Diagnosis Death stars (Raybon Kan) as Andre, a cynical English teacher, willing to accept bribes from rich parents to give their children better grades and spend the money on dumb blondes. Andre’s life is thrown out of kilter when he is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Willing to try anything to extend his life Andre enrols in an experimental drug programme taking place in a former asylum.
Diagnosis Death Prescribes Comedy and Horror
Amongst Andre’s fellow patients is an 18-year old schoolgirl called Juliet (Jessica Grace Smith), who has brought along her homework, a book report on a novel written by an author called Charlotte Mansfield. The patients are locked in the hospital and monitored so no outside factors can interfere with the results. They are warned about possible side-effects they may experience such as powerful hallucinations, or death.
Andre and Juliet begin to see things a ghostly child, a woman hanging herself, a room flooding with water. Andre finds a hidden book hand-written by Charlotte Mansfield and shows it to Juliet who realises they are in the place where the author committed suicide. Their main problem though is avoiding the attentions of Nurse Margaret (Suzy Tye), who is more terrifying than any ghost.
Flight of the Conchords Stars Appear in Diagnosis Death
Diagnosis Death is a must-see for all fans of HBO’s Flight of the Conchords. Jemaine Clement makes a brief appearance as a rich parent bribing Andre with $500 dollars to get his daughter an A for an essay. Rhys Darby plays a Murray-like doctor, stumbling his way through breaking the bad news about Andre’s cancer, while Bret McKenzie has the largest role, as one of those involved in monitoring the drug trials. Don’t expect any singing though, or expect Diagnosis Death to be a film version of Flight of the Conchords.
Diagnosis Death Recalls the Early Work of Peter Jackson
Horror fans who preferred the pre-Hobbit Peter Jackson and films like The Frighteners (1996) will find much to enjoy here. While Diagnosis Death works better as a comedy there are a few decent scares as well, though the finale is a let-down and there are no real surprises when all is revealed. The screenplay by star Raybon Kan and director Jason Stutter has a viciously black sense of humour and Khan can deliver a sarcastic one-liner with aplomb. The main draw for many though will be the presence of the boys from Flight of the Conchords ensuring Diagnosis Death should find a healthy audience on DVD.
- Diagnosis Death
- Starring Raybon Kan, Jessica Grace Smith, Bret McKenzie
- Written by Raybon Kan, Jason Stutter
- Directed by Jason Stutter
- Running time 80 mins
- Year of Release 2009
 |
