To Your Last Death

Director - Jason Axinn (Space Guys in Space, Funeral Sex)

Starring - Morena Baccarin (Deadpool, Serenity), Dani Lennon (Bite Me, The Love Witch), and Ray Wise (Batman: The Killing Joke, Jeepers Creepers 2)

Release Date - 2019

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "Lock the bets"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Horror is a very divisive genre.  Not only can horror elements be mixed with other genres but the horror genre itself consists of so many different sub-genres and styles that can be used by a filmmaker to make something truly unique.  Horror has been blended with animation in the past for film and television with shows and movies like Mr. Pickles, The Halloween Tree, Vampire Hunter D, and so on.  It does happen but not that often.  Sometime ago I received the press release for the 2019 horror action animated flick To Your Last Death.  The trailer was violently fun so I reached out and was able to get a review copy.  I'm glad I did because I really enjoyed this one.

     The film follows a young man who is the daughter of a wealthy businessman.  Her two brothers and sisters have grown distant but are brought together by their father.  He reveals that he has an inoperable brain tumor and expresses his disappointment in them all.  He judges each and every one of them and then sends them to their death.  His daughter Miriam survives and is taken to the hospital where the police suspect her of going crazy.  Here she meets the Gamemaster who offers to take her back in time 24 hours so she can save her siblings but she has other plans for Miriam.

     I didn't know what to expect from this one.  The trailer looked fun and I really enjoyed the animation style but I was afraid the movie would be one of the many that highlighted the good in the trailer while leaving nothing for the viewer to see in the actual film.   I was wrong.  The voice acting in this one is pretty consistent.  Some of the voices fit the characters a little better than others but all were solid.  The cast does a great job at charging the scene with just their voices and several have a great emotional range.  The story for this one is The Belko Experiment meets Supernatural.  We follow people stuck in a high rise as they fight through their father's hired mercenaries all while being controlled by a higher power.  It's fun but it is stretched a little too thin.  The hour and a half running time is a bit of a drag with the story the way it's told.  The predictability also takes away from the impact of the story.  It's still a fun watch but some of the fat could be trimmed down.  Finally, though animated, the film has some pretty violent death scenes with plenty of gore and blood.  Nothing is off limits with animation and the filmmaker took full advantage of this to deliver some bloody bits for the viewers.  Overall, To Your Last Death is a violent and beautifully stylized animated action horror flick that begs to be seen.  It was highly entertaining albeit a little too long.  Some of the scenes did drag on a bit but the overall flick was worth it.  Check it out.