Why Don't You Just Die?

Do you remember the old Bugs Bunny and Road Runner cartoons, where nonchalant violent acts happened constantly to its zany cast of characters? The Coyote from those animated shorts came into contact with dynamite, fell from cliffs, and detonated bombs often. Yet, that indestructible animal survived each horrific and deadly act thrust upon him.

In a new Arrow Video Blu-ray, a comedy/horror hybrid mimics many things (including the afore-mentioned Bugs Bunny cartoons) as its lead character dodges gunshots, butcher knife wounds, and survives a TV set thrown at his head. "Why Don't You Just Die," a Russian horror flick helmed by first-timer Kirill Sokolov, take its cues from Quentin Tarantino slice-and-dice films and homages many Alfred Hitchcock suspense movies.

Even so, "Why Don't You Just Die" is fairly original and made this viewer chuckle several times. Much like Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction," one story gets seen through the eyes of three separate characters and all of the action culminates in a showdown at the film's end.

The saying goes that the family who slays together also stays together. And that's the theme in "Why Don't You Just Die," where a young man charmingly breaks into his girlfriend's apartment with intent to kill her father. Things don't go as planned, and blood spurts in every direction - and so does the laughter.

Arrow's new Blu-ray is a rare new feature film release. Instead of a retro movie from the past, "Why Don't You Just Die" was filmed in 2018.

A few extras get tacked onto this "special edition" Blu-ray. Behind the scenes footage and an interesting exploration of "single location cinema" are just two of them. But best of all are four short films from director Sokolov, showing the promise of what was to come in "Why Don't You Just Die."

"Why Don't You Just Die"
Blu-ray
$29.95
www.arrowvideo.co.uk