Club Dread
1.5/4
Starring: Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, Erik Stohlhanske, Brittany Daniel, Jordan Ladd, Bill Paxton
The version being reviewed is unrated. For the record, the theatrical cut is rated R for Violence/Gore, Sexual Content, Language and Drug Use
It would be unfair of me to expect maturity or good taste from a movie by Broken Lizard. They are, after all, the guys who started out as a comedy group in college and made "Super Troopers" and its sequel. No one will ever describe those films as "high brow" or "artistic." But they were funny. "Club Dread" isn't. So criticizing this exercise in failed satire on that is fair game.
Welcome to Coconut Pete's Coconut Beach Resort. It's an island getaway filled with cheap booze, hot sex and good weed. Even the "counselors" get in on the fun. But just as the party is getting underway, a masked slasher shows up and starts offing the guys and gals who work there. But who is it? Could it be Lars (Heffernan), the new masseur, the resident Don Juan, Juan (Lemme)? The loopy DJ/drug dealer Dave (Soter)? Or someone else entirely? Unfortunately, the crew of the resort is too dumb to figure out who the killer is. Luckily for them the customers are too drunk, horny and stupid to care. Or even notice.
How could this movie go so wrong? Neither of the movies featuring the Vermont state troopers were great, or even very good, comedies, but they were fresh, creative and showed an easy rapport between the actors. Most importantly, they made me laugh. So what happened? I have a few theories. Maybe it's because the film relies too much on the plot, which is standard slasher fare. Or it makes the mistake of believing that the audience will care one bit about it or who the killer is, much less who will make it to the end credits in one piece. Maybe it's because the sketches feel like improv bits that were left on the cutting room floor from other, better movies. Or is it that the screenplay by Broken Lizard frequently splits its members up rather than engage each other in a comic way?
The obvious answer is that this movie falls into the trap of many failed satires: it tries to become an entry into the genre it seeks to parody. No one is going to care one bit about the plot, and the characters are simply props for the jokes. That should go without saying, but apparently no one on the Broken Lizard team understood this. The story, such as it is, is far too complicated (read: repetitive) for its own good, contains at least three "twists" too many, and seems to forget that it's trying to be a comedy. Occasionally this "have your cake and eat it too" approach can work, but such instances are rare, and require a level of sophistication that these guys have no use for.
Discussing the acting is a fool's errand. There are no real characters here. They're walking, talking punchlines. In something this silly, that's fine, but there are no laughs to support them. The movie can manage a few chuckles here and there, and a send up of at least one cliché, but no belly laughs. Strangely, Broken Lizard doesn't seem to be trying for laughs. Maybe they were trying to make a legitimate horror movie. That's odd, since they consider this to be their funniest movie. One huge mistake made with this film is that the members are apart, which kind of defeats the purpose of a Broken Lizard movie. The "Super Troopers" movies (and to a lesser extent, "Beerfest") worked because the boys played off each other and fed on each other's comic energy. Here, they're paired up with the likes of Jenny (Daniel) and Penelope (Ladd), who are just as boring and stupid as any other slasher fodder. Only the late Bill Paxton adds any energy as the Jimmy Buffet clone. It's a perfect role for him, but unfortunately he's given nothing funny to do or say. Coconut Pete is a character with a lot of unrealize potential.
I wasn't expecting anything groundbreaking or even classy from Broken Lizard. That's not terrain in which they operate. I appreciate that. We need crude and vulgar entertainment as much as we need Kenneth Branagh's next Shakespeare flick. But that's only if it's funny. If it makes us laugh, then nothing else is necessary. "Club Dread" doesn't, which makes it just a waste of time and talent.
Starring: Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, Erik Stohlhanske, Brittany Daniel, Jordan Ladd, Bill Paxton
The version being reviewed is unrated. For the record, the theatrical cut is rated R for Violence/Gore, Sexual Content, Language and Drug Use
It would be unfair of me to expect maturity or good taste from a movie by Broken Lizard. They are, after all, the guys who started out as a comedy group in college and made "Super Troopers" and its sequel. No one will ever describe those films as "high brow" or "artistic." But they were funny. "Club Dread" isn't. So criticizing this exercise in failed satire on that is fair game.
Welcome to Coconut Pete's Coconut Beach Resort. It's an island getaway filled with cheap booze, hot sex and good weed. Even the "counselors" get in on the fun. But just as the party is getting underway, a masked slasher shows up and starts offing the guys and gals who work there. But who is it? Could it be Lars (Heffernan), the new masseur, the resident Don Juan, Juan (Lemme)? The loopy DJ/drug dealer Dave (Soter)? Or someone else entirely? Unfortunately, the crew of the resort is too dumb to figure out who the killer is. Luckily for them the customers are too drunk, horny and stupid to care. Or even notice.
How could this movie go so wrong? Neither of the movies featuring the Vermont state troopers were great, or even very good, comedies, but they were fresh, creative and showed an easy rapport between the actors. Most importantly, they made me laugh. So what happened? I have a few theories. Maybe it's because the film relies too much on the plot, which is standard slasher fare. Or it makes the mistake of believing that the audience will care one bit about it or who the killer is, much less who will make it to the end credits in one piece. Maybe it's because the sketches feel like improv bits that were left on the cutting room floor from other, better movies. Or is it that the screenplay by Broken Lizard frequently splits its members up rather than engage each other in a comic way?
The obvious answer is that this movie falls into the trap of many failed satires: it tries to become an entry into the genre it seeks to parody. No one is going to care one bit about the plot, and the characters are simply props for the jokes. That should go without saying, but apparently no one on the Broken Lizard team understood this. The story, such as it is, is far too complicated (read: repetitive) for its own good, contains at least three "twists" too many, and seems to forget that it's trying to be a comedy. Occasionally this "have your cake and eat it too" approach can work, but such instances are rare, and require a level of sophistication that these guys have no use for.
Discussing the acting is a fool's errand. There are no real characters here. They're walking, talking punchlines. In something this silly, that's fine, but there are no laughs to support them. The movie can manage a few chuckles here and there, and a send up of at least one cliché, but no belly laughs. Strangely, Broken Lizard doesn't seem to be trying for laughs. Maybe they were trying to make a legitimate horror movie. That's odd, since they consider this to be their funniest movie. One huge mistake made with this film is that the members are apart, which kind of defeats the purpose of a Broken Lizard movie. The "Super Troopers" movies (and to a lesser extent, "Beerfest") worked because the boys played off each other and fed on each other's comic energy. Here, they're paired up with the likes of Jenny (Daniel) and Penelope (Ladd), who are just as boring and stupid as any other slasher fodder. Only the late Bill Paxton adds any energy as the Jimmy Buffet clone. It's a perfect role for him, but unfortunately he's given nothing funny to do or say. Coconut Pete is a character with a lot of unrealize potential.
I wasn't expecting anything groundbreaking or even classy from Broken Lizard. That's not terrain in which they operate. I appreciate that. We need crude and vulgar entertainment as much as we need Kenneth Branagh's next Shakespeare flick. But that's only if it's funny. If it makes us laugh, then nothing else is necessary. "Club Dread" doesn't, which makes it just a waste of time and talent.
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