History Film / JohnDiesAtTheEnd

* AdaptationDistillation: How Dave gets the soy sauce forced onto him, and how he's found by "Morgan Freeman", are both shortened ''and'' changed. Likewise, TheStinger about John and Dave walking away from becoming another dimension's saviors, the appearance of the wig monsters, and what Marconi is are changed. A few characters and the trip to Las Vegas, as well as the cloning sub-plot, are removed.

%%* YourHeadAsplode

''John Dies at the End'' is the film adaptation of the [[Literature/JohnDiesAtTheEnd book of the same name]]. It was written for the screen and directed by Don Coscarelli, whom you might know from ''Film/TheBeastmaster'', ''Film/{{Phantasm}}'' and ''Film/BubbaHoTep''. It stars Chase Williamson and Rob Mayes, with supporting performances by Creator/PaulGiamatti (who is also an Executive Producer) and Creator/ClancyBrown.

* AdaptationalBadass:
** Marconi in the book is a former globetrotting explorer and reverend turned to psychic medium, and while he's popular with the psychic crowd, he's not any bigger than any other "psychic" in Las Vegas. In the film, not only is he ''massively'' popular, he also displays karate skills, [[TheCasanova walks around with a entourage of beautiful ladies]], manages to [[spoiler:get his hands on a city-destroying weapon made of C4 and LSD that was made in the Cold War]], and engineers the entire plan to defeat the villains. He also is way more invested in the plot - whereas his book version is busy travelling the world and fighting demons, here, he ''shows up in the shadow dimension'', somehow having caught wind of the duo's plan to kill Korrok.

** Marconi in the book is a former globetrotting explorer and reverend turned to psychic medium, and while he's popular with the psychic crowd, he's not any bigger than any other 'psychic' in Las Vegas. In the film, not only is he ''massively'' popular, he also displays karate skills, [[TheCasanova walks around with a entourage of beautiful ladies]], manages to [[spoiler:get his hands on a city-destroying weapon made of C4 and LSD that was made in the Cold War]], and engineers the entire plan to defeat the villains. He also is way more invested in the plot - whereas his book version is busy travelling the world and fighting demons, here, he ''shows up in the shadow dimension'', somehow having caught wind of the duo's plan to kill Korrok.

* DemotedToExtra: Amy, despite being a CompositeCharacter. While the heroes spend a good portion of the book looking for her, protecting her, and getting to know her, and Jennifer Lopez (the other role she takes) was a major character in Part One of the book, she is really only important to open the shadow door in the mall.

** Detective Appleton's fate of [[spoiler: being dead, but that they NeverFoundTheBody, is foreshadowed by Dave saying that Arnie won't find him]].

* AdaptationNameChange: Molly the dog is changed to Bark Lee the dog in the film. WordOfGod [[http://blog.fanhattan.com/2013/01/10/john-dies-end-director-don-coscarelli-talks-screenplay-adapting-bark-lee-meat-monsters/ states]] that this is because the best dog for the part was male. Also, John's last name is explicitly given as "John Cheese," while in the books his surname is AllThereInTheManual. Robert North in the book becomes Ro''ger'' North in the film. presumably to keep viewers from confusing him with Robert Marley.

* CompressedAdaptation: The film mostly only covers the first third of the book, before skipping to the ending.

** Dave asks Arnie "are you my father?" and Arnie laughs. Makes enough sense at that moment, but TheReveal that [[spoiler: Arnie was a black man and doesn't yet realize he's dead]] makes this especially telling.

'''''John Dies at the End''''' is the film adaptation of the [[Literature/JohnDiesAtTheEnd book of the same name]]. It was written for the screen and directed by Don Coscarelli, whom you might know from ''Film/TheBeastmaster'', ''Film/{{Phantasm}}'' and ''Film/BubbaHoTep''. It stars Chase Williamson and Rob Mayes, with supporting performances by Creator/PaulGiamatti (who is also an Executive Producer) and Creator/ClancyBrown.

* DemotedToExtra: Amy, despite being a CompositeCharacter. While the heroes spend a good portion of the book looking for her, protecting her, and getting to know her, and Jennifer Lopez (the other role she takes) was a major character in Part One of the book, she only really is important to open the shadow door in the mall.

* EyeScream: Detective Appleton's eyes bulge out of his head an explode all over the windshield of the car he is driving just as he starts to tell David and the other Soy Sauce survivors about "piercing voices" in his head.

** Dave asks Arnie "are you my father?" and Arnie laughs. Makes enough sense at the moment, but TheReveal that [[spoiler: Arnie is dead and sees himself as a black man]] makes this especially telling.
** Detective Appleton's fate of [[spoiler: being dead, but that they NeverFoundTheBody is foreshadowed by Dave saying that Arnie won't find him]].

* ArtShift: The educational film about Korrok's world breaks into a cartoon to portray a scene of mass destruction. It's obviously a budget-saving maneuver (the original scene depicted a miles-long trench of [[spoiler:men, women, and children being maimed by Korrok's spiders]]), but the The Large Man justifies it by saying that it will be easier for David and John to watch.

* TheseusShipParadox: The film opens with David beheading a body with an ax. However, the ax handle breaks and he gets the handle replaced. Later on, he chips the head killing a centipede... thing. Eventually, the guy he beheaded comes BackFromTheDead, and the reanimated corpse and points to the axe and says "that's the axe that beheaded me," to which David poses the question to the viewer: "Is he right?"

* AdaptationalBadass: Both versions of Marconi are famous, globetrotting psychic mediums, but in the book he's a fairly normal celebrity with a mild personality. In the film, he's a much more dazzling figure, with karate skills and [[TheCasanova an entourage of beautiful ladies]]. He's also much more involved in defeating the villains: [[spoiler:having engineered the entire plan and showing up personally in the shadow dimension]].

* DemotedToExtra: Amy. While the heroes spend a good portion of the book looking for her, protecting her, and getting to know her, in the book, Amy is only used to open the shadow door in the mall.

* DemotedToExtra: Amy. While the heroes spend a good portion of the book looking for her, protecting her, and getting to know her, she takes both the role of Jennifer Lopez and, uh, book Amy, and is only used to open the shadow door in the mall.

* AdaptationalBadass:
** Marconi in the book is a former globetrotting explorer and reverend turned to psychic medium, and while he's popular with the psychic crowd, he's not any bigger than any other 'psychic' in Las Vegas. In the film, not only is he ''massively'' popular, he also displays karate skills, [[TheCasanova walks around with a entourage of beautiful ladies]], manages to [[spoiler:get his hands on a city-destroying weapon made of C4 and LSD that was made in the Cold War]], and engineers the entire plan to defeat the villains. He also is way more invested in the plot - whereas his book version is busy travelling the world and fighting demons, here, he ''shows up in the shadow dimension'', somehow having caught wind of the duo's plan to kill Korrok. He's also much kinder, in the book he ignores John and Dave as much as he can and "thanks" them for their help [[ShamelessSelfPromoter with copies of his book]], in the film he answers their calls as soon as possible and even makes friendly small talk with Dave about John's health.

** Marconi in the book is a former globetrotting explorer and reverend turned to psychic medium, and while he's popular with the psychic crowd, he's not any bigger than any other 'psychic' in Las Vegas. In the film, not only is he ''massively'' popular, he also displays karate skills, [[TheCasanova walks around with a entourage of beautiful ladies]], manages to [[spoiler:get his hands on a city-destroying weapon made of C4 and LSD that was made in the Cold War]], and engineers the entire plan to defeat the villains. He also is way more invested in the plot - whereas his book version is busy travelling the world and fighting demons, here, he ''shows up in the shadow dimension'', somehow having caught wind of the duo's plan to kill Korrok.

* ArtShift: The educational film about Korrok's world breaks into a cartoon to portray a scene of mass destruction. The Large Man justifies it by saying that it will be easier for David and John to watch.

** Marconi in the book is a former globetrotting explorer and reverend turned to psychic medium, and while he's popular with the psychic crowd, he's not any bigger than any other 'psychic' in Las Vegas. In the film, not only is he ''massively'' popular, he also displays karate skills, [[TheCasanova walks around with a entourage of beautiful ladies]], manages to [[spoiler:get his hands on a city-destroying weapon made of C4 and LSD that was made in the Cold War]], and engineers the entire plan to defeat the villains. He's also much nicer to Dave and John. In the book they can never get a hold of him, but in the movie he always takes their calls right away and even takes interest in their well-being.

* DemotedToExtra: Amy. While the heroes spend a good portion of the book looking for her, protecting her, and getting to know her, in the film she only becomes relevant to the plot in a single scene.

%%* MindScrew

%%* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Bark Lee]].

* RunningGag: Severed limbs. In addition to Amy's missing hand, John's band "Three Arm Sally" has a logo consisting of three severed arms, and the phantom cop who tries to strangle David has his arm ripped out of his socket - which continues to strangle David.

* ArtShift: The educational film about Korrok's world breaks into a cartoon to portray a scene of mass destruction. It's obviously a budget-saving maneuver (the original scene depicted a miles-long trench of [[spoiler:men, women, and children being maimed by Korrok's spiders]]), but the Large Man justifies it by saying that it will be easier for David and John to watch.

** Bark Lee, going from [[spoiler:possibly an angel]] to [[spoiler:very smart dog, due to ingesting the soy sauce, sacrifices himself to destroy Korrok.]]

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: In the book, David repeatedly describes himself as pudgy and out of shape, while in the film he has a healthy build. John in the film is also much more chiseled than his lifestyle in the book would allow.

%%* MushroomSamba

%%* EyeScream

* TheseusShipParadox: The film opens with David beheading a body with an ax. However, the ax handle breaks and he gets the handle replaced. Later on, he chips the head killing a centipede... thing. Eventually, the guy he beheaded comes BackFromTheDead, and the reanimated corpse and points to the axe and says "that's the axe that beheaded me," to which David poses the question to the viewer: "Is he right?" (it's a trick question. [[spoiler: Dave shot him. He was already dead when Dave chopped his head off]])

* TheseusShipParadox: The film opens with David beheading a body with an ax. However, the ax handle breaks and he gets the handle replaced. Later on, he chips the head killing a centipede... thing. Eventually, the guy he beheaded comes BackFromTheDead, and the reanimated corpse and points to the axe and says "that's the axe that beheaded me," to which David poses the question to the viewer: "Is he right?" (it's a trick question. [[spoiler: Dave shot him. He was already dead when Dave chopped his head off]])