Day 332: Club Dread

Club Dread

Totally worth the risk

I really enjoy the work of comedy group Broken Lizard. You know them from their movies “Super Troopers” and “Beerfest”. They manage to use a good mixture of sophomoric and clever humor, something easier said than done. Usually, comedy movies go for one or the other. For every dick and fart joke, there's a well-crafted joke that requires some thinking. While the movies may be fun, they're not exactly heavy on plot or story. Both Super Troopers and Beerfest are straight comedy movies, so they can get away with it. What happens, though, when Broken Lizard tries to make a horror movie?

Club Dread is a 2004 comedy slasher movie staring the comedy group Broken Lizard and Bill Paxton (Tombstone, Big Love) as aging rocker Coconut Pete. Pete has created an secluded island paradise where guests are encouraged to get drunk and have sex as much as possible. Lars (Kevin Heffernan, Farva from Super Troopers) is the island's new masseur and immediately hits it off with aerobics instructor Jenny (Brittany Daniel, Joe Dirt, Skyline). They are unaware that a masked murderer has just killed three of their co-workers in the jungle and now stalks the island. The next day, the slashed body of worker Cliff is found inside a human Pac-Man maze. All communication to the mainland is cut off and their boats have been sunk. A message warns the staff that only they are being targeted. They try to continue on as if everything is normal, but the bodies begin to pile up. It is discovered that one of Coconut Pete's songs is being used as a map to kill people. Paranoia begins to spread as everyone is a suspect: Dive instructor Juan (Steve Lemme, Mac from Super Troopers), tennis instructor Putman (Jay Chandrasekhar, Ram from Super Troopers), Pete's nephew Dave (Paul Soter, Foster from Super Troopers), and “party police” Sam (Erik Stolhanske, Rabbit from Super Troopers). Even Lars and Jenny become suspects. Juan fears that the killer may also be Penelope (Jordan Ladd, Never Been Kissed, Grace) a particularly strange guest who is infatuated with him. Will Lars and Jenny be able to uncover and stop the killer before it's too late?

"Get the Windex!"

Balancing comedy and horror is never easy. Usually, comedic horror movies just go straight for the comedy and just have an outline of horror. The Scary Movie series comes to mind. If you focus on comedy too much, the horror will suffer and if you focus on horror too much, the movie isn't very funny. Club Dread focuses more on comedy, but doesn't ignore horror. Like Super Troopers and Beerfest, the comedy in Club Dread is a mixture of good timing, clever one-liners, and goofy humor. There are genuinely funny moments throughout the film which caused some legitimate belly laughs. Because the movie has to focus on horror, some of the jokes are hit and miss in the laughs department. There's nothing eye-roll worthy, but some jokes do fall a little flat. Out of the three Broken Lizard movies, Club Dread is probably the least funny, but that's because the other two are so good.

In terms of actual horror, the story isn't half bad. It's your typical slasher movie with a good dose of mystery. Director Jay Chandrasekhar mixes the genres well enough so that nothing feels out of place. The comedic acting is good throughout and even non-comedic actors like Bill Paxton and Brittany Daniel get some good laughs. Having Kevin Heffernan as the hero was an interesting choice considering how great he was as the ridiculous Rod Farva from Super Troopers. The connection between Jenny and Lars seems a little odd when looking at the two, but both actors managed to make it at least passably believable. The action is decent, but for a slasher, there is very little in the way of blood and gore. In true slasher fashion, the killer is very hard to dispose of to the point of absurdity. I know it was done for comedic effect, but I felt it hurt the horror portion of the movie. Again, it's a difficult balancing act. 

Who wants to play "Human Torch"?

Mixing comedy and horror is not impossible, but it's certainly difficult. The comedy was never a concern for Club Dread, but the horror was. Some of the jokes don't work, but overall, it's still a funny movie. The horror is fairly mediocre and there is a serious lack of blood and gore for a slasher movie. The mystery is interesting enough to keep the audience engaged, though the movie did feel longer than it really was. I applaud Broken Lizard for getting out of their comfort zone and creating a movie in a difficult genre. If you're looking for laughs, Club Dread definitely has them. If you're looking for good horror, you may feel a little disappointed.

6/10

Day 317: Brain Dead

Brain Dead

In your face!

When you've watched over 300 horror movies in a calendar year, you tend to get bored. For every good horror movie, there's about 50 that are terrible. Find me a great unique zombie movie and I'll find you 10 that are almost exactly the same and boring as shit. In order to stave off boredom, I have to resort to searching for movies with interesting story choices, different directors, or in today's case, an almost mythical combination of actors.

Brain Dead (not to be confused with Peter Jackson's Braindead/Dead Alive) is a 1990 psychological horror movie starring Bill Pullman (Independence Day, Spaceballs) as neurosurgeon Dr. Rex Martin. Martin is actively researching brain afflictions, specifically paranoia. He works in a lab literally filled with jars containing brains. He cares deeply for each brain stating they once belonged to actual people and deserve to be treated with respect. School friend Jim Reston (Bill Paxton, Apollo 13, Frailty), a successful businessman at the omni-corporation Eunice, reaches out to Martin when a work problem arises. John Halsey, a mathematician for Eunice, was working on something extremely secretive when he suffered a mental breakdown. Now in a mental institution, Halsey is extremely paranoid and unable to answer the most basic of questions. Martin performs brain surgery on Halsey, but begins to have strange hallucinations and dreams. He constantly sees a man in white, covered with blood, wherever he goes. Martin begins to feel paranoid, as if he is being followed. He soon suspects that his wife is cheating on him with Jim. The dreams and hallucinations intensify and soon Martin wakes up in the mental institution. The man covered in blood is now his doctor who informs Martin that there is no Halsey and that Martin was never a neurosurgeon. What is reality and what is fiction in Dr. Martin's world and will he ever find out the truth?

"You're right. His brains do look like my mother."

When your movie is based around the idea of the main character having no idea what is happening, the same is going to happen with the audience. Of course, that's the point as the audience is along for the ride, going through the same twists and turns as the main character. This type of story needs to carefully weave the story without leaving the audience bored and confused. Brain Dead comes very close to hitting that threshold. Some movies are able to pull off the crazy “what the hell is going on” genre, but Brain Dead never goes full out, content with just confusing the audience. I really wanted to know what really was happening with Dr. Martin, but everything is such a confused mess that I soon stopped caring. The inclusion of the man covered in blood was unsettling, but we don't get him for long as the dreams continue to change. The movie does have a little bit of gore and if you're squeamish, you may really squirm at the brain surgery scenes.

The big reason why I chose this movie is because it has both Bill Pullman and Bill Paxton. Both men are constantly confused with one another so it's fun to see them in the same movie. It's almost like seeing a unicorn ride the Loch Ness monster. Remember, Bill Pullman played the president in Independence Day and Bill Paxton is the other guy. It's fun to see them interact as they have very good chemistry with each other. Pullman pulls off the neurotic scientist role very well and Paxton was born to be a slimy late 80's businessman. Beyond that, the movie doesn't have much to offer. Other than the blood-covered man, there are no real scares and very little tension. Existential moments come off as forced or silly when they should have been deep and poignant. The ending is a little disappointing considering all the twists and turns in the story. 

Best buddy movie ever

Other than the neat quirk of having Bill Pullman and Bill Paxton in the same movie, there isn't anything special about Brain Dead. Many other movies try to confuse the audience with dreams and hallucinations with better results. Brain Dead is too confusing for it's own good and ends up reducing the audience's interest. All the plot twists become tiresome and annoying halfway through the movie, leaving the audience bored and restless. There aren't many scares, but if you have a weak stomach, you may want to skip certain surgery scenes. The one bright-side of the movie? At least you now know the name of the movie that had both Pullman and Paxton in it. Now go win trivia night at your local bar.

3/10

Day 275: Frailty

Frailty

Matthew McConaughey is made out of birds! I knew it!

It's not often that a horror movie can make you question your ideas of right and wrong. Heck, it's not often any movie can do this. Horror movies aren't always known as though-provoking or emotional. The average person thinks of horror as a violence-fueled orgy of corruption that is ruining our youth. We all know that's not true (well, for most movies), but we horror fans can sometimes be hard-pressed to produce examples of movies that have a profound effect on a wide audience. I think I may have found one.

Frailty is a 2001 psychological horror movie directed by and starring Bill Paxton (Apollo 13, U-571) as Mr. Meiks and Matthew McConaughey (A Time To Kill, We Are Marshall) as Fenton Meiks. On a dark and stormy night, Fenton Meiks enters the Dallas FBI office and tells Agent Wesley Doyle (Powers Boothe, Deadwood, 24) that his brother Adam is the God's Hand serial killer. Fenton explains that he is coming forward now because Adam recently killed himself. Doyle is initially skeptical and Fenton tells him of their childhood. One night, their father (Bill Paxton) told them God had spoken to him and given him the task of rooting out demons and killing them. Mr. Meiks uses an axe that he was led to by a shaft of light and employs his sons Fenton and Adam in finding and killing these “demons”. They bury their first victim, a young woman, in the rose garden next to their house. Adam readily believes his father while Fenton is extremely skeptical. He is scared of his father, but tries to stop him numerous times. Angered at his insolence, Mr. Meiks forces Fenton to dig a large hole in the yard and then places a shed over the hole, using it as a type of prison. Fenton finally goes to the town sheriff who doesn't believe his story. When he arrives at the Meiks' home, Mr Meiks kills the sheriff and puts Fenton underneath the shed. Fenton is kept in the makeshift prison for a week and nears starvation until his father finally releases him when he has a vision of God. Are these the visions of a mad men or could they actually be true and is Fenton Meiks really who he says he is?

The family that slays together stays together

There are a lot of risks taken in Frailty that most other horror movies would have shied away from. This is Bill Paxton's directorial debut and he does a great job. It's always iffy when an actor decides to get behind the camera, but Paxton is able to weave an interesting and complex movie. The horror in Frailty is more psychological and internal than your average horror movie. That's not to say there isn't a few jumps and some violence, but those are just the bloody icing on the terror cake. (I'm trademarking the term “Terror Cake” right now.) It's not scary in the traditional sense with more of the fear coming from anxiety and tension. The movie is fairly low-budget but manages to tell a good story with what it has. It surprises me that I've never heard of this movie, but I can see how it would fly under the radar with it's lack of explosions and monsters.

The character development is slow and steady, complimented by very good performances from Paxton, McConaughey, and Boothe. The two young actors who played young Fenton and young Adam, Matt O'Leary (Brick, Live Free Or Die Hard) and Jeremy Sumpter (Friday Night Lights, Peter Pan) both shine in this movie as they give their characters a sense of realism not felt in a lot of horror. Frailty succeeds because it manages to question one's feelings and beliefs. What is good and what is evil? What is right and what is wrong? You think you know how the movie is going to play out and are then legitimately surprised when things are finally revealed. I thought I had everything figured out in Frailty and was almost proven right until the moral rug was pulled out from under me. The movie does run a bit too long and is slow at times. Frailty probably could have ended about 10 minutes sooner and left more to the audience's imagination.

He died doing what he loved: holding his crotch

Frailty isn't your typical horror movie. There is some action and bloody violence, but it's the implications and suspense that really make the movie frightening. Bill Paxton and Matthew McConaughey both put in very good performances while the two child actors make the movie. The movie manages to make the audience both think and feel, not an easy accomplishment for a genre known for it's gore and special effects. If you prefer your horror with lots of gore and over-the-top creatures, Frailty isn't for you. If you like slow, creeping anxiety and good twists, it's worth digging to find this hidden horror.

8/10