Hello everyone, I am back with another installment of It Came From The Dollar Tree. I am happy to see that you guys are enjoying this series. I hope that with these reviews it can help someone decide to take a chance on some of these films. This past October, I had been looking at new horror films to highlight for my 31 on 31 series. I noticed as I was checking out others lists that Murder Party was on their lists. So, I began trying to find it to watch. Unfortunately, my searches were all for naught. It wasn't available anywhere outside of renting or buying the film digitally. However, I checked out a Dollar Tree near me and imagine my surprise of flipping through their film selection to find it there. My partner, Mandy, was shocked as I grabbed the film and put it into the cart. "Why?", they asked. "Need it for a new series that I am going to be doing.", I had answered.
You see, Murder Party was one of the first films that I purchased for this series. Actually I think it was the first film that I had purchased. This was a small idea that I was hoping I could do at some point. Fast forward to four months later, I had pulled the trigger on the series finally as I had amassed a collection of over 31 films from Dollar Tree. I mean if I was going to do this series, it made absolute sense to make it worth doing.
After four months, I finally sat down to watch the film. Murder Party wa s released in 2007. It was written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier. It starred Chris Sharp, Kate Porterfield, and Tess Porterfield Lovell. The synopsis is as follows: A random invitation to a Halloween party leads a man into the hands of a rogue collective intent on murdering him for the sake of their art, sparking a bloodbath of mishap, mayhem and hilarity.
When I looked at the DVD case, it proudly says that it's like Napoleon Dynamite meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre. After watching the film, I honestly cannot say that it's not wrong. I wouldn't really say that it's like those two though. It is it's own thing. It is an extremely underrated independent gem. It was honestly a lot of fun. The only downside that I had found with the film is that it took too long for me to find the film.
There is a lot to love about Murder Party. It has a core group of characters that are so fantastic. Chris Sharp is Christopher, a man that is honestly really down on his luck. Okay, that's kind of putting it very lightly. This man is a loser. He's very much a pushover. At one point, he tells his cat to get out of his recliner and then caves when the cat refuses to move. That's how much of a loser he is. It may seem like I'm being harsh on the character. Nah, that's not the case. It actually plays into the charm of the film. If someone had to say that it's like Napoleon Dynamite, they could use Christopher as being the 'Napoleon Dynamite' of the film. He's very much the straight man of the film as he witnesses so much crazy later on in the film. After he finds an invitation just blowing on the sidewalk on his trip home from the video store, he eventually decides to give the party a chance. He constructs a sweet set of armor from cardboard. That's extremely quick thinking on his part.
After arriving at the 'party', Christopher quickly regrets his decision. He discovers it was all a ruse set by a group of deranged 'Art' students. This group is the biggest bunch of posers that I have ever seen in a film. They say that they want to be artists and such. But none of them except for one has any kind of talent whatsoever. Their whole plan is to commit a murder in order to impress Alexander (Sandy Barnett) and his friend, Zycho (Bill Tangradi) to receive a large arts grant from him. The students consist of Paul (Paul Goldblatt), Macon (Macon Blair), Sky (Skei Saulnier), Lexi (Stacy Rock), and Bill (William Lacey). Each of these actors brings an incredible performance that makes them each so memorable. They never come across as fully into committing their plan which is hilarious. They are all talk. At one point, they try to chase down Chris as he is able to get free. And the results is just so absurd. Then, they take the time to just sit around in a circle and talk. It just adds such a 'high school' party vibe to things.
The location for Murder Party also plays into the charm of the film. It's main setting is a factory somewhere in the city. Around the room, cardboard boxes are littered everywhere. That's why when there's the chase sequence - it's hilarious seeing each of them trying to be 'tough' in the pursuit.
This film knows exactly what it's trying to be: a horror comedy. It absolutely plays to it's strengths in a fantastic way. Never once did I wonder if the film was going to be over. It's paced out very well. The gore and effects were handled very well. They weren't completely as over the top that they could have been. And that completely adds to the film's charm as it allows us to focus on the characters. It ultimately left me loving the film. And it's something that I would gladly recommend to others as it shows that sometimes films don't have to have a huge budget to tell a great story.
It can be found over at VUDU and Tubi to stream.
Rating: 5 out of 5.
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