Party Night (2017): Blood, Gore, and More… Oh My!

Slashers are always a beloved favorite among horror fans because they have plenty of blood, gore, and sex… I mean, what’s not love? Party Night (2017) delivers a modern day slasher story that’s a blood-splattered love letter to ’80s horror films. But did it succeed at creating an homage to one of the best decades for horror?

The first feature from Fright Meter Film, Party Night was directed and written by Troy Escamilla and is a super fun slasher that will give you a nostalgic feel to the classic horror stories of yore. This comes as no surprise, since Troy has been avid horror fan ever since he was a little kid and has always had a love for writing horror short stories. Party Night delivered on all points for a good movie. It had a fun, suspenseful story line, plenty of blood and gore, a relentless killer, and a wonderful cast starring Tommie Vegas, Billy Brannigan, Destinie Orndoff, Ryan Poole, Laurel Toupal, and Drew Shotwell.

The story revolves around six friends on Prom night. Prom is supposed to be a magical night, the last big party before everyone goes off to college, full of keepsake memories to hold on to forever. Unfortunately for them, they get what they want – a night to remember.

The teens decide to skip the Prom after party and throw their own at a secluded house that belongs to one of their uncles. It starts out all fun and games until love and lust get in the way. Of course, there is also a madman with a thirst for blood tracking them down one by one. Will any of them survive the night?

As I mentioned, Party Night delivers on all points and I was surprisingly impressed. Horror movies dealing with Prom and Prom night have been done countless times, but this was a breath of fresh air. The atmosphere felt genuine like this was really happening – almost as if it was a found footage film without it being shot in a first person narrative. Plus, the nods to classic ’70s and ’80s slashers, especially Halloween, was awesome and will be exciting for any horror fan.

My favorite part of the film was the characters and the actors who played them. The acting and gestures felt exceptionally sincere and honest. I kept thinking, “Wow, it feels like I’ve met all these people already.” The way they portrayed themselves are truly how people are, even more so teenagers getting ready to start a new beginning. I also enjoyed that they didn’t play too much on any type of stereotype (jock, nerd, dumb blonde) because they didn’t need to. The killer wasn’t biased and no one had more of a reason to die than another. Seriously, kudos to a phenomenal cast, I loved every single one of their performances.

The blood, gore and makeup by Heather Benson was both authentic ’80s slasher and fantastically cheesy. There were no fancy effects or extreme makeup, just one big gigantic bloodbath for all horror fans to enjoy. One can never have too much blood, right? Along with the makeup and effects is the brilliant cinematography by Derek Huey, which helped give that realistic and genuine tone that I felt throughout the whole film.

The only thing I was a wee bit disappointed in was the killer. His appearance was underwhelming and nothing stood out about him. Hell, maybe that was the point. Just a weird dude on a rampage to kill any teen who dares cross his way, and everything else about him is insignificant.

Final thoughts:

Party Night is a delightfully suspenseful modern day slasher that will remind you of classic ’80s horror films and everything you love about them. It’s refreshing to see a relatively basic story turned upside down simply because it was filmed superbly and has a young cast with incredible talent. Keep your eyes open and watch it as soon as you can!