28 reviews
'He never died' was a instant cult hit from 2015, so when 'She never died' came up, I had high expectations. That movie mentioned 'we don't like to be called that', so left the door open for a new story. The IMDB cover suggested ancient times rather than modern times (looks like ancient time war-stripes to me). Reading about it however, made it clear that it indeed was a current day parallel story. The reviews weren't too good so I skipped it at first.
It has been written before that it's unworthy (between 3 and 4 stars), so instead, I'll compare 'He' to 'She Never Died' without giving away the story to try and explain why this movie failed.
'He', Caïn (the one from the Bible) looked human (he was never called an angel, just has marks on his back where wings were and his creator isn't God), ordinary looking, middle aged, fairly emotionless and uninterested in anything. He did not have special powers, although strong, no super-strength nor could defy the laws of physics. He immediately felt genuine, someone who lived for 6 millennia would act like that: Careful, aware of his ability to regenerate (it's unclear if he can actually die, he just never did) and feeding off humans like a vampire makes him a high profile target for anyone, and in modern age also interesting for science. So he stays off the grid, literally says 'prefer to stay under the radar' (has a phone though), does not stand out of the crowd, has had a couple dozen simple jobs, saved his money, lives in a 13-a-dozen paid with cash apartment, bothers no one so no one bothers him, tries/tried relations: had a gf and a kid. Found a simple way to pass time (bingo) and a reliable food-source that kept him from killing people that otherwise would draw attention. The only time he can't keep his cool is when he's hungry, or gets irritated by humans. Irritate him enough and he'll become violent, then kills, eats them and drinks their blood, then quietly gets rid of the remains. He is basically a recovering addict and blood is his drug. After he consumes, the always present demons in his head slowly fade. The only reason why he stepped out of his micro-bubble of mindlessly playing bingo and sleeping is because of his food-supplier's problems. That became his problem eventually causing relapse and fueled his rage. It needed to be dealt with to restore order in his life. Everything that happened happened for a logical reason and even though he regenerates, he still tries to avoid damage because it hurts and he needs to recover for some time.
'She', Lillith: Same kind of creature, same eating habits, lived thousands of years. But: She doesn't work, is homeless, has no apparent skills whatsoever, basically can't take care of herself and makes no effort to stay hidden. She wakes up in a cardboard box every day and looks either disgruntled, angry or furious (continuously hunting for irritating people to become her food), and has a haircut that makes her look like a mad woman, so pretty noticeable in a crowd (people instinctively notice out-of-place things in their surroundings that may become a threat). She hunts humans almost daily, kills them sadistically rather than quick and sufficiently (you should at least have that skill when it comes to hunting your food for so long) and mutilates them always in the same manner (Caïn did this too, but only once. It's a traceable M.O.) claiming convenience as reason and doesn't even get rid of the body. She eats humans like they're French fries, and that's one of the few times she actually seems relaxed, even though she isn't plagued by demons from her obviously violent past like Caïn does, as if she has no conscience. Strangely enough, when she crosses 'excellent food' (she says so herself), she kills it but doesn't eat it. She lets herself be beaten senseless (literally) just to get to where she wants to go (it was probably meant to be humorous like in 'He', but that fails miserably). She's just the opposite, or rather a dumb version of Caïn and it's a god-given (pun intended) miracle she's still roaming free. She's in no way likeable nor relatable. Her story isn't interesting and relies heavily on the success of the 'He'-movie. Characters in the movie do things that are completely illogical (offer to infiltrate into the gang that kidnapped you after you escaped them?) and most acting is average at best, the detective is the weakest character.
There's a hint at another sequel, it's not something to look forward to. The cast of 'He' was perfect, if you'd take a photo of all the characters in a gathering, Caïn would not stand out. Do the same for 'She' and one person immediately draws attention. That's the main flaw, if Caïn had been someone that looked like Einstein, it would have been far less convincing or may even have failed too. Could the movie have been saved with another actress then? Nope, it was an uninteresting script/story that even lacked the side-kick and the dark humor, just tried to piggy-bag on the success of its predecessor. It's hard to believe this came from the same writer, who probably got part of the 2015 movie idea from 'The man from Earth'.
It has been written before that it's unworthy (between 3 and 4 stars), so instead, I'll compare 'He' to 'She Never Died' without giving away the story to try and explain why this movie failed.
'He', Caïn (the one from the Bible) looked human (he was never called an angel, just has marks on his back where wings were and his creator isn't God), ordinary looking, middle aged, fairly emotionless and uninterested in anything. He did not have special powers, although strong, no super-strength nor could defy the laws of physics. He immediately felt genuine, someone who lived for 6 millennia would act like that: Careful, aware of his ability to regenerate (it's unclear if he can actually die, he just never did) and feeding off humans like a vampire makes him a high profile target for anyone, and in modern age also interesting for science. So he stays off the grid, literally says 'prefer to stay under the radar' (has a phone though), does not stand out of the crowd, has had a couple dozen simple jobs, saved his money, lives in a 13-a-dozen paid with cash apartment, bothers no one so no one bothers him, tries/tried relations: had a gf and a kid. Found a simple way to pass time (bingo) and a reliable food-source that kept him from killing people that otherwise would draw attention. The only time he can't keep his cool is when he's hungry, or gets irritated by humans. Irritate him enough and he'll become violent, then kills, eats them and drinks their blood, then quietly gets rid of the remains. He is basically a recovering addict and blood is his drug. After he consumes, the always present demons in his head slowly fade. The only reason why he stepped out of his micro-bubble of mindlessly playing bingo and sleeping is because of his food-supplier's problems. That became his problem eventually causing relapse and fueled his rage. It needed to be dealt with to restore order in his life. Everything that happened happened for a logical reason and even though he regenerates, he still tries to avoid damage because it hurts and he needs to recover for some time.
'She', Lillith: Same kind of creature, same eating habits, lived thousands of years. But: She doesn't work, is homeless, has no apparent skills whatsoever, basically can't take care of herself and makes no effort to stay hidden. She wakes up in a cardboard box every day and looks either disgruntled, angry or furious (continuously hunting for irritating people to become her food), and has a haircut that makes her look like a mad woman, so pretty noticeable in a crowd (people instinctively notice out-of-place things in their surroundings that may become a threat). She hunts humans almost daily, kills them sadistically rather than quick and sufficiently (you should at least have that skill when it comes to hunting your food for so long) and mutilates them always in the same manner (Caïn did this too, but only once. It's a traceable M.O.) claiming convenience as reason and doesn't even get rid of the body. She eats humans like they're French fries, and that's one of the few times she actually seems relaxed, even though she isn't plagued by demons from her obviously violent past like Caïn does, as if she has no conscience. Strangely enough, when she crosses 'excellent food' (she says so herself), she kills it but doesn't eat it. She lets herself be beaten senseless (literally) just to get to where she wants to go (it was probably meant to be humorous like in 'He', but that fails miserably). She's just the opposite, or rather a dumb version of Caïn and it's a god-given (pun intended) miracle she's still roaming free. She's in no way likeable nor relatable. Her story isn't interesting and relies heavily on the success of the 'He'-movie. Characters in the movie do things that are completely illogical (offer to infiltrate into the gang that kidnapped you after you escaped them?) and most acting is average at best, the detective is the weakest character.
There's a hint at another sequel, it's not something to look forward to. The cast of 'He' was perfect, if you'd take a photo of all the characters in a gathering, Caïn would not stand out. Do the same for 'She' and one person immediately draws attention. That's the main flaw, if Caïn had been someone that looked like Einstein, it would have been far less convincing or may even have failed too. Could the movie have been saved with another actress then? Nope, it was an uninteresting script/story that even lacked the side-kick and the dark humor, just tried to piggy-bag on the success of its predecessor. It's hard to believe this came from the same writer, who probably got part of the 2015 movie idea from 'The man from Earth'.
- Digital_excitation
- Dec 5, 2020
- Permalink
Written by Jason Krawczyk, the writer behind the cult low-budget indie HE NEVER DIED, this almost-maybe sequel is a swing and a miss. First it lacks the charm and intensity that Rollins imbued into the original character. Plus, it pretty much checks all the boxes for the tell-tales of an extreme low-budget effort -- musky lighting, very few actors, scenes that go on way too long, really bad music that just fills space, etc.
- A_Different_Drummer
- Apr 16, 2020
- Permalink
A couple years ago "He Never Died" pleasantly surprised me, it was an unexpectedly funny, highly entertaining and conceptually interesting thriller with heavy shades of horror and comedy. Not too long after I noticed a so-called "sister" sequel is in works which certainly got me a little excited, and Jason Krawczyk returning to write was good news as well. And so, "She Never Died" stands on its own as an entertaining baddie flick, but the intriguing concepts have mostly left the stage, and as far as sequels go, this one adds little to nothing to the universe, ideas and mythos presented in the first movie.
"She Never Died" is a much more contained and narrow experience as compared to its "brother" prequel, both regarding the plot, the characters and the production budget. A tough and mysterious woman, a fierce baddie, the single biggest strength of this movie, the much-praised feminine side of this film, main protagonist and heroine - Lacey - fights her daily demons and looks to bring down criminals hurting women. One could say "She Never Died" is a vigilante flick. Olunike Adeliyi feels organic and confident, putting up a top tier performance as the fallen angel. Then there are a couple more characters, a rather primitive plot that's swimming to its inevitable conclusion, and... no expansion of the mystery presented, no paths to right or left from the main story road, nothing of what I truly hoped to see or feel. A rather vague and simplistic - as compared to better movies including this theme - exploration of female trauma is not a great substitute, because instead it should've co-existed with the franchise-defining themes from "He Never Died" that were lost here. They managed to keep notions of the same kind of humor, but to call it darkly (actually) funny would be a bit of a stretch. "She Never Died" is an entertaining indie horror, carried on the shoulders of good performances, violent action and consistent pacing, but, carrying the name it does, it's simply underwhelming. Let me put it this way - it lost more than it gained, if compared to its spiritual predecessor.
I believe "She Never Died" is an arguably above average indie horror offering, entertaining enough throughout in all the best B movie traditions, also featuring quality performance(s), but... I also believe that, as a sequel, it's barely justified and simply lesser than the first movie. My rating: 5/10.
"She Never Died" is a much more contained and narrow experience as compared to its "brother" prequel, both regarding the plot, the characters and the production budget. A tough and mysterious woman, a fierce baddie, the single biggest strength of this movie, the much-praised feminine side of this film, main protagonist and heroine - Lacey - fights her daily demons and looks to bring down criminals hurting women. One could say "She Never Died" is a vigilante flick. Olunike Adeliyi feels organic and confident, putting up a top tier performance as the fallen angel. Then there are a couple more characters, a rather primitive plot that's swimming to its inevitable conclusion, and... no expansion of the mystery presented, no paths to right or left from the main story road, nothing of what I truly hoped to see or feel. A rather vague and simplistic - as compared to better movies including this theme - exploration of female trauma is not a great substitute, because instead it should've co-existed with the franchise-defining themes from "He Never Died" that were lost here. They managed to keep notions of the same kind of humor, but to call it darkly (actually) funny would be a bit of a stretch. "She Never Died" is an entertaining indie horror, carried on the shoulders of good performances, violent action and consistent pacing, but, carrying the name it does, it's simply underwhelming. Let me put it this way - it lost more than it gained, if compared to its spiritual predecessor.
I believe "She Never Died" is an arguably above average indie horror offering, entertaining enough throughout in all the best B movie traditions, also featuring quality performance(s), but... I also believe that, as a sequel, it's barely justified and simply lesser than the first movie. My rating: 5/10.
- TwistedContent
- Apr 16, 2020
- Permalink
He Never Died was made a great thriller by Henry Rollins smart ass performance. Olunike Adeliyi is watchable but lacks the charisma of Rollins. The first film had comic relief moments which are lacking in the follow up. A series was planned but never happened. I was looking forward to Henry keeping the story going much like the John Wick movies. Biblical references are used without a proper context. The final few minutes are not well done but overall She Never Died is watchable.
She Never Died is the sequel to the Henry Rollins starer He Never Died, a visceral crime thriller set like a modern day grungy Highlander, She Never Died while not being as well produced as part 1 is still a decent follow up, the lead actress is good in a rather a fierce role, and the violence, blood & practical effects are very grind house and practical which i love, a decent 1 time watch for sure.
- shakeel-arshad
- Apr 16, 2020
- Permalink
Apparently this is a follow up to a movie called He Never Died starring Henry Rollins, as a fan of him I'd like to watch that despite me thinking "She" is a pile of garbage. Off the record an ageing cop investigates a human trafficking gang, they also make snuff and torture movies. He is aided by a female hobo called Lacey, she has superhuman strength, is immortal and has an appetite for eating human fingers! They are joined by one of the gang's victims, a young woman whose purpose is to inject some comedy into the messy plot. At the end it goes all Biblical Apocalypse. Despite no back story I thought the Lacey character was quite cool ("She's a real scary person that Lacey", one character says). Sadly everything else is poor - bad acting, terrible dialogue, messy plot, a typical B minus movie.
- Stevieboy666
- May 29, 2022
- Permalink
As a stand alone movie, I don't think "She Never Died" makes much sense. I believe it only worked for me because I saw "He Never Died" first. I suggest you do the same. "She Never Died" is only worth watching if you have watched its predecessor first.
- fimdb-69588
- Dec 30, 2021
- Permalink
If they would of given the lead actor like a hell of a lot more lines then the grunts she did. I would of given this movie a higher score. The plot was simple enough to follow and the action was okay. I just really wish she had more dialogue and if the guy from He Never Died would of showed up that would of done it for me.
- dlmyst-29813
- Jan 9, 2022
- Permalink
- technobilder
- Apr 20, 2020
- Permalink
IMO This is getting poor reviews being compared by those who saw the original first because its similar and the originality that surprised those watching the first movie is gone. Well I've not seen the first movie but this was surprisingly really good.
Also I'm a white middle aged male but not bigoted against strong black female lead characters that at least one reviewer seems to be threatened by. Olunike is perfect in the role.
Its low budget but has very high production values from what the studio and director have to play with. The gritty look is very appropriate and to be fair it's better than a lot of shiny stuff going around costing mega bucks.
Regards to what I'm talking about regarding production values the plot is simple but the story well written and doesn't fall in to cliche in the way it could. The characters aren't original but ate well written and acted.
I will watch the original and temper my expectations because if its as good as its sequel it'll still be good even though the surprise and originality is gone. Sometimes our expectations get too high then we are let down
I also hope there will be another sequel to further the world ending threat being set up.
Also I'm a white middle aged male but not bigoted against strong black female lead characters that at least one reviewer seems to be threatened by. Olunike is perfect in the role.
Its low budget but has very high production values from what the studio and director have to play with. The gritty look is very appropriate and to be fair it's better than a lot of shiny stuff going around costing mega bucks.
Regards to what I'm talking about regarding production values the plot is simple but the story well written and doesn't fall in to cliche in the way it could. The characters aren't original but ate well written and acted.
I will watch the original and temper my expectations because if its as good as its sequel it'll still be good even though the surprise and originality is gone. Sometimes our expectations get too high then we are let down
I also hope there will be another sequel to further the world ending threat being set up.
- joneb-99678
- Jan 12, 2021
- Permalink
The sequel to he is not dead. It is entertaining but I wish the acting was a bit better. The main character was good but all the rest were sub par.
I find it amusing that this is a 10 on rotten tomatoes. Goes to show that ImDB hosts the better reviewers.
6.3
I find it amusing that this is a 10 on rotten tomatoes. Goes to show that ImDB hosts the better reviewers.
6.3
- natcalgary
- Apr 16, 2020
- Permalink
- markthomassintek
- Apr 20, 2020
- Permalink
A typical dark and depressing slice of modern horror from Canada. This digital cheapie will test your eyesight in the tale of an undead woman seeking revenge for past crimes. Unpleasant characters throughout that you have no wish of getting to know combine with miserable cinematography and a confused, convoluted plot make this a chore to sit through.
- Leofwine_draca
- May 23, 2022
- Permalink
I enjoyed this greatly but not as good as He Never Died. I do hope they make another because this did make me want to know what's next.
I didn't actually make the connection from the title so it was a brand new movie to me. Honestly, I didn't make the connection till I read some of the reviews here. Interestingly, if I would have known I may not have enjoyed quite as much because He Never Died was such an excellent movie. However, without that knowledge it was good. There were surprised that I generally was surprised about. I do believe that there could have been more character development but ultimately I enjoyed the movie.
I didn't actually make the connection from the title so it was a brand new movie to me. Honestly, I didn't make the connection till I read some of the reviews here. Interestingly, if I would have known I may not have enjoyed quite as much because He Never Died was such an excellent movie. However, without that knowledge it was good. There were surprised that I generally was surprised about. I do believe that there could have been more character development but ultimately I enjoyed the movie.
- safiyaagyemang
- Dec 27, 2021
- Permalink
- synsen-40334
- Jun 29, 2021
- Permalink
- cliometrician
- Apr 16, 2020
- Permalink
This sister sequel to He Never Died is about Lacey, who is the immortal one with superhuman strength and the hunger for human meat. Godfrey is an honest cop who is after Terrence, assuming he is the one to run the human trafficking. After knowing what Lacey can do, Godfrey reaches out to her with a proposal where she gets to take down Terrence & co in return for her hunger to be taken care. During this, Lacey happens to save Suzie and they form a bond. With Terrence not being the one running the human trafficking, how do the baddies put themselves up against Lacey forms rest of the story.
Just like He Never Died, this too follows the same template with a more gore friendly villain. Lacey is again a one toned character, keeping the suspense around her identity intact till the very end. Despite the minimal budget, it offers decent action scenes and without much deviation in terms of sub plots as well as bare minimum characters, it stays engaging as well. The short runtime helps and it's those rare instance where you don't expect any backstory or character arc for the supporting characters. So this largely works, focusing only on Lacey getting loose and doing her thing until that climax reveal, setting up the story for a third film, which honestly we definitely deserve to watch.
Just like He Never Died, this too follows the same template with a more gore friendly villain. Lacey is again a one toned character, keeping the suspense around her identity intact till the very end. Despite the minimal budget, it offers decent action scenes and without much deviation in terms of sub plots as well as bare minimum characters, it stays engaging as well. The short runtime helps and it's those rare instance where you don't expect any backstory or character arc for the supporting characters. So this largely works, focusing only on Lacey getting loose and doing her thing until that climax reveal, setting up the story for a third film, which honestly we definitely deserve to watch.
- chand-suhas
- Nov 26, 2023
- Permalink
- malus-adam
- May 20, 2024
- Permalink
- nogodnomasters
- Apr 29, 2020
- Permalink
She Never Died: Sort of sequel or sidequel to He Never Diied. Same scenario, Lacey is immortal and indestructible, plucks bullets from her flesh. She likes finger food, human fingers. She clashes with a people trafficking organisation and raids a building where they are producing snuff films. She teams up with a detective who has been investigating the cases where she has left partially eaten bodies in her wake. He is more interested in taking down the people-trafficking ring leaders. So she sets off to combat and eat these villains. But this dynamic duo may have bitten off more than they can chew.
Extremely violent and gory, not for the squeamish. Some good fight scenes and Lacey even rescues a pitbull terrier, fortunately for him she's not into hotdogs. Again some supernatural forces become involved. Directed by Audrey Cummings and written by Jason Krawczyk. On the Horror Channel. 7/10.
Extremely violent and gory, not for the squeamish. Some good fight scenes and Lacey even rescues a pitbull terrier, fortunately for him she's not into hotdogs. Again some supernatural forces become involved. Directed by Audrey Cummings and written by Jason Krawczyk. On the Horror Channel. 7/10.
Just found out about He Never Died, so I'll hunt that down. When I ran across this on Amazon Prime, I liked the logline. Didn't know who any of the actors were, but I keep an open mind. For about 10 minutes. If the movie can't grab me by then, I close it. This one? Grabbed my attention and never let go. The twists, the questions left hanging (especially the one at the end), the action, the acting...all awesome! I don't like movies that lay it all out for the viewer and this one hit that mark.
- harlan-roberts
- Nov 23, 2021
- Permalink
This was an action packed movie about right battling evil. The key characters were all courageous and this made for good battle sequences. This comedy violence genre is fun to watch and very cool.
- turtleloverules
- Nov 14, 2021
- Permalink
I really liked this movie. The plot kept me interested all the way through because you never knew for sure what Lacey was capable of doing. I thought the acting was very good. There is lots of blood and some gruesome scenes, definitely not for kids.
- meljr-92909
- Nov 24, 2021
- Permalink