Extremely R-Rated Horror Comedy Is An Overlooked, Ultra-Graphic Masterpiece

By Robert Scucci
| Published 1 hour ago

The only thing worse than getting invited to a party where all the other guests plan on murdering you is getting invited to one where the masterminds behind your imminent death are art snobs who frequently toss around words like “banal” and “jejune” in casual conversation. These people do not paint with yellow, they paint with chartreuse. Their pretentiousness is on full display in 2007’s Murder Party, a film that is exactly what it sounds like.

A perfect low-budget yet high-caliber horror comedy, Murder Party boasts a 100 percent critical score on Rotten Tomatoes, which is impressive considering its reported $230,000 budget. The Popcornmeter tells a different story, sitting at 58 percent across more than 2,500 ratings. My read on it is simple. Murder Party caters to a very specific audience. You’ll either celebrate it for the insane, ultra-violent effort that it is, or it is simply not your cup of tea.

Given my own media preferences, I am firmly in the former camp. Murder Party is the best kind of blood bath. I also have an art degree, so I have to suspend very little disbelief when it comes to the maniacs depicted here.

Christopher Just Wanted A Fun Night Out

Lonely, bored, and with nothing to do on Halloween, Chris finds a flyer for a so-called “Murder Party” on his way home from work, and suits up in a makeshift cardboard and duct tape knight costume. Arriving like a walking Monty Python bit, he quickly realizes the theme is meant to be taken literally, and that he’s walked straight into a trap.

He is greeted by the most annoying and pretentious art students imaginable, all dressed in ridiculous costumes. Lexi (Stacy Rock) is styled like Pris from Blade Runner. Sky (Skei Saulnier) shows up as a zombie cheerleader. Paul (Paul Goldblatt) is a vampire. Macon (Macon Blair) is a werewolf. Bill (William Lacey) is dressed like a Baseball Fury from The Warriors, never looking up from his phone.

The only person missing is Alex (Sandy Barnett), the benefactor they hope to impress with their murder installation. The plan is simple. Kill Chris, present it as art, and secure a grant for more unhinged projects.

Chris is chained to a chair while everyone waits for Alex, who eventually arrives with his drug dealer, Zycho (Bill Tangradi), and his dog, Hellhammer. While they wait for the witching hour in which they’ll carry out the violent act, each member pitches their preferred method of execution, all while doing copious amounts of drugs. As you would expect in this kind of setting, creative differences surface rather quickly.

They pass the time by ingesting Sodium Pentothal and playing a game of truth or dare, while Chris, understandably terrified, just wants to get home to his cat, Sir Lancelot, and eat candy corn. He may be in mortal danger, but he is perceptive enough to realize that artists are fickle and petty. If he can survive the evening, their plans might unravel on their own.

A Super Satisfying Blood Bath

For me, Murder Party earns serious points for perfectly lampooning the pretentious art student. The collective moves with an air of self-importance, as if they are doing God’s work, when they are really just insufferable gas bags with a steady supply of party drugs. Odds are their parents are footing their tuition bills, as none of them appear to have actual jobs in their pursuit of artistic greatness.

As the film escalates, it becomes more violent and more absurd. The chaos lands so well because artists like Paul are more concerned about someone walking through their photography shots than one of their friends accidentally setting themselves on fire just out of frame. Bearing witness to a gaggle of selfish wannabes desperate to be edgy, Chris sits in disbelief over the fact that he might be executed for yet another one of their half-baked art projects.

I understand that Murder Party is not for everybody. But if you have ever been dragged to a friend’s gallery opening and forced to brush elbows with a bunch of self-important pseudo-intellectuals who will probably end up doing graphic design for some fly-by-night, underpaying ad agency, this is a bloody good time.

Always ready to poke fun at this very specific personality type, Murder Party is currently streaming for free on Tubi.