Year of Release: 2007
Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Starring: Chris Sharp, Macon Blair, Stacy Rock, Sandy Barnett, Paul Goldblatt, William Lacey, Skei Saulnier, Bill Tangradi, Beryl Guceri, Beau Sia,
Genre: Comedy, Horror
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
Watch it on Amazon
Synopsis and Review:
Director Jeremy Saulnier who went on to direct "Blue Ruin" and "Green Room" made his feature directorial debut with "Murder Party", a decidedly smaller romp which premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2007. The film follows the misadventures of Chris, a young man living by himself in Brooklyn, who decides to attend a Halloween party based on an invitation he finds. Following a long path to get the party, Chris discovers that the party is actually part of an art installation being done by a series of art students, all with the intent of impress someone named Alexander, and in the process get a grant from him. On top of it all, the intent of the installation is to murder the person who received the invitation, in that case himself. Chris quickly finds himself tied to a chair, and while the group awaits Alexander's arrival, a series of agendas and rivalries start being unveiled. When Alexander does appear, with his drug dealer friend, things quickly escalate, with accidents and deaths quickly piling up, while Chris is desperately trying to escape.
"Murder Party" definitely has a low budget bravado to it. The writer/director aims his satyrical view point at the pretentious art world of the New York art scene, and gives it a murderous vibe, which is not quite as graphical (or successful for that matter) as Mary Harron's "American Psycho", but its definitely in the same zip code. It's a film that is quite rough, primarily from a view point of directing actors, but it showcases some of the ideas that the director would expand upon in his following features. Clusters of individuals, apparently within the same wavelength, thrown into situations that spark violence which quickly spirals out of control, with unexpected and dramatic outcomes. Whereas in his subsequent films, the narratives and characters have a greater deal of finesse and depth, in the case of "Murder Party", these are quite shallow/superficial. It's a film that can be seen as an exercise towards better and greater things. Watchable and forgettable.
"Murder Party" definitely has a low budget bravado to it. The writer/director aims his satyrical view point at the pretentious art world of the New York art scene, and gives it a murderous vibe, which is not quite as graphical (or successful for that matter) as Mary Harron's "American Psycho", but its definitely in the same zip code. It's a film that is quite rough, primarily from a view point of directing actors, but it showcases some of the ideas that the director would expand upon in his following features. Clusters of individuals, apparently within the same wavelength, thrown into situations that spark violence which quickly spirals out of control, with unexpected and dramatic outcomes. Whereas in his subsequent films, the narratives and characters have a greater deal of finesse and depth, in the case of "Murder Party", these are quite shallow/superficial. It's a film that can be seen as an exercise towards better and greater things. Watchable and forgettable.
0 comments:
Post a Comment