Don't Kill Me
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Don't Kill Me
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Don't Kill Me is a 2022 Italian horror movie in which a young woman becomes a vampire-zombie after dying of a drug overdose. Besides the expected bloody and gory scenes of vampire-zombie killing (throat biting, flesh eating, etc.), there are other violent moments, including a suicide by slitting the windpipe and an attempted rape. Characters are shot and killed, and stabbed. The vampire-zombies are tied up with chains, beaten with pipes, and assaulted with taser guns by a sadistic sect trying to rid the world of them. A flashback scene shows a woman being beaten and killed by men in a parking garage. Two characters die from a heroin overdose. Some nudity is shown (female breasts and buttocks). Sounds of sex are heard while characters are in a cheap motel room. Besides heroin use, cocaine use, drinking, cigarette smoking, and marijuana smoking, there's some strong language throughout, including "f--k," "a--holes," "asses," "bitch," and "damn."
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What's the Story?
In DON'T KILL ME, Mirta (Alice Pagani) dies after overdosing on heroin with her bad-boy boyfriend, Robin. After her funeral, she escapes from the crypt in the mausoleum where she has been laid to rest and tries going home to her grieving parents, Amalia and Piero. It doesn't take her long to discover that, while she's alive in some respects, in other ways, she's not her old self, as she must eat the flesh and entrails of living humans to stay alive. A mysterious sect known as the Benadanti is pursuing Mirta, and as she struggles to remain in her present state of being, the Benadanti are on her trail, armed with guns, taser guns, and other weapons. Mirta survives a narrow escape thanks to Sara, a fierce fighter on a motorcycle. Sara explains that Mirta has joined the ranks of the "Overdead," those who return after dying violent deaths. Now Mirta must elude and fight back against the Benadanti and figure out who her friends really are.
Is It Any Good?
This is so-so horror aimed at teens. Here an innocent young woman lured to her untimely death by a reckless bad boy reemerges as one of a breed of vampire-zombie who stalk the world after violent deaths. The closest Don't Kill Me gets to anything groundbreaking in the vampire-zombie horror story is the introduction of the "Overdead," the aforementioned half-human/half-monsters seeking revenge and sustenance after violent deaths, but even that feels like it's been done before. It's goth-emo in celluloid form, with lots of death-obsession, angst, grimy nightclubs of EDM and dark clothing, peer pressure, parents who just don't understand, and, of course, the bad-boy rebel whose devil-may-care exterior masks a sensitive soul. It would be PG-13 if the violence wasn't so gory and excessive.
It's more style than substance, and the style isn't enough to carry the action. Dark colors, dark souls, contemporary dance music, and Kurt Cobain-style sunglasses only go so far. The story itself is a combination of different teen vampire/zombie movies that have worked in recent years, with some sort of creepy cult shrouded in the kind of mystery one can only get from anything mysterious hailing from the vicinity of the Vatican City for the past few centuries. And yet, the acting isn't bad, and there's something to the direction and production values. Unfortunately, we've seen this all before, and the only thing separating this movie from others is that it's in the Dolomites in Italy instead of the Hollywood Hills.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about movies centered on vampires, zombies, or other monsters like the ones seen in Don't Kill Me. How does this one compare?
How much of the violence involving suicide, assault, and murder seemed necessary to the story? Did any of it seem excessive? Why, or why not?
Why do you think there's such fascination with movies centered on characters who are "undead"?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: February 21, 2022
- Cast: Alice Pagani, Rocco Fasano, Silvia Calderoni
- Director: Andrea De Sica
- Studio: Netflix
- Genre: Horror
- Topics: Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
- Run time: 90 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: February 28, 2022
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