Matvey (Aleksander Kuznetsov) is dating aspiring actress Olya (Evgeniya Kregzhde), and holy fuck does she have some Kong-sized daddy issues… like she wants the Ben Grimm lookin’ mother fucker named Andrey (Vitaliy Khaev) to take a permanent dirt nap for the rather unpleasant crimes he allegedly committed against her when she was young.
While the claims of Olya are suspect at best, ol’ Andrey is guilty of plenty of other crimes… crimes made easy given his status as a cop… a cop with an equally corrupt partner… and the duo have a wild hair up their collective asses about some dough they were screwed out of.
So over comes ol’ Romeo Matvey with a hammer to kill Big A in his own apartment… small problem, Andrey is near indestructible, and Matvey seems to be as well… what follows is an explosive blast of cartoony, unbelievably violent, and oft times bloody confrontations within the small apartment that hasn’t been seen on the screen since Evil Dead II… so you monster mother fuckers know that is an amazing thing indeed!
Comprised of small character vignettes, told in a non-chronological fashion, writer/director Kirill Sokolov’s Why Don’t You Just Die! is never better than when it shifts it’s focus from the story building (which to be fair is excellent and intriguing as all hell) and just dips it’s cinematic balls into the ol’ ultra-violence… and what violence it is!
Have you ever wanted to see The Three Stooges, but they like bleed and shit when they take abuse that would kill 100 men? Well, here’s your chance… and often accompanied by pinball sound effects to boot! Now take that and wrap a taught little crime thriller cum pseudo-Western around it and you get something that shouldn’t work… but boy fuckin’ howdy does it ever!
One of the reasons it succeeds is because the acting is top notch. Kuznetsov and Khaev make for the perfect foils (and really sell all of the crazy shit they endure), and the supporting cast is equally up to snuff with Mikhail Gorevoy turning in a sympathetic supporting role, and Elena Shevchenko, as Andrey’s long suffering wife Tasha, stealing many of the scenes she appears in.
Along with that comes an incredibly effective use of one major set that is absolutely destroyed as the film unspools, amazing use of color and music, top-notch practical effects and stunts, and gorgeous cinematography (courtesy of Dmitriy Ulyukaev).
Speaking of the good stuff; there are some solid extras included on this Blu-ray release from Arrow Video and MVD Entertainment! Included are: an informative and engaging interview with author and critic Kim Newman exploring the film’s place in the genre of “single location cinema”, a series of “behind-the-scenes” vignettes showcasing various aspects of the film’s production, a selection of four short films from Sokolov (Could Be Worse, The Outcome, The Flame and the award-winning Sisyphus is Happy), and the film’s trailer.
Featuring Looney Tunes level violence mixed with dark humor, and tropes from both crime films and westerns; Why Don’t You Just Die! is a one-of-a-kind amalgamation of exploitation cool and Saturday morning cartoon insanity that should be a must-own for lovers of ultra-absurd exploitation cinema… that’s you lot, so get your putrid peepers on this like yesterday!
