DON’T KILL ME is a new Netflix horror movie with romance and fantasy in the form of a new take on the zombie genre. The production is from Italy (org. title Non mi uccidere) and it premiered there almost a year ago.
I’m sure it’ll find a huge audience on Netflix, but not because it’s actually good. Sure, there’s potential there. Real potential. However, every time you find yourself thinking “cool plot development” or “that’s something new” it regresses right back to very familiar territory. It’s a shame really.
While Don’t Kill Me is essentially a sort of zombie movie, it’s also not. The “living dead” in this Italian horror movie are called the “Overdead”. Unsurprisingly, this also gives it a distinct vampire feel. And yes, specifically, we’re talking about a very familiar vampire franchise.
In fact, the main male character looks eerily like Robert Pattinson’s Edward Cullen. It almost feels like a spoof. Though, to be fair, the actor Rocco Fasano (who plays “Robin” aka the Edward-clone) looks more like a hybrid of both RPatz and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. He does a good enough job, but his character is quite one-dimensional.
The “Bella Swan” of this story is Mirta, who is portrayed by Alice Pagina. And while I am comparing core plot elements to Twilight, this is the adult version. Sure, the characters are young, but the more steamy scenes are long and abundant. Often quite unnecessary for a movie with a runtime of 90 minutes.
And then there’s that damn taser. I don’t think I have ever seen so many shots of a taser. Just crackling away for visual and sound effects while rarely being used. Enough with that damn taser already!
Watch Don’t Kill Me on Netflix now!
Andrea De Sica is the director and co-screenplay writer behind Don’t Kill Me. The screenplay is based on the book by Chiara Palazzolo and a whopping seven (yes, 7!) people are credited with having written the screenplay. For a movie that has just 1 hour and 30 minutes of runtime, that seems crazy!
Ultimately, what irritated me was the lost potential of this horror movie. Also, there were too many stupid plot holes. One minute someone can get tased over and over again with no real effect. The next minute, one shot of the taser makes someone unconscious.
And that’s just one example of how the movie magic is broken here! In ways, Don’t Kill Me did end up feeling like a spoof. Though always quite unintentionally, I’m sure. For the elements that did work, and the actors and effects, you should give this a chance. Just don’t expect a very coherent story in the end.
Of course, it does very much end in a way that leaves room for a sequel. In fact, this should probably just have been a Netflix series and it could have evolved in a less forced and more organic way. Maybe a sequel can remedy some of this.
Don’t Kill Me is out on Netflix from February 21, 2022.
