PopHorror Let's Get Scared
When researching the word “Monster” on Dictionary.com, it populated three results.
1: A legendary animal combining features of animal and human form or having the forms of various animals in combination, as a centaur, griffin, or sphinx.
2: Any creature so ugly or monstrous as to frighten people.
3. Any animal or human grotesquely deviating from the normal shape, behavior, or character.
After screening director/writer Chris von Hoffman’s film Monster Party, the word takes on a whole new meaning. The only things I knew prior to watching was the film had quite the cast and the plot was rather intriguing. Was this Monster Party a good time or was it just a monstrosity? Let’s break it down!
Official Synopsis of Monster Party:
Three teenage thieves infiltrate a mansion dinner party secretly hosted by a serial killer cult for the social elite.
What Works
As I had previously mentioned, the only thing I had known about Monster Party was that the cast was in fact stacked with some very notable names. A lot of time, films get big actors and the payoff is small. However, I don’t feel like it was that way in this film at all. Robin Tunney (The Craft) was how do I say in the best way possible… timidly cool. I loved her character arch and would have liked to seen her a tad more but overall I’m satisfied as I feel she gave everything to her given role.
Julian McMahon (Nip/tuck) is great as always and to see him play such a semi reformed role was rather appeasing. I really did love this whole cast dynamic. The two major standouts for me were Iris played by Virginia Gardner, who you might all know from recent film that was just released called Halloween 2018. In my opinion her scenes stole the show in that as well. I except great things from this up and coming actress and hope she continues to stick with the horror genre. The second standout goes to Dodger performed by the ever so talented Brandon Micheal Hall (Tv’s God Friended Me). He implemented the perfect protective boyfriend to the T and beyond. I look forward to his future projects.
The Cinematography on this was impeccable. There were some truly amazing shots, especially the panned camera angels. It was all very well done along with the soft menacing musical score.
I also really dug the concept of what a monster is in Monster Party. It was certainly not what I was expecting, but I absolutely loved the plot (with some exceptions). It really is a fun film.
What Doesn’t Work
First off, I would like to say I really did enjoy Monster Party overall. I do, however, have my qualms with it. First and foremost I felt like the movie took a little too long for the average horror fiend to stick around to get some blood shed at about 40 minutes in. I, myself, enjoyed the concept of the prior scenes but as for a horror film a kill needed to be a lot sooner.
I also felt that some of the deaths were rushed and didn’t have to be had they been done earlier in Monster Party. The only actor that I felt was under utilized was Diego Boneta (Summer Camp, 2015). He is a fantastic actor and this was not the best role to showcase his capabilities. I was not a fan of the weird family twist in this film and even though it gives you a surprising kill scene I think it took away from the what I would have rated higher had a certain character not had been introduced.
Final Thoughts:
Monster Party is a fun mix of Don’t Breathe meets The Purge. It has some really bloody kills but the plot drags a bit to get to them. Overall it’s a fun watch and I would recommend putting out some party favors and watching this flick, but be careful you could get addicted to Monster Party! It is now available on Digital HD and On Demand!
