My Review of "Murder Party"

Murder Party is an oddity that I didn't really expect to see on Netflix. I have never heard of this movie before but it popped up on my recommended list and I'm really glad it did. It's a horror comedy that satirizes the art industry and has a lot of interesting messages.

This movie starts off with brooding music to play off the mood that it's Halloween. We follow this piece of paper rolling through the city as kids are dressed in their costumes getting ready to trick or treat.

A man by the name of Christopher finds this piece of paper and opens it up. He finds an invitation to go to a party called "Murder Party". The invitation is only good for one person. Ecstatic, he pockets the invitation and heads home.

We soon discover that Christopher isn't necessarily a very social person. He lives by himself and takes orders from his cat. It's evident that he's lonely and not exactly living the brightest of lives.

The comedy comes in right away as this guy is sort of like an adult Napoleon Dynamite. He makes his own Halloween costume with cardboard. His Jack-o-lantern that the local kids smashed, he made it into pumpkin bread. I already like him.

So he heads out looking for this Murder Party looking amazingly dorky in his cardboard knight costume. When he finally arrives to the secret location soon finds out this party wasn't exactly what he had anticipated.

He's met with a group of so called artists. Their art project was to lure an innocent sap to murder. They are trying to vie for a $300,000 grant from a sadistic art enthusiast. Little do the artists know, they are in for a crazy Halloween night.

I have to say right off the bat that this movie was incredibly impressive considering how low budget this movie was. It's obvious how low budget this movie is but they pulled a lot of their effects and storytelling very well. This movie could be very inspiring for a lot of would be movie makers to not worry about the budget of the movie and focus on the story. There are a few creative ways that the filmmaker was able to portray scenes that were pretty violent or gruesome. Props go out to Jeremy Saulnier for accomplishing this great feat.

As I mentioned earlier the budget is pretty small so they weren't able to do a lot of crazy effects but were able to bring the horror mood. There's not too many scares especially since we're so desensitized nowadays. I wonder if this movie was scarier back in 2007. There was maybe one fright scene that was pretty well done. Although it does give the right tone throughout the movie.

The comedy is where this movie is at though. I was howling in laughter for much of this movie. It was extremely funny especially with all the satire they do with the art industry. They make fun of the monetization of art and all of the different types of stereotypical personalities you meet in the art industry. It was very funny because much of the comparisons can still be made to this day.

I think the filmmaker was making a few messages about the art industry that were pretty funny but very true at the same time. What is art and what is our true motivations to make art? These are common questions that we often ask when it comes to art but the method this movie delivered the questions were very fun.

That's not to say that there aren't a lot of flaws to this movie. It is a low budget movie so quality control isn't going to be the best and you have to take that into consideration when watching this movie. The flaws will quickly be forgotten as you will most likely fall deep into the story as it progresses. It's a ton of fun that I think a lot of people will enjoy. I'm really surprised this is the first time I ever saw this movie because this seems to be a movie that would build a cult following for itself.

Overall, I had an absolute blast watching this movie. All of the flaws will be overlooked as you laugh at all of the hilarious antics that happen throughout this movie. I have to give this movie an 8.5 out of 10. I will be recommending this movie to so many people. If it doesn't have a cult following now I really hope there will be because this movie is criminally underrated.