Party Night

Party Night attempts to emulate the body-count slashers of the '80s, wherein a group of carefree teens are gorily sliced and diced by a masked maniac, the grisly special effects being the real stars of the movie. A strong plot isn't a necessity just so long as the blood flows (the more creative the death, the better), and at least one of the actresses gets nekkid to take a shower and/or have sex.

Writer/director Troy Escamilla follows this simple template with a generic plot about three high school couples driving to a remote lake house to hold their own private post-prom party only to be attacked one-by-one by a murderous masked maniac wielding a machete. However, he fails to deliver when it comes to the kills and the nudity: while bloody, the slayings are dull and repetitive, and all we get in the way of T&A is one actress in her underwear and a coy sex scene in which the girl keeps her bra on. Worse still, when the killer isn't at work, his intended victims spend most of their time bickering or playing cards, which isn't exactly fun.

With no scares, zero atmosphere, and an ending that leaves the viewer none the wiser about the identity of the killer or their motive, Party Night is a weak addition to the slasher genre.

I thought this movie was well done! It has a small cast, so you can get to know each character, there are more than a couple tribute references to some amazing classics and this movie gave you gore without doing too much CG. It felt very '80s Slasher to me and that is a compliment. Overall this is a fun movie to watch if you are a fan of the old school slashers! I give this movie a solid B to B+

Heading to a special after-party, a group of friends arrive at a secluded cabin in the woods for a special after-prom party only to find the area being stalked by a ravenous killer who begins to kill them off one-by-one and must find a way to stop him and get away from the house alive.

This one wasn't all that bad of a low-budget slasher. One of the main positives here is the rather solid homage to the old-school slasher setups that are usually featured here. The general setup of the group heading out into the middle of the woods for a secluded party no one knows about and coming across the killer hunting in the area serves as the usually fun setup that emerges here as the to-the-point storyline and shorter running time keeps this quite heavily in line with that style. That, in turn, leads into the other big aspect to like here with the slashing scenes which typically take on the quick and brutal style. From the opening spree murders that set the film up, to the deaths around the cabin that spring up and feature them finding the killer taking them out which forces them to engage in several confrontations with him around the cabin which has some fun encounters. Preparing the way for the final girl chase around the cabin finding all the dead bodies left around for the final confrontation, these here are all that really hold this one up. Among the first problem here is the utter ridiculous storyline that offers up no real sense at all. The idea of the group of kids going to a cabin in the woods that a friend owns the night after prom lets out is such a goofy premise for these kinds of genre efforts and really stretches the kind of incredulity already when it covers their lack of a party that concerns ridiculously petty teenage problems since this weak idea doesn't really work well enough to last for a feature-length idea. Lastly, the film is so cheaply made that it's nearly impossible to take this seriously in the slightest. The sound is so hard to hear that it's at times impossible to pick out what's being said, the general look and feel of the cabin speaks highly to the idea of just having used public property without permission and the special effects in total are just cringeworthy. The blood is about the consistency of colored water, trickles out like water and resembles food-coloring while the less said about the decapitation the better. These are what really hold this one back the most.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, a mild sex scene, and underage drinking.

Yet another film that wants to imitate the slasher of the 80's. Why do this?? Why not just get a slasher from the 80's?!! It is so rare that these "Neo Retro" films actually work, but hipster directors still churn them out. So we have a bunch of kids who skip the prom after-party and go to a secluded cabin instead, where they all end up being slaughtered (even the kills are totally unimaginative!) The film sounds as if it was recorded in someone's bathroom. You are never told who the killer is or why he is killing. Most of the film is just terrible acting and drinking beer. The critics praised the acting of the "final girl", but I've seen sheep act more convincingly! The only thing at all decent about this movie is the great retro poster art.

Party Night isn't a lofty think piece or character drama (and I don't think the filmmakers went into it with that mentality), but it's quick and to the point and doesn't overstay its welcome. Besides that, there are some terrific special effects and the cast isn't full of the usual indie horror movie mouth breathers who appeared to have been hired from a local strip club instead of a traditional casting call.

For a first time film, it certainly has flaws which one could nitpick if they wanted, but the film has a pretty infectious sense of fun that I've personally missed from the genre. Treat it as if it were just a random slasher movie you'd rent in the 90's because the cover art looked cool and you won't be disappointed. It's simple, to the point, and entertaining enough to deem worthy of checking out.