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| 3/6/2004 |
| Club Dread: Less than Super |
A Movie Review
by Wes Bennett
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Broken Lizard’s 2001 release, “Super Trooper’s,” was a triumph of independent film and instantly established it‘s writers and stars as major players on the comedy scene. It seemed the young comic team had the potential to one day rival the talents other groups such as National Lampoon (“Vacation”) or The State (“Wet Hot American Summer.”) The movie seemed to get more funny every time you watched it, and gradually developed a large cult following. With this in mind, one would have thought that their follow up, “Club Dread” would have been pretty good.
Sadly, their second film does not have what it takes. The movie is a bizarre mix of genres, that at times is funny, but overall lacks a coherent structure, theme or tone. (However, I will admit that films like “Old School”, “Office Space” and “Meet the Parents” that get better with each viewing, did not seem nearly as funny to me in the theatre, as they do now).
“Club Dread” refers to a beautiful island resort that is owned and operated by an washed up, Jimmy Buffet-like star named Coconut Pete, played by Bill Paxton ("Tombstone"). Pete's had five gold records back in the 70’s but his biggest hit, "Pina Colada-burg," was ripped off and turned into "Margaritaville." Neither he nor his hard-partying staff are prepared for the manical exploits of a machete-wielding, killing machine whose victims are murdered in ways that mimic the lyrics of an obscure Cuban Pete song, one that defies interpretation even to Pete who was too stoned to remember writing or recording it.
The murders are bloody enough to qualify "Club Dread" as homage as well as parody. Although this unusual combination was attempted in “Cabin Fever,” that film was a much darker, horror movie with small moments of twisted comedy mixed in. The tone of “Club Dread” is much more comedic, but the horror is less effective, because it never develops any real suspense or drama.
Another problem is that horror movies already have received the ironic parody treatment in the "Scream" series, and then again in the "Scary Movie" trilogy. To begin with, “Dread” had the disadvantage of working unoriginal material.
The movie does manage to have some bright spots. One of the games the staff comes up with for the guests is a garden-maze version of Pac-Man, complete with sound effects, girls in bikinis and grown men dressed as pieces of fruit. Bill Paxton’s character is very amusing, as he pokes fun of aging rockers such as Eddie Money and Billy Squire who must continue to try and make a living off a dwindling nostalgia movement. Also there are many scantily clad women, highlighted by the luscious and nubile Brittany Daniel (Joe Dirt) whose knock-out abs are tough to ignore
In a good film, these moments would have been constant, but there are too many jokes and long stretches of the film that don’t work. Comedy is a disciplined art form with a lot of trail and error. Much of the humor here simply comes off as weird and improvised. The film’s script seems like it was a rough draft that needed several revisions. You can see the potential in “Club” but it simply did not develop.
The actors in Broken Lizard are smarter than this material and seem themselves more amused than the audience is. This film, unless it unexpectedly becomes funny after watching it 8 times on DVD, is not a promising step in the career’s of Broken Lizard.
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| "We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then question the manner in which I provide it." |
- Jack Nicholson
A Few Good Men
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Distributed Beers
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| 5 |
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot |
| 4 |
Guinness Draught |
| 3 |
Newcastle Brown Ale |
| 2 |
Bass Pale Ale |
| 1 |
Samuel Adams Boston Lager |
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