Broken Lizards Club Dread, Club Dread Uncut Version
A vacation to die for.
Rating: 3/10
Running Time: 114 minutes
US Certificate: 18 UK Certificate: R
On DVD
If theres one thing thats been done to death more than teen slasher movies, its spoof teen slasher movies. Seriously, its long-since reached the point where actually making a serious horror flick about youngsters being terrorized in some unlikely setting or other would seem a far more original idea than producing a tongue-in-cheek version.
But Broken Lizard the bunch who wrote, directed, and performed most of the main parts in Club Dread are a self-proclaimed comedy troupe, so its no great surprise that their first delve into the world of horror joins the ranks of the many, many, send-ups of the genre.
Set on the swingers island paradise of the title, it tells the tale of resort staff terrorized by a masked machete-wielding mentalist, while the visitors to this 18-30-style cretin-fest party on oblivious. Its barrel-scraping stuff, with boobs and blood the order of the day as our terrified Club Reps are picked off one by one, each suspecting one of the others of being the guilty party. The setting might be something new, but the subject matter is nothing you wont have seen before.
Director Jay Chandrasekhar and his co-writers ham up their parts for all theyre worth, but these guys arent actors and, based on most of their material, theyre no comic geniuses either. When a comedy troupe aim as low as this yet still fail to produce any laughs, you really have to start wondering if theyre in the right business. Of the whole cast, only Sweet Valley High graduate Brittany Daniel is any good at what she does, and even thats probably because her job involves little other than running around in skimpy tops looking pretty. As for the horror side of things the only frightening part is just how amateurish the whole production is.
It's Got: Bill Paxton, on wooden form as always.
It Needs: Someone to sit the Broken Lizard team down and quietly explain to them that what theyre doing really isnt particularly original.
DVD Extras A choice of audio commentaries from different halves of the Broken Lizard gang, deleted scenes and bizarrely a featurette focussing on the creature effects used in Alien vs Predator. DVD Extras Rating: 3/10
Summary
Unlike the shedding of blood and clothes, laughs are pretty scarce in this lacklustre slasher skit.