waits as narrative Hermit Bob; Rosie Perez as Chilly Billy-ish Posie Juarez; Caleb Landry Jones as monster-merchant Bobby Wiggins; Selena Gomez as comely hipster Zoe; and Tilda Swinton as Zelda Winston, an enigmatic undertaker with a straight-outta-"Doctor Strange" bent. (To prance among these stand-out supporters, we're supplied enough cameos to make "The Dead Don't Die" the proverbial, flesh-feasting "Around the World in 80 Days"; I suppose my fave come-and-goer is Iggy Pop, though I'm partial to Pop...Waits, too, for that matter.) The ensemble performs with pouts, frowns and sardonic wit galore. When a statement-making moment strikes, it stomps on Middle America: case in point, Miller's crass, reinterpreted cap.

And that's the film's blundering misstep. "The Dead Don't Die" is a big, environmental, blame game, signaling out those who aren't considered erudite (rural folks, you know) for the world's "problems". The film's frackin' (pun intended) failure, therefore, falls on Jarmusch, whose propaganda spoils what could have been an appeal-to-all "Night of the Living Dead" meets "Fargo" meets "Plan 9" meets "Twin Peaks". 

Some will say that Jarmusch's intent references George A. Romero and Larry Cohen, but those filmmakers planted care and consideration into their advocacy, covering both sides of issues. "The Dead Don't Die'"s agenda is an example of gory reversed discrimination: a bloody, biased, one-trick pony that invades the space of its quirky characters.   

Though a number of folks will hail the approach as progressive, that sorta slanting has never been my cup of tea, whether jammed in horror, fantasy or comedy.  In other words, highbrow ignorance is distasteful, no matter how dryly it's gnawed.