When I was growing up, you’d just call a film like this a “B movie”. If you accept it as such, while not particularly good, Death of Me is a totally passable low-budget horror flick.
Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV) certainly has experience in making mystery based horror. However, the Saw franchise he helped build had a clear formula and a particular brand of mystery more in line with a whodunnit. This was an odd collaboration from Ari Margolis, James Morley III, and David Tish. Margolis and Morley had worked together before (Black Days) but none of their resumes are that deep so it’s a bit curious as to why they were brought together here. Unfortunately, the screenplay struggles to give the actors something to cling to.
Maggie Q is good when it comes to having that lost, worried look of desperation but she never really gets deeper than that. There’s a panicked exasperation to her portrayal but it tracks closer to frustrated confusion. Luke Hemsworth never comes across as the caring husband opposite her, so their chemistry isn’t enough to drive the movie. It’s not their fault so much, the script never even gave them a chance to establish a believable relationship. He’s supposedly a photographer but there’s a moment where he pistol whips a guy with his camera. Considering the camera would be somewhere between $2,000-$10,000 depending on the build, it’s a moment that shattered the disbelief for me.
The premise was interesting and the trailer did a good job of selling it, but the focus was off. Obviously, the whole coming back from the dead thing needed an explanation, but that wasn’t what was most frightening. For my money, the real fear was in the lack of control. Being stranded on a remote foreign island, where you don’t know the language and can’t communicate, have no memory of the prior day, and are experiencing hallucinatory visions is more than enough to be afraid of. Sadly, it pivots to a fear of the indigenous people. While the anticipation was strong, the reveal was disappointing in comparison.
The makeup effects were well done and the visual application of some of the island voodoo stuff was good. It had some Eli Roth vibes to it, but there a number of other films that execute the story angle better.
Recommendation: If you’re really in the mood for “new” content, the $5.99 rental place takes a little sting off it but there are movies that do tourist horror better.