Murder Party is the story of a very boring, mundane man named Alexander who finds an invitation to a ‘murder party’ on the street on Halloween. After going home and being defeated by his cat, Sir Lancelot, he bakes a loaf with the pumpkin kids have already smashed on his stoop, makes a knight costume out of cardboard and duct tape and goes to the ‘party’. Only, when he gets there he discovers that the ‘party’ the invite spoke about is to torture and kill him. Enter a group of artists all vying for a very large grant and literally willing to kill someone — and each other — for it.
The movie itself was created by a group of people who have worked together for a very long time (and their product shows their level of comfort with one another) who call themselves The Lab of Madness. Indeed. This movie is madness, but madness of the very best kind. The movie is quite clearly an independent. It was made on a budget of less than $500,000 and it doesn’t show. Frankly, I think this should be the new bar for indies. Small. Character driven. Engaging. Twists and turns where you don’t see them coming. A man in a cardboard costume. It’s important to note that this movie has already received much higher accolades than I could ever bestow. It won Best Narrative Feature (Audience Award) at Sundance, Best Feature Film (Festival Award) at Vail, and it was an Official Selection at SXSW.
There has been a run on tongue-in-cheek in the movies lately when it comes to self deprecation. While the average viewer may not be able to relate to what it’s like to be a starving artist and to be groveling for the money to just keep doing what you love, almost everyone can relate to the caricature of the greedy pretentious artist. And that’s what this movies gives us; a series of caricatures used in some very inventive ways. At it’s most basic, the one of them who kills poor Alex in the best way gets the grant. In the midst of the morbid planning and in-fighting, there is a ’round table’ after the characters have all injected themselves with ‘truth serum’ (a sodium pentathol like drug) that is oddly reminiscent of a John Hughes movie from the 80′s. It has that ‘soul laid bare’ feel about that gives you the idea that these are real people who are just trying to get ahead. Except for that guy with the unnamed handheld video game. He’s a little off. But the point is that, for just a moment, these people are a little less crazy, a little less odd, and a little less homicidal. They’re a little too much like you and me. It’s fleeting, but it’s those human moments in this movie that make it so likable. Then there’s crazy kills. Great, gross, make-you-cringe kills that you’ll really, really never forget.
Murder Party will be touring the US with Blood Car (review here). Catch them together if you can, because both of these movies were immensely enjoyable and are certain to be horror classics. But more than that, they’re independent and that should be supported and celebrated. So go see them. Buy the DVDs. You won’t regret it.
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