John Dies at the End (2012)

This is the movie I've been waiting for. And I don't just say that because I'm on the soy sauce and have literally been waiting for it. I have been waiting for a good Lovecractian movie since I first read the books and have been satiated by the Hellboy franchise and Cabin in the Woods, but they were old school, literalist tellings of the tales. There is certainly nothing wrong with that and I like those movies to pieces, but I want something that is now. Actually, Cabin in the Woods kind of goes in that direction, but it's spoofing a genre as much as anything else, so didn't quite get there. John Dies at the End does get there.
At first blush, this film has more in common with Naked Lunch, the Peter Weller movie, not the William S. Burroughs book. An excellent film, in fact I will have to see if I can get my hands on it now, but it's ultimately about getting high and what someone will put up with and do to get high. It's unfortunate that the movie is such a small part of the book, though I have no idea how the rest of the book could be portrayed in a movie. John Dies at the End, on the other hand, is about getting at the truth to save yourself and your friends and maybe even your world, however improbable it seems, and what someone will put up and what drugs they will do to get those goals accomplished.
The cast is great. Chase Williamson and Rob Mayes as John and Dave are underplayed and over-the-top often at the same time. Clancey Brown as the world renowned psychic Marconi is perfect as both a believable mentalist and as a possible shyster. Paul Giamotti and Glynn Turman as the reporter and the cop, respectively, round out the main roles and bring acting chops to their roles. Of course the real star of the film is Bark Lee. I have heard it said that you should never act with animals or small children as they will upstage you every time, and I think that Bark Lee pretty much proves that axiom. Also, Fabianne Therese as Amy is the right amount of geek and pretty to make the perfect one-handed girlfriend for Dave.
When credits role, we're shown that the adventures of Dave and John aren't over. Part of me hopes they make more movies with these characters, as long as they use the same actors. But, part of me thinks that this might have been a genie in a bottle and even with the same folks onboard they couldn't recreate it. I hope I find out one way or the other.

John DIes at the End on IMDb