Party Night
After deciding to ditch their after prom
party, six high school friends find themselves prey to a sadistic
killer when they have their own party at a secluded lake house in the
woods.
Party Night doesn't set out to reinvent the
slasher film or break new ground in a sub genre that has played by
the rules it created for itself over 35 years ago. It instead is a
loving tribute to all those teenage kill fests with a homicidal
maniac on the loose that featured eye catching VHS art that we all
couldn't stop glancing at during those trips to the video store as
kids (or adults) back in the day. Writer and director Troy Escamilla
demonstrates in Party Night that he is clearly well acquainted with
these films.
First and foremost I have to give major
recognition to the cast. All 6 of the high school friends have that
all American boys and girls feel participating in an all American
tradition: the high school prom. I loved watching this group
onscreen, the chemistry between them was spot on and they all
demonstrated impressive acting ability. Laurel Toupal as Amy and Drew
Shotwell as Nelson are stand outs and have a real natural ability.
But the real star is Laurel Toupal. Her performance is a remarkable
mix of Jamie Lee Curtis and Amy Steel. She's simply incredible in
this and is an absolute star in the making. Keep an eye on her.
There's a scene early on that shows the 3
girls walking down the street after school and it has a fantastic
Halloween vibe to it. This scene is an example of how the rest of the
film plays out as the group of 6 doomed high schoolers head to the
lake house after prom. It's an entertaining and fun time that
successfully captures the feel of those old “cheesy” slasher
flicks, as one of the characters playfully refers to them.
There's lots of spilled blood and
wonderfully done makeup effects by Heather Benson. Her effects and
talent are on full display in Party Night and she does a fantastic
job as all the kills look high quality and impressive. The picture
looks timeless and slightly soft and faded to resemble the heyday of
the slasher genre and the music is a wonderful fit for the youthful
energy and carnage that mixes onscreen.
The one disappointment I had with the film
was the look of the killer. I found the light jacket he wore to be a
bit anticlimactic. The white and blue two tone of it seemed to be an
odd choice and didn't quite mesh well with his actions. Perhaps it's
a picky observation, but it's one that distracted me enough to
mention it.
Kudos to first time writer and director Troy
Escamilla for crafting a fun and bloody homage to the slasher flicks
of the 1980's and assembling a great technical cast and group of
actors. Party Night is good old fashioned horror fun and introduces
fans to a number of new potential stars and filmmaker. Grab some
beers at midnight and check out Party Night, it's a good time and a
lot of fun. Just like those old cheesy VHS slasher flicks from the
80's.
The Monster
The Monster tells the story about a mother
and her young daughter who must confront a terrifying monster when
they break down on a deserted road.
That's the basic set up for The Monster and
it's incredible what an impactful and layered story comes out of that
simple premise. The Monster is scary on multiple levels both human
and unexplainable in nature. The story hinges on fear of things
unknown and known and combines life and death in an emotionally
startling way that puts the human condition front and center. All of
this with a monster on the lose on a dark and stormy night.
The two lead actresses, Zoe Kazan and Ella
Ballentine, are nothing short of phenomenal. The relationship between
the two is critical to the overall impact of the film and I was blown
away by the talent that these two actresses displayed. The result is
touching and powerful and the performance of Ella Ballentine as the
daughter is a small miracle that deserves recognition. Her
performance is as eye opening and star making as Danielle Harris in
Halloween 4. Zoe Kazan turns in an absolutely heartbreaking character
who both angers us and earns our sympathy as the desperate mother
battling alcoholism. The horror genre consistently provides women
with strong roles and opportunities to show their skills and it's
time the Academy and other award entities pay attention.
In addition to the top notch acting, The
Monster offers a wonderful script and solid direction to present it
with. Woven into the scenes of their struggle to survive the monster
are flashbacks showing the troubled relationship between the mother
and daughter. Most of the scenes are troubling, some are touching,
and all demonstrate the fractured love between the two. You can see
that the mother deeply loves her daughter and the daughter is
desperate to feel that love from her mother.
The alcoholism of the mother is the other
monster in this film and it's just as deadly as the beast that is
hunting them on that dark and desolate road. The film tells us that
monsters are real and they come in many different forms; some come
after you in the woods or the dark and others reside within us all
and it's up to us to fight them and protect the ones we love. This is
beautifully shown as the instinct to fight for survival may be the
first time in the mother's life where she cherishes being alive and
this realization is passed on to her daughter and there is hope that
she can fulfill her own potential in life as well as her mother's
lost promise. It really is a beautiful horror story.
The Monster is a smart, layered, and
emotionally engaging story that should be seen by not only horror
fans but fans of film in general. The film has just as much heart as
it does scares and contains two of the best performances I've seen
all year. The Monster is of those films that proves the horror genre
should be taken seriously and deserves more recognition for what it
can accomplish.
House of Purgatory
House of
Purgatory is from first time writer/director Tyler Christensen and
revolves around four teenagers who go looking for a fabled haunted
house on Halloween night. Once found, they slowly realize that the
house knows each of their deepest secrets. One-by-one the house uses
these secrets against the terrified teens that find themselves in a
battle to save not only their lives, but also their very souls.
House of
Purgatory is another fun and very entertaining film to add to your
Halloween season rotation. It has a distinct and spot on 1990's feel
as rock/pop music plays over early scenes of high school football
games and hallway interactions between the characters. It's a movie
that sets up the cocky/know it all yet oblivious and care-free
existence of life in high school. This first act of setting up the
characters this way makes the events to come that much more
effective. Because House of Purgatory is set up like a cruel
Halloween trick: bite into the sweetness of this apple and you're
going to hit a razor blade.
Once the four
teens leave a Halloween party to track down this haunted house with
urban legend status, the tone of the film shifts gears into a
masterful blend of 1950's haunted house spookfests fused with an 80's
vibe and 90's look. It's frightful fun as they discover the haunted
attraction and begin to walk through it.
But Halloween
fun turns into a living nightmare as deep secrets of the characters
work their way into the displays they encounter and it's clear that
this is not a regular haunted house. Some scenes become blurred and
washed out, confusing reality with nightmares to the point where the
two realms become indecipherable. House of Purgatory becomes a scary
story beyond simple ghosts and goblins as the story line progresses.
It was
refreshing that the characters felt normal and act normal. Anne
Leighton as Melanie should be a star, she's wonderful on screen and
she was nominated for Best Actress in a feature at the Fear Fete
Horror Film Festival for good reason. Aaron Galvin as Nate also puts
in a solid performance. The strong acting all around really benefited
the film as the characters became more and more distraught and scared
as scenarios became more hellish.
Fears, guilt,
and secrets terrorize the characters as a really smart script
connects scenarios from each character in intelligent ways. It's a
psychological thriller, a drama, and a horror story all in one. House
of Purgatory makes two things clear: haunted attraction films are the
new haunted house movies and people are their own haunted houses
filled with ghosts they've created.
Check out House
of Purgatory if you're looking for a new Halloween movie to watch,
it's tailor made for this time of year and it hits the nail on the
head. With solid acting, good looking Halloween set pieces, and a
clever script that seamlessly shifts in tone from fun to scary, the
film is a great midnight watch in the dark. And if you have surround
sound all the better, it'll sound great!
