HOW FUN – A BABY SHOWER AWASH WITH KILLERS
Killer Party
Review by Ray Schillaci
The title Killer Party is a misnomer for writer/director Alex Drummond’s first film. Like a few others that fall into the rare breed category (The Battery, Spring), his film is not easy to categorize, and thus the reason for “the powers-that-be” labeling the movie with a lowest common denominator title. Drummond’s Killer Party does not just take aim at horror, but it skewers thirty-somethings in L.A., vapid people, the disdain for the entertainment industry, and those who are thought to be up-and-comers, but are merely doomed to wander the show business landscape like zombies searching for brains. That’s what makes Killer Party so much more fun than the average horror entry.
Originally titled The Shower, which makes a lot more sense, the film sees consummate bitch and actor agent Joanne throwing a baby shower for one of her favorite clients, Mary. Just about everyone attending the party has (or wants) something to do with the industry. The affair is incredibly pretentious. We see how sorry many of these lives are, and perhaps why so many must die (and it’s so much fun when they do). The interaction is like a cross between The Big Chill and the once popular television show thirtysomething.
Add to the creep factor one clown for hire. Joanne brings him on to entertain the kids, and you get the feeling it was only done so she would not have to have anything to do with the children who have attended. Suzanne Sena as Joanne plays the role with such venom it’s a wonder somebody does not kill her off much earlier. Her’s is both a funny and annoying turn, and ends up being one of those characters you love to hate.
Through a series of snippet introductions of each member attending the party via funny captions, we get a good idea of what to expect from these people before everything goes downhill due to a sudden outbreak that turns normal people into maniacal cannibals. The uncomfortable laughs are actually more effective than the violence which is along the lines of Shaun of the Dead. But what separates these maniacs from zombies and those famous from The Purge, is that they have personalities.
The few maniacs we get to know come with a sardonic wit. In fact, some of these people are far more interesting as maniacs than their drone selves that go on about their miserable existence. Once they are infected, they actually appear to have more life in them even though it usually means that it’s at the expense of someone’s death. Of course, the best example of this is that damn clown. He’s not just creepy. Tony Rago gives us a performance that delivers everything we hate about clowns. He seems to be the only one in the room entertained by his own presence. Rago is darkly comical and deadly at the same time.
Drummond does not fully explain how and where the outbreak has taken place, but this only adds to the suspense he creates by letting us have to figure out who brought it to the party – a child, a clown, your spouse. This makes everyone a suspect while the survivors try to figure how the outbreak is transmitted. Also freakier than usual, not even the maniacs are safe. One actually turns into a very messy kid’s meal, adding to the gruesome fun.
Yes, it appears that Drummond and company are out to break many taboos, which made me wonder how safe the pregnant guest of honor was. This only added to the high wire act of suspense and laughs. Drummond has assembled a talented cast that underplays the black humor in it all.
The standouts are Sena and Rago, but a shout out also has to go to Rachel Drummond as the amiable Mary, the preggo guest of honor and Kurt Ela as Mary’s distraught writer husband, Nick. And it’s hard to forget how much we dislike the ambivalent Tommy that Andy Hoff nails down so perfectly, and Drew Benda as Dave, who has a smile like a cat that just feasted on a canary. There are no real leads with all the massacres that take place. But this ensemble cast delivers a fun-filled ride along with Alex Drummond’s biting screamplay and competent, cruel direction that takes no prisoners.
As I have mentioned in the past when I sat through the first screening (when it was titled The Shower), if this film was released in the ’70s, it would have become a cult hit, screening at midnight shows to packed houses with audiences yelling at the screen. It would have played for years with fans enjoying every bit of nasty darkness that Drummond ushers in with a wink and a splat. In fact, the look that Drummond and his DP Harry Frith have summoned up echoes the early works of George Romero (The Crazies, Season of the Witch) and David Cronenberg (They Came From Within, Rabid).
Flash forward to today’s cinema goings. Gone are most of the midnight shows, Tower Video, and Blockbuster Video. The new frontier for such obscure delights is streaming and the home video market. It’s up to us to discover hidden gems like Alex Drummond’s Killer Party and invite friends to the celebration.
Directed by: Alex Drummond
Release Date: August 16, 2016
Run Time: 80 Minutes
Country: USA
Distributor: Epic Pictures Releasing
