Odd Thomas is a 2013 supernatural thriller directed by Stephen Sommers, starring Anton Yelchin, Addison Timlin and Willem Dafoe. It based on a novel of the same by Dean Koontz.
Odd Thomas (his actual name) is a guy with a supernatural talent to see dead people. Together with his girlfriend Stormy, he uses his abilities to solve their deaths, providing help to Chief Porter, his ally in the local police force. One day, he learns that a disastrous event is about to hit his hometown, and sets out to stop it before it happens.
This film has examples of:
- Adapted Out: Odd's spirit advisor Elvis Presley doesn't appear as a character, though a life-size cardboard cut out of him can be seen in Odd's apartment.
- Adaptational Badass: In the novel, Odd goes out of his way to explain that the Bodachs mostly act as merely bystanders to tragic or violent events. They either can't or won't interfere, and act mainly as Harbingers Of Impending Doom. Odd's not sure if they can even affect the physical world let alone to what degree, but doesn't want to risk it and so acts as if he can't see them. In the film however, they clearly demonstrate the ability to possess people to affect events and do so by first possessing a truck driver to kill a sensitive person and then later possess one of the shooters at the mall, making him turn around to shoot at Odd, while in the book they merely act to obstruct Odd's view. In the book, Bodachs' involvement is merely suspected in the former case. In the film, it's clearly shown both times.
- Affectionate Nickname: Stormy's pet name for Odd is "Pooh Bear".
- Age Lift: Viola, though not old in the book, is aged down a few years to be Odd and Stormy's school friend; in the process, her daughters via her ex-husband from the books become either her little sisters or step-daughters (it's never entirely clear which, it's only mentioned that their drug-addicted biological mother dumped them on Viola when she was "barely eighteen").
- An Arm and a Leg: One of the ghosts that Odd frequently runs across is his former gym teacher, whose arm was torn off in the car crash that killed him, which he carries around to do comedic stuff with.
- Artistic License – Physics: When Fungus Bob's stove is ripped free from the wall, one of the burners catches alight, which then sets off an explosion from the severed gas line. In reality, of course, a gas stove wouldn't light or stay lit if it was disconnected from the gas supply.
- Big Bad Ensemble: Officers Varner and Eckles, who are planning to commit a mass murder in the name of Satan.
- Bittersweet Ending: Odd stops the Satanists from committing a mass murder, but is unable to save his girlfriend in time, something that he doesn't realize until the end.
- Dead All Along
- After finding Robertson's corpse planted at his apartment, Odd realizes that the previous sightings he had about him were of his spirit coming after him, and that the culprit is the one planning the massacre that Odd has been having premonitions about.
- It happens again in the ending, where Odd has to come to terms with the fact that Stormy did die during the shootout at the mall.
- Demoted to Extra: Ozzie Boone only appears in one scene, and his character is quite different from the books.
- Easter Egg: Elvis Presley doesn't act as Odd's spirit companion like in the novels (presumably due to issues with licencing his image), but as a nod to the books, Odd has a life-size cut out of Elvis in his apartment.
- Evil Plan: The villains plan to commit a mass murder in the name of Satan.
- Eyeless Face: A group of victims of the massacre-to-come appear to Odd in a Prophetic Dream with eyeless faces, asking him to save them.
- Flipping the Bird: A quick flashback shows Odd talking to an individual with similar powers that allow the guy to see ghosts. He brags about seeing a Bodach and giving it a finger. Just after Odd is through telling him that Bodachs kill those that can see them, the guy is run over by a car commandeered by a Bodach.
- Foreshadowing: Officer Eckler's Police Brutality towards Harlo, combined with his partner Varner's non-chalance towards it is a clue towards their sinister nature.
- Ghostly Goals: Most of the ghosts that Odd sees are those of murder victims, which show themselves to him in hopes that he'll help bring those responsible for their deaths to justice. Then there are those that are just pissed off, like Fungus Bob, who wants to kill him.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Officer Varner ends up being blown up by the bomb he was going to use in the mall massacre.
- Hollywood Satanism: Going through Robertson's computer, Odd discovers that he has ties to Satanism. As do Robertson's like-minded partners Goss, Varner and Eckler.
- In-Series Nickname: Odd and Stormy refer to Robert Robertson as "Fungus Bob" due to his weird two-colored hairstyle.
- No Dead Body Poops: Averted. While removing Fungus Bob's corpse from his apartment, Odd has to put up with its post-mortem farting.
- Portent of Doom: Bodachs, which are demonic-looking spirits which appear whenever something with a high bodycount is about to happen. Their presence is what clues Odd to take action to stop whatever's coming.
- Protagonist Title
- Red Herring: Odd suspects that Fungus Bob is going to perpetrate a mass murder, but learns that someone else is going to do it when he finds Bob's corpse in his bathtub.
- Repetitive Name: Robert Robertson, the man who clues Odd to the sinister plot going on.
- The Reveal: Officers Varner and Eckles are Satan-worshiping killer cops who are planning to shoot and blow up a mall full of innocent people.
- Super Window Jump: Odd escapes Fungus Bob's exploding apartment by jumping through one of its windows.
- The Voiceless: The ghosts that Odd sees are unable to talk, but are still able to give him information about their deaths.
- Would Hurt a Child: The film starts with Odd being led to a child-killer named Harlo by the ghost of his victim, whom he then chases down and apprehends.
