VOD Review: He Never Died (2015)

From his days as the frontman of Black Flag, to his acting turn on Sons of Anarchy, we've always been big fans of Henry Rollins. Of course a large part of that has to do with the way that his gruff, intense exterior belies his intelligence (because he's wicked smart), but as an entertainer, he's about as enigmatic as it comes.

He's had smaller parts in movies and TV shows for the better part of three decades now, but unless we're mistaken, He Never Died marks his first starring role. From the start, the idea of Henry Rollins headlining a Genre flick like this intrigued the hell out of us, and now having seen it, we can honestly say that it turned out far better than we had hoped it would.

Jack is an odd, stoic, and fairly creepy guy who lives alone in a crappy apartment, spending his days doing nothing more than sleeping, eating at the local diner, and playing bingo with old folks. He has no friends, save for Cara (the hot, kind waitress at his favorite diner), and Jeremy (a med student who regularly delivers odd packages to him), but they're hardly true friends. When his estranged daughter (Andrea) shows up at his door, he even turns her away, because we're pretty sure that he has mental issues.

SHE OBVIOUSLY DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO PLAY BINGO.

He's also prone to bouts of aggression, as evidenced by the way he reacts when local thugs begin to harass him; which is to brutally kill them. Oh, they try to kill him too, but whether they stab him, fill him full of lead, or shoot him in the face with a rocket launcher, Jack never dies. When those very same thugs kidnap his daughter and hurt his friends, Jack begrudgingly sets out to save/avenge them. Kind of.

"DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK, I'VE BEEN HERE FOR YEARS."

It turns out that Jack has quite an impressive history, which dates back all the way to... well, we're not going to say, because that would ruin the fun reveals in the plot, but suffice it to say that he's really old, he can't die, he won't eat anything that has blood in it, and his name is not really Jack.

Deadpan black humor and excessive violence ensue.

ALRIGHT, SO HE DOES EAT SOME THINGS THAT HAVE BLOOD IN THEM...

A solid revenge thriller that is full of both action and supernatural elements, He Never Died really shines because its funny. Yes, it's full of bloody action, boasts some solid characters brought to life by equally solid actors, and it's interesting as hell overall, but above all else, it's really funny. It's not the What We Do In the Shadows kind of funny, as most of the movie's humor is of the dark and subdued variety, but it kept us smiling the whole way through, and made us laugh out loud often.

This is a really clever and well-written movie overall. If first time writer/director Jason Krawczyk's debut feature is any indication of what he has to offer, well be curious to see what he does next.

ODDEST COUPLE EVER.

It's going to be hard to talk about this movie in detail without ruining its plot twists and reveals, so the best thing that we can say in a non-spoiler kind of way is that we love the character of Jack; his history, his "condition"; the creepy old dude who he keeps seeing throughout the movie; and the mythology of it all. There's a visual cue in the very first scene that may tell us exactly who Jack is, so be on the lookout. It reminded us of the title of an old Poison song. We will hint no more!

We also really liked the ending. Rollins' last line was great.

"ALL OF MY LINES WERE GREAT!"

The movie truly works as well as it does because of Henry Rollins' performance as Jack. He plays things so deadpan and serious, that the movie's humorous bits (of which there are plenty), come off 10 times better than if he had played things for actual laughs. The scene where Cara asks Jack what he does for a living is a perfect example of this; his answer still has us chuckling thinking about it. Rollins may not be the best actor in the world, but he has a way of bringing his intense humanity (at least in part) to his roles, and that's especially true in this one. His character isn't easy to like at all, mainly because he's so emotionally distant, but we couldn't help but like him anyway.

THIS IS ABOUT AS ANTI-HERO AS A CHARACTER GETS.

Jordan Todosey and Kate Greenhouse also did a great job playing the ladies in his life, and especially Kate Greenhouse (she had a bigger and more dynamic role.) We're not very familiar with either of their work, but after seeing this one, we can honestly say that both of the ladies know what they're doing in front of a camera, and they played perfectly off of Rollins' disconnected emptiness here.

The movie also has quite a mean streak about it, with plenty of bloody and overtly-violent moments throughout. Henry Rollins kicks ass exactly how we expected Henry Rollins to kick ass in this one; with a quiet cool ferocity.

YOU DUN KNOCKED ON THE WRONG DOOR, BOYS.

Beware the quiet ones, because they always have creepy secrets. Also, Henry Rollins is the fucking man.

SING IT, HENRY. SING IT.

Funny, violent, and oddly captivating, we were surprised at how much we actually enjoyed He Never Died. Most of that enjoyment surely came from being fans of Henry Rollins, but overall the movie tells an entertaining story which is set in a world filled with compelling characters, so it wasn't just Rollins' presence that made it work. There's been talk of this movie continuing as a TV show, and we would love to see that happen.

Avoid the trailers if you can (because they give a ton away), and give this one a rent.

He Never Died is available now on VOD.

Jordan Todosey and Kate Greenhouse are in this.