Dan (Jason Segel) and his wife Lisa (Samara Weaving) are suffering marital strife and plan to spend a romantic weekend in Dan’s father’s cabin. Neither realizes it, but both are secretly plotting to kill the other and cash in on the insurance payout.

Over Your Dead Body begins as a rather acerbic black comedy, with its two leads constantly sniping at one another while going through the motions of what they think a couple should do to repair a failing relationship. Every small conversation or action escalates to a painfully awkward crescendo of petty insults, resentment, and mutual disdain. But then the movie morphs into something very different. 

A recent prison break by murderers Pete (Timothy Olyphant) and Todd (Keith Jardine), aided by prison guard Allegra (Juliette Lewis), means that the couple find themselves not at risk of just each other, but by some heinous criminals with real experience of killing people. And it is here that things get truly unhinged, as Over Your Dead Body becomes the sort of splatter horror comedy that had me belly laughing over and over. 

In fact, the more outrageous in terms of comedic violence and gore, the better it gets. And this is where the casting proves particularly effective. Jason Segel is best known for his self-deprecating comedic performances, which he brings to the fore here as Dan. He is fantastic at playing a self-hating man who is also able to deliver absurdist humour with complete conviction. Samara Weaving is, of course, best known as a scream queen in some of the best recent horror comedy movies and delivers another witty performance with impeccable comedy timing. Timothy Olyphant delivers yet another charismatic weirdo, convincingly portraying a man capable of both charming a prison guard into helping him escape and committing brutal acts of violence. And is there anyone better at delivering a shrieking lunatic than Juliette Lewis? It may be thirty-two years since Natural Born Killers was released, but she still nails the screaming psychopath role. 

Add in The Lonely Island alumni Jorma Taccone as director to help get the comedy timing just right, and this is a laugh riot that gets sillier and sillier. It even takes the time to poke fun at its status as a “streaming” movie. 

As a remake of the Norwegian film The Trip, Over Your Dead Body has also left me curious to seek out the original. If it captures the same blend of pitch-black humour and escalating carnage, it could be well worth tracking down. 

Of course, if horror comedy is not your bag, you really will need to stay well clear because there is little in the way of depth to cling onto for anyone a little squeamish. But for me, this is a delightfully bloody little gem that knows exactly what it wants to be and commits to it wholeheartedly.