Grimmfest 2019: She Never Died

Back in 2015 writer Jason Kawrczyk wrote a move called He Never Died (for some reason I want to call them ‘…Never Really Died’, I don’t know why), starring Henry Rollins in the lead role.

Now, four years later, he has returned to the work to create She Never Died, this time starring Olunike Adeliyi (“Saw 3D: The Final Chapter”, “American Gods (TV)”), in the title role and Kawrczyk steps back from directorial duties and hands the reins to Audrey Cummings (“Darken: Before The Dark (TV)”, “Tormneted”).

Lacy (Adeliyi) is sleeping rough when she’s woken by her friend who informs her the man with the rings is back. This man is Terence, Noah Dalton Danby (“Riddick (TV)”, “Bitten (TV)”), a big man with a penchant for fetish, specifically suffocation.

Terence enters the warehouse he works from, work in this case consists of beating a man tied to a chair, whilst his friend Jerry, Edsson Morales (“Black Summer (TV)”, “The Market”) films a man playing Russian Roulette with a dog for cash.

Lacy enters the building by force and proceeds to kill the first man she comes across who, in this instance, is the hapless guy playing Russian Roulette. She gouges his eyes out and eats them, cutting his fingers off for later eating, though not before he manages to get his last shot away to her head.

Meanwhile a grizzly old detective by the name of Godfrey, Peter MacNeill (“Open Range”, “This Life (TV)”), is busy watching Terence and sees what happens to Lacy, and what she does. Instead of being outraged and arresting her, he elects to use her to get Terence, the man he’s been after for some time.

With the help of Suzi, Kiana Madeira (“The Flash (TV)”, “Sacred Lies (TV)”), whom Lacy rescues from some bad men, the trio set about to ensure Terence and his sister Meredith, Michelle Nolden (“Red”, “The Time Traveller’s Wife”), are stopped from their human trafficking, drug thing they’ve got going on.

She Never Died is a great fun film. It never takes itself to serious and it’s funny, in a very, very dark way. On the one hand Lacy is scary, she eats human bone marrow to stay alive but also heals incredibly quickly, on the other she has a childlike innocence and naivety that makes her interactions funny.

Adeliyi gives Lacy a wonderful charm whilst also remaining freakishly scary, particularly when she starts to growl. MacNeill does great as the worn-down cop completely consumed by this one case whilst Madeira brings some light and spark to proceedings.

There’s plenty, well enough, blood and gore, Cummings never goes OTT which is good. Given the low budgets involved in She Never Died it’s not something that gets in the way or spoils your enjoyment of the movie.

I can’t comment on how She Never Died compares to the first film, He Never Died as I haven’t seen it. However, as a sequel in that instance it does what any sequel should do, it makes me want to seek out the original. If it’s as good as this, I can’t wait to see the third She Never Died tee’s up at the end.

She Never Died was shown at Grimmfest 2019.