MONSTER PARTY (2018) Full review

Hey bud...Let's party!

Let's delve right in shall we? Monster Party is part home invasion, part kill fest, part wtf. There is a lot going on here, so much in fact that the drab almost functional film quality can't catch up. Let's start at the beginning:

Three teenagers (Sam Strike, Brandon Michael Hall, Virginia Gardner) decide to infiltrate a posh mansion as part of their current crime/robbery spree. Big mistake as this house is a den of serial killers who are...wait for it...trying to reform via an AA type meeting. That nugget was a hard pill for me to swallow but essential in creating THIS storyline.

The family that slays together...stays together.

Director Chris Von Hoffman has not yet mastered the ability to see a full length film all the way through. The director of many short films, his only other full length effort was Drifter (2016) which while harboring a good premise lacked the overall chutzpah to bring it home. Here I was entertained but some parts dragged, and the overall semi-sepia film washing just makes everything dull, nothing pops. Add to that a cast of characters who range from annoying to generally unlikable. The actors themselves do an okay job with the skins they've been given but there are no standouts except Erin Moriarty who adds depth to being the daughter of serial killers, if not one herself.

Momma knows best...right?

To find the gem here, and there truly is one, you must look past the dull film quality, the deplorable characters and the almost laughable premise of a serial killers reform cult meeting and just absorb the situation. No matter how our heroes (ahem) got here, how will they escape? What will the ending bring? And is there a social question here? Halfway through I was sitting on the fence at once bored and engrossed, but the final act did it for me. Ultra-violent and very cool in many ways. In the end I found that this film regardless of it's flaws DID entertain me, very much so at times.

Julian McMahon: I curse you CHARMED! Thanks for making me always cast as a caricature!

Ultimately this is a hit and miss affair that could have been so much better. Instead of becoming the next FUNNY GAMES and securing a place as a future cult classic it will be relegated to watch once status. but hey, at least it's a pretty good watch.

3.5/5