MurderParty

Murder Party (2007)

A seemingly nice, but not too bright guy finds an invitation to what is billed as a murder party. Since it is Halloween he assumes that it is just a creative invitation to a party, so he puts together a costume out of duct tape and a cardboard box, and heads off for some fun. What he doesn’t realize is that he is walking into a trap. A group of artists are all jockeying for the attention of an art critic who holds the purse strings and have decided the ultimate way to create an art piece is to kill someone. So when he arrives he is tied to a chair while they discuss interesting and creative ways to kill him. Lucky for our hero the artists aren’t too bright and end up killing each other before they kill him.

If you are going to make a black comedy or comedic horror film then you had better make sure your material and characters are funny. Most of the time when I sit down to watch a lower budget horror comedy this isn’t the case. But with Murder Party I was pleasantly surprised by how well the comedy and horror are mixed. First of all this is a funny movie in a couple of different ways. The physical comedy, from the appearance of the characters to the situations they get themselves into (the electric chainsaw bit is really well done) is well thought out and works. The main character with his cardboard armor and expression as he sits in the chair is hilarious. Hell even when the guy sets himself on fire and melts a Halloween mask to his face it’s funny! This kind of comedy is only successful if you have a talented cast that can pull it off. The cast here nails no only their individual characters, but is into the spirit of the movie as well. But this movie isn’t all just physical gags. The story pretty much skewers the whole New York art crowd by showing not only how shallow and insecure the characters are, but how easily they can be duped by a phony. I thought that this was a neat addition to the comedy and provides the scriptwriter an opportunity for some great lines.

Considering this movie plays more as a comedy or perhaps a parody of horror films it has a surprising amount of gore. Not only that but they are all practical effects and very well done. You have head wounds (pipe, axe, and chainsaw to various noggins), a dog that eats a guys lips off, and my favorite the Halloween mask melted to one character’s face. While these effects are played for laughs they are still nasty enough to satisfy the gore hounds. Picture and sound are topnotch for an independent movie. These guys really know how to make a movie and I can’t wait to see what they do next.

I’m giving Murder Party a big recommendation. It is one of the funniest horror comedies I’ve seen in a while.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer