Latest / Dark Night of the Podcast / Episode 195-Killer Party (1986)

Transcript

Episode 195-Killer Party (1986) · Dark Night of the Podcast

• Roger: April, April, why do you play the foo? Yeah, April, April, you're no foo. God damn, Troy. Talk about a fucking catchy soundtrack. Music that's forced into a movie even when it doesn't require it. But I'm okay with it when you got songs like April, you're no fool. God damn. Troy Escamilla: April sh and hey, you know what? She is no fool. She she took that fucking big b big ass bucket of popcorn and darted out of that goddamn snack bar when no one's looking. That's no fool right there. You know you know that would be we're we'd be all about that popcorn. Roger: That'll be us in Atlanta. That'll be us in Atlanta Troy Escamilla: Yeah. Roger: when we're representing Hollow Lake at yet another film festival. we'll be stealing popcorn. But no, the people there are too nice. I don't want to steal from them. I genuinely want to give them money for their services. But eventually Troy and I will be gluttonous, gorging on popcorn, ideally watching a horror movie. Maybe something like a Resident Evil Troy, though I know that's not normally your cup of tea. But are you seeing the early reviews and the early reactions? Troy Escamilla: I've caught a few, I've caught a few. you know, so it got has my interest peaked. Roger: Yeah, me too. I mean, I'll say it right now, I'm a big Resident Evil fan. I I used to play, you know, even as a teenager. The one, two, three Nemesis. I'll tell you Nemesis right now with Jill Valentine and that electric blue tube top and black leather mini skirt running around with a gun. No cop dresses like that. I don't care because I was sold. I love that fucking game. And my personal favorite out of the Resident Evil series is actually Outbreak, which is where you play regular everyday civilians trapped in the middle of like this basically the zombie outbreak and mutations. but that's so in line with my love for Knight of the Living Dead and things like that. And I'm hearing that that this film kind of leans into that mentality as an everyday individual in the middle of like this horrifying and just overwhelming experience. And that that has my interest peak. I kind of like that they, you know, z they being Zach Krager specifically went off and did their own thing. I'm not so much of a purist, I'm not open to new interpretations. So I really hope it's as good as the word of mouth is saying. But for a horror fan, going into spooky season, I can't think of anything better than a ninety-eight percent fresh on rotten tomatoes and positive word of mouth from fanboys as well. That's a really good sign for us to have a really good Halloween season. Troy Escamilla: Well, you're gonna have to once you see it, you'll have to hop on and do a Patreon and let our listeners know what you think about it, because I'm pretty positive you will see it before I do. But yeah, I mean, we are I I after that that intro, Roger, you just it just makes me wanna just shout at the top of my lungs. Because Halloween is coming up, and you know, these are the best times of our lives. These are the best times. Ooh, yeah, these are the best times. What a what an odd song to play over the closing credits, particularly after what just happened. It's like this is not totally this is not the right song to be playing. Roger: Maybe it's a little tongue in cheek. I feel a lot of this film leans into the humorous elements of what really I think defines like the makeup of of this movie that we're gonna be covering because it certainly is in in many senses of the phrase a horror comedy. There's a lot of comedy in this film. but yeah, tonally this film is all over the place. And by the time you build up to the conclusion, a lot of that comedy's out the window. and then so suddenly does segue into such like a just pleasant Beep boop boop beep boop like 80s electronic pop synth ballet. It's just a really bold choice, but okay. I'm here for it. Cause like I said at the start of this, surprisingly, fire soundtrack all around. It's as 80s as they come, but that's how I want my soundtracks. And I had never seen this film before, so I'd certainly not heard the soundtrack. And I mean, on the music alone, I'm sold. The film, I think there's a lot to talk about. And I know that you're dreading here right now because three hours later, but honestly, like this is a film that is just all over the place. There's a lot of good, there's a lot of bad, there's a lot of in between, and it there's just a lot to really dissect with this movie. I'm surprised because you just kind of pulled it out of thin arrow like last week, just you're like, you know what, let's do this one. And I I was like, Okay, cool. I d guess I didn't expect to have a title that I was going to be so like interested in discussing with you. Troy Escamilla: It is an interesting film. I hadn't seen it for quite a while. and it was always one that going back to the eighties, you know, going into video stores, you know, and being able to rent videos, the cover always caught my attention. And and I remember renting it for the first time and watching it and just being like totally surprised at, you know, how it ends up. Because yeah, it wants to be a lot of things. You know, there's a whole bunch of It's trying to trying to balance a lot of these things. Like you said, it's trying to balance like a a comedy, like a college comedy, something like an animal house. and then it's trying to balance kind of as the film progresses into a s strict slasher f filt flick that lasts about ten minutes. And then it transitions into this really just, I think, like terrifying demonic possession film, something along the lines of Night of the Demons. And you're like, it's just something you don't expect with the with this film when you begin watching it. And it it starts right away fucking with you. You know, this is a film that fucks with you twice before you actually get to the real film, right? But guys, if you don't know, obviously you know because you're you're watching the you're listening to us and you see the title. We're talking about 1986's Killer Party. But before we get into the meat and potatoes, I do want to give a Patreon shout out because we did get a new Patreon subscriber. Yeah. Carrie, Roger: Expect it. Troy Escamilla: I know, I know. Carrie Cameron, thank you for your support. She loves us to death, apparently. She commented in the Dark Knight of the Podcast group. So we still do have that Patreon, guys. And one thing I also want to point out, I'm really trying to, you know, we're trying to get give you a wide variety of of ways to listen and to see us. I we actually have a Dark Knight of the Podcast YouTube channel now, and all of our older episodes are up and lots of recent episodes with the actual video of us. You you get to see us. So head over to YouTube, search for Dark Knight of the Podcast. Subscribe. Please subscribe. That would help us out tremendously trying to get trying to get a hefty number of subscribers and and viewers and whatnot. So because YouTube is a very valuable tool for for podcasts. So just want to put that out there. Roger: Yeah, no, absolutely. And there's so much material. I saw you posted one just this week. Which is the one that went up? It's one from a few episodes ago. You posted three? I saw it and I Troy Escamilla: I posted three yesterday. I posted three. Roger: was like, God, like I started watching it. I was like, how am I getting so carried away watching myself talking for two and a half hours? But here we are. Troy Escamilla: I posted I I posted three because I was slacking off. So I posted I think I don't even remember. Return to Horror High was one of Roger: Yeah. Troy Escamilla: Bodies, Bodies, Bodies was the other one. Roger: That's the one I was watching. Troy Escamilla: yeah, and these are the actual videos of us guys. You get actually see our faces and like you see Rogers sunglassed. He he's really di he's he's really into it. He's really into the eighties th theme Roger: Well Troy Escamilla: of of killer parties. So he's just he's pulling it all out for you. Roger: That's exactly what it is. No, I'm I told Troy going into this. I'm I'm actually super sick today, but I was really excited to discuss this film and I'm also feeling sequestered in my home. But if I were to remove my sunglasses, half my face is like swelled up. So I look really hot right now, I feel. I feel very confident these sunglasses. Very 80s of me, exactly. if I took these off, I would look like a Morlock. So like just know it. I'm sweating like a fucking pig on a spit, let me tell ya. Just dripping down my face right now and running a fever of a hundred and one point nine. but that being said, maybe I'm just like hot and bothered over talking about this movie. I'm really excited. Troy Escamilla: Yeah, well, I think we we we dive right in because this this film, gosh, it you it's a film called Killer Party. And it opens if you had not seen this film before and you're you're starting to watch it, you are like, what is what's going on here? It's a it opens up with this with this a funeral, a very small funeral. I want to know who this this homosexual priest is that's that's conducting this funeral. but it is for an Annabelle Fitzwilliam Carslow. And she sounds I I guess she's Very, I guess was very prestigious. She has her son there, her husband, her son's wife. It's this very, you know, just weird funeral. And you're like, what am what are we watching? and when they leave the funeral, the the w woman's daughter-in-law wants to go back in and say goodbye one more time, Roger. And she goes back in and she's like, I hope you rotten hell, you rotten bitch. And just like unloads on her. And All of a sudden, unexpectedly this the woman gr comes out of the coffin and grabs this woman and pulls her into the coffin. I what what did you think of this? Like how this unfolding, where you're like, What the fuck am I getting into? Roger: I think it's really hard to express how I feel about this opening scene without expanding on like what's to come. Like, to be clear, this is a very deceiving introduction to the film. And not only do they get you once, they get you twice. And by the time you're through what is like a movie within a movie within a movie, reveal you've burned through 10 minutes of the of the actual film time itself. and so there's a big part of me seeing this opening sequence, you know, after the fact, now having watched the whole film in its entirety several times, I think it's kind of disappointing because I find this opening sequence to be extremely intriguing. Like I want to know more. I want to know about this family dynamic, I want to know about this homosexual gay priest, I want to know if he makes it to the end of the film. I want to know what happened to Stephanie. I mean, obviously she gets burned alive. This poor woman getting yanked into this coffin by what is I'm guessing is her zombie mother-in-law. And then you see the coffin getting taken down to the morgue and then lowered into like the fucking furnace as it's rattling, and it's very obvious there's a woman inside, and the morgue attendant has his headphones Troy Escamilla: I know. Roger: on and completely oblivious, which is hilarious. But like they're getting me hooked with this opening sequence. I'm so intrigued. And then all of a sudden there's this transition where you realize that what you've been watching is actually like a film being played in a drive-in and it's being watched specifically by a couple that's making out in a car, like very standard setup. And like, okay, that's fine, but wasted material. I almost wonder do they have another script? And they're like, we really want to show some of this too. So Troy Escamilla: Yeah. Roger: we're gonna film a scene from this movie just so we can show like what we're thinking of. I don't know. It was just a really weird decision because that opening scene, It really has nothing to do with Killer Party itself. The movie Killer Party, this opening, this not connected. To the story that's about to unfold. They just put it in there so they could launch into what is now going to be a music video sequence. Also has no tie into the movie itself, of no importance. This band White Sister, strangely Troy Escamilla: Yeah. Roger: named band, performs a whole musical number. You get the whole song. Troy Escamilla: Yeah. Roger: And then it jumps you into what is Killer Party. And it it's entertaining as all get out, Troy. I mean, I I don't regret watching it, but I question the who, what, and why factor of it. Like who made the decision to add a full movie within a movie and then a music video within a movie to this film that like it just it's not like this film is about, I don't know, the entertainment industry and making music videos or a filmmaker who's showing their works. they just put in their I guess maybe because White Sister put money into the film. I don't know. Do you have an answer for me? Troy Escamilla: Have a definitive answer. I I don't know. I think if you look at maybe the time that this film came out, 86, we were in the midst of kind of the exit of a of slasher films. They had they had their glory in the early 80s, right? You had it probably 80 to 84 was the the the the heyday of of the slasher genre. And I'm just wondering if the filmmakers were like, well. We we wanna make sort of a slasher film, but we want to also not be cliche. We wanna we wanna maybe do something that's a little bit different that's gonna s trick our audience out. That's the only thing I can think of. They were trying to avoid kind of the the typical trope that you might have in a film like this, which it would have been very easy, Roger, to start this film ten years earlier and we actually see the prank that killed the Allen character. That would have been very Cliched way to start the film, right? here's the prank gone wrong. It's ten now, it's 10 years later and he's gonna be back for his revenge, whatever. I don't know. it but it is entertaining, is I'll get out. The music video, yeah. If your toe isn't tapping and those zombies chasing April all around that goddamn drive end, I mean, yeah, it it's great. It's some of the film's best makeup effects because that's also a be acknowledged that this film for us for what it actually when it switches to a slasher film, that there's very little gore, if any. so enjoy enjoy the gore you get in this music video because that's about it. Roger: Well, I mean, we gotta talk about this more because it really is a a chunk of the film. And I have more questions about White Sisters April, You're No Fool than I do actually probably about the movie in general. Because you've got like, yeah, these very elaborate zombie sequences. People are burning all of a sudden, there's car wreckage everywhere. There's this whole dance number. Zombies are doing arabesques, they're twirling, they're kicking, and like how much of the budget Went into this music video. was it just filmed separately and they had it? Because really, it just seems like a a waste of finances in a way. more power to them. But yeah, the makeup, the effects, all of it were so much, dare I say, stronger in the music video than anything we got in the film, especially towards the end when the when you finally start to get a body count, because it's worth noting the pacing in this film, it's horrible. And you really are not seeing any on screen deaths at all. But there's this really long drag till you get to any real notable j deaths in general. And then they're just like letdown after letdown after letdown after letdown. And that's a huge disappointment. Whoever fucking handled this music video should have been overseeing all the rest of that because it would have looked so much better. And it it's really just disappointing that it kind of just peters off as the movie progresses. Troy Escamilla: So yeah, you find out we cut and we're we're in the real movie. We're in Killer Party and we're with our our main character, one of our main characters, because there's really three leads in this film. This is Phoebe, and she's watching this music video, and her mom is in the kitchen making breakfast, and her two best friends, so it's the other the other kind of focal characters, you got Jennifer. And you got Vivia, who I remember Vivia very clearly from this film for some reason. It's a horror character that always stuck with me for some reason. I don't know why, especially now watching the movie now, because I mean, well, she's a you know, it's a fun character. Like I'm really surprised this is a character that I've always remembered from a from a slasher film. and I know a lot of people that see this movie definitely have, you know, make comments about Vivia as a character. And it's important to to acknowledge the the actress was in one of my favorite 80s slasher flicks that gets a lot of shit because of the pacing. final exam, Shelly Willis Birch. This is Shelly Willis Birch from Final Exam. So so yeah, you get this trio, and you know, they there's some chemistry between them. the the weird thing that I kept thinking is okay, so They're supposed to be at way. They're supposed to be at college, right? They're they're getting ready to pledge this sorority, but it's just feels really weird to me that Phoebe's living with her mom and it just happens the the house just happens to seem to be a block away from the college. I don't know. There was some weird I don't disconnect I felt it. I don't know if that's just me being, you know, weird, but like why Roger: Yeah. Troy Escamilla: why are you pledging it's just it's odd. You live your your your mom lives right next to the college. live it up there. Roger: Yeah. I got the vibe that she's a towny, but maybe this is almost you know, I'm in Ohio, so something like an OU where everything that exists around it kind of like the college determines it, you know, so to be maybe a towny and be growing up in that town, almost maybe it's an unavoidable that it's kind of like a rite of patch passage to attend that college, you know. So like I'm I'm guessing that was maybe the setup. It is kind of weird for sure, especially because she's the one that I would say is the most devoted to Troy Escamilla: Mm-hmm. Roger: jo joining this sorority, but also maybe again it's that towing mentality that she's again looking at as like a rite of passage. Is it something that's almost a requirement for her having grown up in that town? but you know, I I'll say like one of the things that I would consider a positive overall is this focal trio. I do think they have good chemistry. I think that these girls have defined personalities, Obviously Phoebe is the outgoing one. You've got Vivia, who is the nerdy one, and obviously quirky, and she's got glasses, so I guess that defines that for her, you know. And then you've got Jen, who is a bit more demure, quieter, you know, and that definitely comes into play. I like these three being the focus of the film. I think they Troy Escamilla: Mm-hmm. Roger: bring a lot of fun to the movie. I I did read and while sleuthing about the film, I read that originally Vivia was supposed to die earlier on in the film. and I will say right now, you know, Vivia makes it to the end of the movie. and I do feel like as the film goes along, that is kind of noticeable to me. Vivia is all throughout the film, but it kind of feels like she's almost added wherever they can pop her into a scene to have it work. And like all of a sudden she like this subplot at one point where she has like. a sexual infatuation with this character, Martin, that comes out of nowhere. There's a kind of all these things with the character where I feel like she's there to serve the plot. The plot is not there to serve her. but I still like the character. I still like her. I and I I just feel that The story is starts to get real quick. It starts to get too bogged down by itself. I wish they would have simplified this film and just placed the focus on these three girls and removed a lot of this random excess blow. You're gonna find here real fast there's a lot of big, long excess scenes and sequences where you meet a lot of characters that are not these three, that like if these characters serve more purpose in the film. Or came into play and actually like interacted with these characters more, like you know, it would have probably been entertaining, it would have worked, but instead a lot of these characters like you we get to know nothing about them at all, and they'll get these moments of excessive screen time doing big things in this movie that really don't service the the greater storyline. They you know they're really not doing anything here that I think adds to the final product. So I don't know, I feel like the characters the specifically this trio, the script doesn't necessarily do them the best service, but they do a lot with what they have. Troy Escamilla: The the trio, I mean that's it is what makes the film work, particularly in the final ten minutes of the film. because yeah, you're right. They do have chemistry together. I I bu I buy them as friends and whatnot, and and they they each have their own distinct little personalities. And when they're together, it's definitely you're not seeing like carbon copy characters. They're each very distinct from each other. But yeah, their whole thing is they they want to pledge the Sigma Alpha Pi sorority. And the when they leave Phoebe's house, they actually bike to to to the class, to the college, and you get that that's the first time we hear that song. These are the best times of our lives. These are the best times. Now, once you get to that, the you you cut to the sorority itself. And Miss Henshaw. is I guess the she's the house mother, but she's she's leaving. She's retiring or something. So all the girls are like, Miss Henshaw, we're gonna we're gonna miss you so much. And you know, they're like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then this guy dressed as a delivery driver shows up to deliver some champagne. And they just let him in. And nobody ordered nobody can say who ordered the champagne, but we what we find out is he's there to initiate a a prank. He's part of the fraternity. He When he delivers and the girl signing the the delivery, he removes the doorknob from the back door. And then Roger, they proceed to play a a prank that I mean, this is this got somebody killed in Sleepaway Camp. Let's acknowledge that. They throw a whole fucking beehive over the yard, over the fence, when these broads are out in their pool and hot tub and bikinis. And the bee the bees proceed to like attack these girls and they're running around, their towels are falling off, their at bare ass cheeks are Flopping around, their tits are flopping around. I guess you got it. You had to show nudity in the 80 slasher, and you get some tits and ass. Poor Miss Henshaw even falls in the goddamn hot tub trying to get away from these fucking bees. I'm like, this is this could really have cost some damn. Like, what if one of these girls was deathly allergic to bees? you could have murdered these kids. And they can't get back in that they can't even get in the house because he took the door down. god. Yes. Roger: That, I mean, this is all horribly illegal. And if this happened today, like people would be going to jail just based off the bees alone. but they're also filming it. Like the boys are filming Troy Escamilla: I know. Roger: it. This is one of those local fraternities. we meet a lot of these characters that do come into play later. but this whole long sequence, you know, leads up to what is inevitably these guys filming these girls running around naked while being attacked by bees, and it's horribly offensive. And you know, this is my first example when I was talking earlier about big long bloated scenes that don't really do anything to benefit the greater story. This scene here, it does introduce you to a bunch of characters, but a lot of them are not important. You got that one redheaded gal. The only thing she says in the movie, two times over, she says, We're gonna call the police. Like that's all she does. you got all these gals with their boobies flipping and flopping, and they're all wet getting out of the pool. So yeah, you get some some Tits and ass, but this whole scenario, which is a very long sequence, really only exists to tie into a gag that comes up later in the film that ties in another character who is a professor. We're gonna learn more about here in a moment, and a bunch of other characters that of no importance. But none of these individuals really play a major factor in the story. And this prank specifically. Aside from this gag that it's constructed around, which is the reveal of the footage of what they're recording, which is again very illegal what these boys are doing, and is played off as like a big joke, which tonally is really weird. We'll talk about it later. But there's really no need to have this moment, aside from the tits and ass, I suppose. It it does nothing to develop any of these characters or build upon the developing story, maybe the animosity between the between the sorority and the fraternity and why they're kind of like out for each other. But I just feel like I would have rather this time have gone to giving me a better understanding of what the fuck is actually going on with the actual story at hand, which is how a character inevitably becomes possessed by a spirit. I don't get enough of that by any means. Instead I'm getting girls running around naked with towels dropping off and it just It feels like it kind of feels like the equivalent of that opening 10 minutes of the movie. This just feels like more of that. It's just random, unnecessary fluff that that doesn't really go anywhere for me. But it's I mean, it's fun. It's a fun sequence. It's offensive. It's really kind of almost hard to watch when you think about what these guys are doing. But it's like well filmed and the characters are quirky. And I guess that makes it acceptable from A D standards, whatever. But yeah, it it's not it's not needed and it feels kind of like a waste of time. Troy Escamilla: Yeah. earlier when the scene starts, I forgot to mention Miss Henshaw is telling the girls that they should not have the party at the Pratt House. We have to acknowledge the Pratt House is an old fraternity that's abandoned on campus that is reportedly haunted. And that is the it's a fraternity where a a a pledge died in a horrible prank years earlier. A pledge named Alan. Okay. So that's the backstory. After this whole B thing, like Miss Henshaw herself goes to the Pratt House and she walks into the backyard where there is a g okay. Here's what I'm gonna supposed to. He a f a this kid that was accidentally murdered in this frat house, his parents are okay with him being buried in the backyard of this frat house? Like he there's a he's buried in the backyard. There's a tombstone. And like she's over there talking to it. She's like, Alan, you have to forgive them. It it was just a joke. Please just just forgive the girls. Don't don't bother them. Roger: Give me less music videos and nude jacuzzi comedic chase sequences and give me more backstory on what the fuck happened to this guy. Why is he buried there? Why is she talking to him as Troy Escamilla: I you never re Roger: though he's already established as a supernatural entity? Like, what's Henshaw's deal with this? I don't know because I get very little time with her because she's about to die. Also, I do want to point out when I heard Henshaw, I automatically thought of one Carrie Fisher as Miss. Frenshaw in the remake of sorority row. And I said, was this a hat tip? I mean, it has to be. But yeah, Henshaw is is in this film for a blink of an eye. And really, like, I would have rather have had a duller, more mundane establishing scene with her giving more backstory and explanation on what the setup is here. So I have a better understanding through the progression of the film. Than whatever that big raunchy sequence was that came right before this, because there's all of a sudden there's a real awkward time jump where you just come up on Henshaw in a new ensemble, walking up and talking to this tombstone out of nowhere with no establishment or anything, and it just feels really just Awkward. I mean, it feels really, really awkward. And and it's part of the pacing, it's the editing, it's just how the natural story is flowing. Like, I don't understand why she's there. I wish I just had more backstory. And it feels like she's there as a as an expositionary tool, but I need an understanding of who she is first and why she would even be talking to this tombstone to begin with. Troy Escamilla: I think we ha I think one of the things with this film that is kind of frustrating is the fact that you never get a fully fledged story about what happened with Alan. There are there are there are hints. I mean we were told kind of, he died in this eye, but you never really know like w how it happened, w w what was it was it yeah, how it was set up, and then like why now is he able to possess humans. It's It's just you never get any sort of explanation. It's not like they read from a you know a book or do anything like that, a la evil dead or whatever. they don't do any chanting or whatever, they're not conjuring anything. It's just really weird and kind of unsatisfying. but yeah, but but and yeah, Miss Roger: Highly unsatisfying. Really it is. Troy Escamilla: Yeah, and Miss Crenshaw, yeah, talking to the tombstone, was she like I don't know, did she know him? Was she his tea? I don't who knows. But she goes into the house and And she's snooping around and she realizes a like a board is loose on the step, so she gets you know she's gonna get hammers and nails to nail it in. And when she's nailing it, somebody comes up behind her, you hear the creak, and she turns around and she has the the nails in her mouth. And whoever it is, who is it? That's the question. really, that's the question. Like I'm real who is this? perceives to bash her in the face with a is it like a paddle like you that they they like they're spanking the pledges with like bashing her in the fucking face with that and I she's I mean she the nails in her mouth I'm assuming she swallows the nails and she's d she she dies. So my question is what wh who who or what did this? Was this I I do you know what I mean based on the reveal at the end is who was it a go was it a real go who did it? I don't know. Roger: I do think it's this is one of those reviews where it's worth noting who the villain is going to be because we're gonna be dancing around it the whole time. And I think if we just say it now, it's gonna make it easier for us. It is inevitably revealed that the the modest character of Jen is overtaken by the spirit within this tombstone of Alan and is possessed and she goes on a killing spree. We're gonna get to that. But for me as the viewer, from what I'm understanding after multiple viewings, is that because you don't actually see who the killer is, I think I'm supposed to believe that this is Jen committing this murder. And there was a brief moment earlier of the girls riding their bikes, right after that delightful musical number, where they all stop and Jen has a moment where she's like overtaken by the house and she's like, I'm just feeling something. It's just bad. It's a bad feeling and we shouldn't go in there. And they're all like, stop, get get over it. And then they write off. I guess like am I supposed to believe that that's all it took for Jen to be overtaken by the spirit within the house to start committing crimes, to start killing people. Because it is stated at one point later in the film, it is stated that the reason that Jen is the one that's overtaken is because she's the only one that didn't want to be there. But that's real loose, Troy. That's playing it real loose. For her to just stop in front of the house on the bike and b be like put off by the house, I guess that's all it took for the spirit to jump into her and start controlling her to commit acts of murder doesn't make a lick of sense. Troy Escamilla: See, I I I'm not sold that the this this particular killer of Miss Crunchhaw was Jennifer. I just don't think that makes any sense. But I guess who else would it be? I guess it makes just about as much sense as anything else. I I I don't know. I don't know, like because the same thing happens later with another character that goes into the house. And I was like, okay, so are or are we supposed to be b buying Jennifer is doing this? Because like Jennifer, you you physically see. the moments when Jen is possessed, right? You physic it happens twice. and you see it you see it both times. Like her eyes roll back in her head and stuff. See, that didn't happen at the beginning of the film. So I'm r I don't know if it's supposed to be Jennifer, but it's it's real odd. Somebody kills Miss Crenshaw. I I'm it's Roger: Well, and it's also worth noting that before each of those two individuals who are killed before the the major massacre sequence, they both have the same line of what are you doing here? so it implies that they know the person that's committing this act. And it's it's played very intentionally. but yeah, it's it's really unclear. My gut feeling is it is Jen. I just think they did a real horrible job of setting it up. Like not enough has happened by any means. For her to now be possessed by the spirit, but lo and behold, I guess she is. I I do like the fake out with the hammer, where like you see the hand raising up and you think it's gonna be Henshaw getting the hammer to the head, but it's actually her starting to nail the stairs. but also worth noting, like, you know, this is the first kill in the movie. You see her face take two whacks with the paddle, but you don't technically see a kill. And it is now another Roughly like forty-five minutes before you get another kill. I'd say maybe maybe forty minutes, roughly around that. 'cause it's I think the fifty-seven hour mark that the next kill happens. And this is like fifteen to twenty minutes into the film around there, maybe maybe just over twenty. You feel that gap. You feel it. Like this is a film called Killer Party, and there ain't a lot of killing happening. for the majority of that. Troy Escamilla: Yeah. Well, after Miss Crenshaw is dispatched, it see it it it cuts immediately to Jennifer and the girls. So Roger: Yeah. Troy Escamilla: yeah, it cuts immediately. They're they're out they're they're on the campus and Jennifer is still freaked out about like going into this house to pledge. And she tells them that the only reason she is pledging is because she wants to be with them, Vivia and and Phoebe. then you get introduced to Veronica, the the the bitchy sorority leader. and one of their One of their things they need to do, they're given this the they're given a phrase. And it is literally the only phrase they're allowed to say when someone asks them a question. And the phrase for today, Roger, that these girls, these gals have to say is, I myself prefer a big fat cucumber. Roger: I mean that's Troy's regular dialogue without being required to say it, so Troy Escamilla: That's a good one. Roger: count me in. That's the kind of response I wanna be giving to people. Troy Escamilla: I myself prefer a big fat cucumber. Roger: You know that I get it. I feel it. I'd feel confident saying that statement. Not to my professor though, because that is what ends up happening. there's a lot of worth noting, a lot of witty little moments, lots of characters coming in, guys, lots of awful men in this movie. Horrible men. Awful, repulsive, rapey men. but those like two guys pop in and the one guy's like, I've got a big fat cucumber. Where would you like it? Like it's it's appalling, but it's also funny. but yeah they go they end up going to the obligatory like classroom scene. We've seen it a million times. We're introduced to Professor Zito, who is a character, I guess, though he really doesn't serve a ton of purpose. and of course he calls upon poor modest Jen, who is forced to say, I myself like a big fat cucumber, and is kicked out of class. And the whole class follows. Troy Escamilla: That's funny. Roger: And there's this like big moment where sassy gay professor because he's definitely a homosexual, sassy gay professor Zito's like, where's everybody going? And the only one to linger behind is that fucking character Martin. I've been waiting to talk about him because what a pain in my ass. Like this Troy Escamilla: Ha ha ha. Roger: character is obnoxious. If he wasn't so annoying, I he'd actually be quite handsome. Like he's got Troy Escamilla: Mm. Roger: a really handsome face and some pretty lips. But the moment a word comes out of his mouth, I want to hit him. I want to hit him, I want to choke him. And we've been seeing his mysterious shoes. You know the shoes I'm talking about, Troy. Following Troy Escamilla: Mm-hmm. Roger: the girls all around. Very mysterious pair of like chucks or something like that. Old beat down shoes. Well, we find out they belong to Martin, so he isn't actually he is a character. but this first impression of him, he's so obnoxious. Troy Escamilla: He wants to know, he stays behind to ask the professor about the the the subtext of sexuality in the Madame Bovary. And yeah, sassy Professor Video is like, Martin, just get out of here. and he is adorable. He is really cute, but yeah, just a a weird, weird character. Like there's seem this character makes some some choices that I think honestly are a little not all of them, but I think there's Roger: No, yeah. Troy Escamilla: a few choices he makes that are a little actually It's the word I was just telling this about a little unique for the time in this type of character. I was like, okay, okay. but yeah, so he is very he is very horny. Roger: Martin's very horny. I think that's worth noting. And he's willing to sexually assault a woman at with a bat of an eye. Troy Escamilla: He's he's very horny, but he also does he also he's when Jen Jen here in a few minutes we'll get to that scene, but when Jen t gives him that l f flowery rejection, he like he's like, well fine, fuck you. And he gets up and w I mean, I thought that was kind of unique because most t the time the guy would get really aggressive and be like, baby, why don't you he's like, okay, fuck you, bye, I'm gone. I thought that was kind of funny. But yeah, right, give me g Roger: I'm gonna go try to fuck your friends. Cause he tries to fuck all of them. Troy Escamilla: give me Vivian's number while I'm on on my way out. But As part of their hazing, they have to go, they have to get go and break into the boys' fraternity, and they need to steal some t-shirts from this fraternity. So these yeah. Well, here. So they go inside Roger: It's either T shirts or bareback toy. Troy Escamilla: and they're they're they're wandering around the fraternity, and all of a sudden, someone jumps out in a sea monster mask and scares well, sort of scare her reaction is very muted, scares Jennifer. He takes his mask off. And it is handsome. Handsome Blake. boy, handsome. Roger: Save an hour of this podcast just to talk about Blake. Because Troy, I'm gonna say it right now. I think out of all the films we've ever covered, I feel I think that Blake is the hottest guy that we've encountered in a horror movie to date. And it's everything. It's the whole package. It's the fact he's kind of a douchebag. He's very aggressive, but smooth. And he's got a jawline that I could ski on. I mean, holy fuck. This guy is so hot. When he took off that mask, I literally went like I gasped. Like and he's been in the film prior, like in like little brief moments, but you never got like a really good clear look at him. When he takes that mask off and you see that smile and that jaw Troy, I was dripping flooding the whole room. Leo, my Vishla was floating away on a piece of the couch. I had to set out a life buoy grab him. but no, I I really was like just kind of in awe of how handsome this guy is. And that's kind of a consistent note like throughout the whole film. Like there's a lot of hot guys in this movie. traditionally just really handsome men, even like we're saying Martin being the nerd. Is still really handsome. but a lot of them are kind of swarmy and a lot of them are kind of dicks. and there's several moments where you think Blake is going to become a bigger dick than he actually is. Like it's it's actually played for a shtick in several sequences. I like to think that he's not that bad of a guy, I hope, because all the rest of the guys suck. but yeah, I mean, his face took my breath away. And then the he like kind of chases after her, and he has that whole moment where he's like, I'm Blake, billions and trillions. Who are you? What are you doing here, Jen? And I would have just been like fuck me right here, raw. Raw Like you just gotta give me a kiss. Bend me over, my friend. Right over Troy Escamilla: What there is Roger: the banister. Troy Escamilla: Isn't there? There is something. He's a very charming, like very charming. Roger: Mm. Troy Escamilla: And little quirks that he does. I was like, my God, he's so fucking cute. Let me find a guy like Roger: my god. Troy Escamilla: this. Just the way he delivers lines or things he'll do, movements he makes. I'm like, this is like the dream. Like and such conventionally, he's just handsome. movie star handsome. The a the actor is actually Martin Hewitt. And I'm really surprised with his looks and his acting because he's actually really good. Like I said, he gives this character a lot of quirks. The line deliveries are are so like effective and just make the character even more irresistible. I'm surprised he didn't go on to do bigger things, honestly. I really am. but even Jen is like taken by him because she actually he's like, well what you doing here? And he she says, well, honestly Veronica sent us here And she said that we were w we needed to find one of the frat boys to to kiss. And he's like, Well, really? He was like, Well, you found one. I'll kiss ya. And they they fucking kiss passionately, like they're tonguing each other. And I'm like, Wow, you're lucky girl, Jennifer. Roger: I mean, I she was playing all like again, demure. her her friends are in the background, coming up with a a lie basically to distract him while they steal these t-shirts and and they're like, give him a kiss, give him a kiss. Like they're making the motion. So she accidentally just says it, as though she doesn't really want to just make out with this hot fucking dude. And I've been like, I'm here to fuck you. Troy Escamilla: Mm. Roger: I'm here to fuck you right away. I'll distract him for three hours, girls. Get 70 shirts for all I care. Steal furniture. I've got it handled. but unfortunately all she gets is a kiss. There's a moment later where you think they're gonna rail, but I don't think he ever gets it in. And for Jen, missed opportunity, because this dude is hot. Troy Escamilla: Mm-hmm. Well, yeah. So they kiss, they get the shirts, and they leave. And on their way out onto the sidewalk, they Jen drops her book, her I don't know, her little notebook. And we see those damn shoes come into frame and pick the book up. and so Jen gets back to her her room, her dorm room, I'm assuming, and she's, you know, walking around and all of a sudden someone is outside the door and knocks. And you see them kind of they the way they the way they film it, you you know, it's it's traditional, like, suspense. Somebody's sneaking in. They're gonna, they're sneaking in. It's the it's the it's the villain sneaking up, sneaking closer to the door, sneaking closer to the door, and knocks, Jen opens it, and it is fucking Martin. And he doesn't, he's real weird at first, but he just he doesn't just come right on and say, Hey Jen, I'm here because you dropped your book, right? That's not the first thing he says. See, for me, that'd be the first thing I said. I was here, I'm I'm delivering your book because she's What are you? doing here? And he's like, well, I've always wanted to talk to you, but you're always with people. And she's like, I'm sorry, do I know you? And she's yeah, I'm Martin from our literature class or whatever it is. And she's like, I I guess I've never noticed you. And like she's like, so what do you what do you want? She's like, I just want to, I just want to get to know. He it takes him forever to finally be like, here, also you dropped your your notebook. I'm like, they dude, you're making this really weird. Roger: So uncomfortable. Like just fucking spit it out. And then like w when she does let him into the room, first thing he does is get on the bed. And it's like, okay, my dude, if you're trying to pursue a lady like Jennifer, you're much too aggressive. Much too aggressive. I mean, is he is he a little simple, you know, this this individual? And I say that lovingly, but he just has no idea how to interact with people. And for some reason, like The girls still start to develop a friendship with him? That's another real weird plot point. Like after this experience with this guy, there's no way I'd like, Well, let's hang out tomorrow. But pretty soon he's driving all of them around and hanging out, putting on Halloween costumes with him. I'm like, Where'd this come from? Where the fuck did this come from? Why is he a a playing factor? But okay, whatever. Troy Escamilla: Well and then well we we we'll get to what happens to his character because weird for for a character to have such focus. It's really weird what they what they do with him at the end. but yeah, he w he asked Jennifer Ow and she gives him I didn't even write it down, but she gives him a very like flowery, a po poetic d rejection. And he and she's like, Do you know what I mean, Martin? He's like, Yeah, that was deep. He's like, you know what? fuck it. I'm gonna go now. And he he he takes the rejection, which I again I was a little bit shocked because this doesn't seem like a character that would take the rejection. He'd be pushing that, but he's fuck you. He basically is fuck you. Okay, I'm going. But then on the way out, he's like, Hey, can I have Vivi's phone number? She's like, Why don't you talk to Vivian in person? And so she shuts the door, she shuts him out. So Martin is definitely an interesting character. We will say that. And he, yeah, he he he's pretty. Prominent in the film, and there's just like yeah, I don't know what's what's necessarily going on with this character, but we'll get there because he has a lot of weird reactions to things. so now, Raja, we are at the Pratt House that evening, and it is the actual initiation of these gals. So Phoebe, Vivia, and Jennifer are being initiated into the sorority, and their first task. they they need to accomplish they they have to swallow whole a goat's eyeball. and so they're each given a goat's eyeball and they have to swallow it and every each time they swallow it the girls all the sorority girls behind them go bah like a goat. It gets annoying real fast. Roger: Absolutely not with swallowing any eyeballs. And these girls are much too okay with the fact that they are swallowing whole goats' eyeballs. Each one of them down the hatch without hesitation. I would you'd you'd have to pin me down and hold my jaw open and force that eyeball down my throat to get it down my gullet. Because there's no way I'm doing that willingly, but they're okay with it, I guess. Maybe they knew it was coming. I don't know. All these gals, by the way, in lovely Grecian gowns, where did that budget come from for this sorority to procure all of these Grecian gowns? But all the girls got Grecian gowns on. There's that big red-headed girl in the background with a really intense red lip. I mean, it looks like quite an event. Their hair is all done. That this the house is all decorated. It's very dramatic and moody, but yeah, these like. Horrible hazing rituals. I mean, I guess that's like the goal of a hazing ritual, but these are just like disgusting. Like, you know, first they're eating eyeballs, then they got raw eggs getting cracked over their mouths, and they gotta hold them in their mouths and then regurgitate them into a cup. Like, that's not my idea of a good time. And again, I know they're being hazed, but like I hate the texture of a raw egg. Hate it. Mucusy. Troy Escamilla: Mm-hmm. Roger: Not something I want in my throat. And I know some. Some bodybuilders they they just eat eggs raw, not I and not these gals either. They seem pretty gross out with it, but this just seems like an unappealing hazing ritual. Come up with something more creative. I don't know. Get naked and cover them in baby oil and make wrestle or something. That would have been proper for the times. Not disgusting things like this. Troy Escamilla: Or make them, you know, masturbate with the big black dildo, like I did to a character in Mrs. Claw stirring. Roger: Yeah. Troy Escamilla: there you go. That's that's a proper sorority hazing. but Roger: That was Troy speaking from experience. He's like, Well, I'm just gonna go with my nightly ritual. Troy Escamilla: there is, yes, yeah, yeah. And I feel bad, these actresses, they really did get eggs cracked in their thr mouths. So I hope the pay was worth it, whatever their daily rate was. I hope that was worth it, because they they're really getting raw eggs cracked down their throat. But anyway, there is that moment we have to acknowledge that moment where the candle in the background, like the flame shoots really high. And then that's when Jennifer, for the first time, her head whips back. And you literally see her eyes roll back in the back of her head for a second. And then she comes to. And Phoebe notices it and's like, hey, are you okay? And Jennifer's like, yeah, I'm I'm fine. and then they'd go through this whole fa this this whole egg thing. And Then all of a sudden the the the things start getting really weird. The lights start to flicker, glasses start falling off the table and breaking, everything's shaking. The girls are becoming really frightened as as they should. because this is like, wow, this this the stories they heard about the house being haunted. Well, here it is. And Vivia, you know, we hear we hear a pounding from from the basement. So Vivia. volunteers to go down to investigate it. And when she goes down, of course the door slams shut and they they hear her scream for help and they they they break into the door and they go down there and they find Vivia tied to the guillotine. There's a guillotine, a full fudged fucking guillotine down in this basement, Roger. And she's like, help me he he he got me and he tied me here. And before the girls can do anything, the blade drops and Vivia is decapitated and her head rolls down the fucking steps. this is a really w well, we find out because once the head the girls are just screaming bloody murder, but once the head hits the the basement floor, we do see a hand grab it and lift it up, and then it's revealed that it is Vivia and it's a fake head. I don't know how she pulled this off because it was r it was really her. Like the second before the blade dropped, it was really her and the g guillotine. She's talking to him. Like she's you know, I was like, sh don't know how she pulled this off. Trick of she's she's the a master trickster apparently Roger: I think the head is almost like a puppet. I do I feel like she operates it like that. I think her hand's in there. Troy Escamilla: Maybe, maybe, maybe you're right. Roger: But that doesn't mean that this whole concept here is not completely implausible. Like this is kind of nonsense. I d I don't understand how she would have pulled this off. Just like the construction of this thing, getting it in there in general. but it's just such an elaborate, like, I guess trick of the eye for her to pull this off and and not have any of these girls doubt the legitis legitimacy of it. 'Cause they all believe it actually happens. And then you see the head roll and there's blood. Like it is so elaborate. and it is something that comes back into play, luckily, because they do give more explanation as to how she procured this guillotine and the fact that it is a prank and it's so impressive that they want her to do it again. Like it is a actually a pretty important st moment in the film, and and moves the story forward. But again, it it is so unbelievable. Like I just I don't get how she managed to do this. I don't know. and and I wanna really quick step back because you mentioned the brief possession moment. First of all, the girl can cross her eyes like nobody I've ever seen. The girl could she her eyes, they roll into the center of her face. I mean, put that on an acting resume. You can do that. I'm using it in every movie you're in. I don't care. We're gonna make you do that with your eyes. It's very impressive. but one of my gripes with the introduction of the possession element of the film is it is always paired with what is a bigger, elaborate prank. That is being used to deceive people and make people think, I'm in a scary situation only to reveal, like, no, actually, I'm not. It's all a prank. So for a big chunk of the film, you are being introduced to these moments that are kind of like fake outs, they're gags. And it's it starts almost making you question what's real and what's not. So certain things that I think are supposed to be scary as the film goes on are less scary. Because you're getting accustomed to all of these just prank moments that are being played on people that end up, you know, once revealed, it kind of loses the scare factor. And I just I don't know if this was the right approach for the story, especially something that lingers till so late in the film that I think it does the overall film more harm than good. Troy Escamilla: Yeah, there's prank scalore in this film. And I do think it then lessens what what we actually see because it makes us question, like you said, it makes us question, is this really real? Even like when the murders do start happening, it's like, wait, is this is this real? but yeah, so the this whole guillotine thing, yeah, that I think it's important to know that you know, the the Alan, the character that is supposedly the the possessor, he did die in a guillotine. The the prank that what killed him was a a guillotine prank. I again I want to know how this all played out, like He was a pledge. I'm sure they maybe put him in the guillotine to scare him and something went wrong and it literally killed him. I don't know. It's never explained. But also, like, didn't Viv did Vivia not know that doing this was really going to like jeopardi jeopardize her chance of getting into the sorori? Because she just does this on her own. You know what I mean? Like nobody knew she was gonna do this. So I I'm I was like, Well, there goes your chances. And the only reason she doesn't it doesn't ruin her chances is because one specific thing that she's told in this next scene. because they they do that next morning, they they have to go back to the sorority house to find out if they were pledged or not. And Martin, Martin is giving them all a ride, and that's when Vivia takes out the the fake head and scares Martin shitless. And like his reaction here, he way overreacts. Like he drives up on the sidewalk, he's screaming, he's like, What the hell is that? He's doing the finger crossed thing, get it away from me, get it away. Like, my God, Martin, you are dramatic. Roger: almost kills people on the sidewalk. Troy Escamilla: Mm-hmm. Roger: It's a it's a big reaction. I wanna I do really wanna build off what you just said, Troy, though, 'cause I think it's a hugely just important beat and note I have for the film in general. You know, what you're saying with this whole thing that's occurring here with Vivia, and the the the prank in general, it was such a prime opportunity to tie in the lore of Alan. This piece, this guillotine is a huge like playing factor of the film. Like it opens the movie. The opening credits, you see the blade come down and it slices the title in half. Like it is, I think, supposed to really be in some ways like the key weapon in the film, which is unique. Why wouldn't you cut that whole opening 10 minutes of music video and film gags and just give me like a backstory, a flashback that sets this up. That would have done this film so many favors. Like I feel like they're trying to pad the the runtime by adding in that whole music video shtick. And really like this film could have greatly used and utilized an opening setup that explained who the character of Alan is. How he got to be buried in the backyard of that house, how the guillotine played factor, the fact that we never see it, and we're just kind of explained through like little bits of exposition as people are talking about it, the importance of the guillotine, the fact that it's been stolen, that comes up. But it's it's not enough. I really think it's something where they should have showed us this occurrence. And I do think that like one of the greatest weaknesses of the film is that you never get to see a proper flashback or recreation. of that moment that really seems to be pretty pivotal in this storyline. Troy Escamilla: It is the, yes, it's the driving force of the of the plot and what happens, and we never even get to see it. And it's it's it's only because of this line coming up here and this in this in the scene here coming up real quick that we learn anything about it, really. But so they go to the sorority house, the three girls, and they are given boxes. And if they open their box and there's a goat eyeball in it, that means they got in, right? So, of course, Phoebe opens hers up. She's the most excited. She got in. Yay, she has a goat eyeball. Jennifer opens hers up. She has a goat eyeball. I think they're kind of all worried maybe that Vivi is not gonna get in because of the prank. cause she's the last to to open her little box. But when she does open it, there is a eyeball, and she's like, Bah, she does the the ball like the goat. And they're all excited, right? So Veronica comes out and is like, you could tell she's like not she rolls her eyes at Vivian and she tells the other girls to to leave. And basically she tells Vivia, she's like, Vivia, I want you to that was that was a great prank you played on us and I want you to basically recreate it at the April Fool's party tonight. And Vivi is like, Well, no, I don't think I can do that. That's I'm not I can't do that. And Veronica looks at her coldly and she's like, Honey, it's the only reason you're here. And like Vivia's poor face, she goes her you she looks so deflated. And Veronica turns around and walks away. And of course, the April Fool's party that evening is going to be at the Pratt House. Roger: It's confusing to me, though I suppose in the timeline of like actually pledging for a sorority, like maybe it makes sense that this would fall in April. Cause I guess like doesn't I take the majority of a freshman year to be accepted into a sorority? Like, I don't know, I guess it would have to fall in April, but like this whole lavish setup for it to be an April Fool's party and not a Halloween party, it's just very confusing to me. Because this party does not give me April Fool's vibes. This is a Halloween party through and through with some of the best costumes I've seen in a Halloween party themed horror movie to date. Like it is a well-executed Halloween party. But instead it's an April Fool's party. And that just dumb. I think the only reason they they chose April Fool's is because of like the the the the prank, the freak out that they're doing with everybody. Like they're playing a joke. Troy Escamilla: But you but you can Roger: April Fools. Troy Escamilla: yeah, but you can play a prank on Halloween too, right? Yeah, it's it's I c I Roger: I know, don't you think this screams Halloween vibes? Troy Escamilla: keep think I yeah, I mean I keep th I kept forgetting it was supposed to be April Fools, especially when you get to the party. Yeah. but yeah. Yeah, it Roger: It feels very autonomal. Everything about the film feels very autonomous. Troy Escamilla: it does not look like spring at all. yeah, just I don't know why they just didn't do Halloween. Maybe again, maybe they were just like, there's too many Halloween themed horror films, let's do April Fools. even though there's just April Fool's Day came out the same year. Slaughter High came out the same year. So yeah, I mean, come on. Anyways, so now we cut back to a a meeting. It's going to be the the Greek student council meeting, where Veronica now comes in. She's all dressed up, she's the student representative, and there's a couple other guys. There's that fucking hot guy, Harrison, Albert Harrison. he's Roger: yeah. Troy Escamilla: another fucking hottie. Jesus Christ. Roger: Yeah, yeah. Troy Escamilla: But you get this old broad, I don't know who she what's her name. she she's resigning her position as the the the chair p faculty chair of this council and sh and guess who's the new the new chair? G that Queen professor Archibald Zito and he is just so happy with himself. He's just beaming. Roger: He looks almost maniacal in the sequence. Like, I don't know what they're trying to play him as, a red herring or what, but yeah, he looks very confident in himself, only to have this big gag played on him, another joke, another prank, which I guess I again plays into the April Fool's aspect. But yeah, I mean when I was talking earlier about big blown up scenes that don't really need to exist in the film, like this is the payoff for the From the gag from earlier, where the girls got chased around naked with their boobies bouncing, running around in towels because the bazoo's bees were attacking them. This comes into play here, and you meet a bunch of random characters that you really don't interact with again. You got that random woman who he calls an old windbag. but it just again feels like wasted time. Like basically they project what is supposed to be their he's gonna be playing a video on like the dangers of hazing. that all of like the heads of the sororities and the fraternities have to watch. And instead it's the video that was taped of those girls getting chased around nude. And like it's funny, like people are laughing and like he's in front of the screen and so it's like reflecting his silhouette in a way that makes it look like he's chasing the girls. Like Troy Escamilla: Yeah, it's it. Roger: it that's actually really funny. But it's also horribly offensive in for him as a as a faculty member to not punish these children or these college students at all. It seems implausible. Like there's no way that they would get away with this. Like again, like, you know, these girls are being filmed naked. And I don't care if it's the eighties. You can't get away with this kind of shit. Show it to several of your professors and then not expect them to act upon it. Instead the one old gal's roaring with laughter. And I just don't think that would be the case. I don't know. Troy Escamilla: She's laughing the hardest. And she's a faculty member. She's laughing the hardest. But also we have, yeah, Roger: She's laughing the fucking hardest. She's loving it. The sexual harassment. Troy Escamilla: we back up and we have we he he he he the he takes the moment to to recognize the the sorority boy, the sorority pledge that died 22 years ago. He's like, it was an unfortunate hazing accident. And now this is why we have to watch this video. And the video is like, something called, you know, the haze. And yeah, it's just a video of these broads running around butt ass naked being chased by bees. And it's hilarious because yes, that female faculty member, she is just a cackling. And everyone and everyone gets up and he throws them out and she's just there, still she's still laughing. It's like, shut up, you old windbag. She she she's so offended, Roger. You see her face? She's so offended. Roger: And then you never see her again. Troy Escamilla: No. Roger: You never see her again. At least kill the woman. Something. I don't know. Like I just that whole bit could have been pulled and devoted to more important things. Everything to do with the B video and what it was purposed for. All of that can been pulled from this film and better utilized to tell a better story. I guess again they're trying to lean into the fact of April Fool's existing. This is the this is apparently April Fool's Day. The party is that evening. So they're playing a a joke on them, I suppose, but it just feels like they put a lot of time and effort into these moments that really don't require it. Troy Escamilla: Well, the our trio is is at the Pratt house because they need they they're supposed to be cle helping get it set up for the party tonight. So they're gonna clean. Jennifer is just really becoming more increasingly uncomfortable with being in the house. and she's actually apparently, Roger, been doing some research. And she finds out that people have disappeared going into the house. she finds out that there was supposedly stories of Alan. doing like occult activities in the house, but like this doesn't make any sense because he was pledging the house, right? He didn't live there. Is that right? He was a pledge, he died in a pledge prank. So, where was he doing these occult activities? It's really weird. Supposedly, she read that he conjured some evil spirits with these occult activities. I'm like, this is really like a, it's doesn't make any sense. B, it's really convoluted. C, why didn't we see any of this? You know, why didn't Roger: Yes. Troy Escamilla: we get a flashback? This is the point we should have got a flashback when she's explaining Roger: Yeah. Troy Escamilla: it. Yeah. Roger: And we should have also seen her looking into it. Like the fact that Jen, this character, is so drawn to the house and the backstory, and it all does like culminate to something. Like her character is the one that is eventually possessed here. I mean, I think that's important. I want to see her like becoming invested in this backstory and and you never get that. And it's just like kind of rattled off as kind of throwaway dialogue. And this is really something where it's like a show it, don't just tell it moment. Like you can't just expect me as a viewer to like pick up on these little lines here and there and really be like, that's enough. That's a satisfying enough exposition for me to buy it. No, like I need to see it. and yeah, that again, huge lacto. Troy Escamilla: And you know, Vivian and Phoebe aren't particularly interested in in her stories. They don't really believe her. but then they do hear some glass breaking and some other noises like foot footsteps. So they're kind of freaked out, so they're gonna go explore. And as they're walking down the hallway, Blake jumps out in his full sea creature costume to scare them. And then he takes he takes off the mask and it's it's him, and you know, looking looking looking good. Looking good. And he says that he was just sent there to check the fuse box to get everything ready. and he's gonna go downstairs, go back downstairs to check the fuse box and if they need anything, to that's where he'll be. Well, when he gets downstairs, he realizes he doesn't have his flashlight. So he calls for Jennifer to bring him his flashlight flashlight, and of course she does. She's gonna go down in the basement with this hot guy. And as she's going down the stairs, you hear someone calling her name, and she thinks it's him. And she's like, I'm coming, Blake. I'm coming. And you keep hearing, Jennifer. and when she gets to him, she gives him the flashlight and she's like, Hey, why why didn't you answer me when you you were calling my name? He's I wasn't calling your name. and then he invites her to basically on a date later and she she accepts. And they walk out and am I wrong? Is there a dead body sitting in the basement? Did you see that shot? Is that what is that? Roger: Yeah, what what the fuck is going on there? What's up with that? That doesn't come back into play at all. Troy Escamilla: I was like, wait, what is they didn't see it? They didn't smell it. It just looks like a dead body just sitting in the basement. Roger: Was it maybe a prop from the Halloween party? It's not a Halloween party. What the fuck am I saying? It's an April Fool's party. No excuse for that body. There's a lot of things here, now especially talking about with you. So much of this film does not come together at the end of the movie. And man, this is really infuriating because yeah, like whose body is that? Whose? Troy Escamilla: It's just a mummified body. I don't know. I was like, wait, what? and then you get this weird scene of Vivia and Martin making out in his car and she's being she's being overtly aggressive. Now we you talked about Martin being aggr you know trying to hit on all these women. He is he's actually t being very timid. And she's like, Martin, touch me, touch me here, Martin. I want you so bad. Touch me. And she's like Roger: On her wrists? Touch me here. Like Troy Escamilla: Yes, it's real we it's real weird. And then he gets distracted by a light turning on in the upstairs window. I don't know what that was. He's like, What who's is who's home? What is that? Roger: This almost feels like a scene that they filmed like randomly without any idea where to put it. And they're like, let's just throw it somewhere because there's a lot of issues I have with this moment. I mean, honestly, this whole stretch, like around the hour mark, the pacing gets really fucking weird. Like really weird. I don't know what house they're in or where they're s standing in front of or what time it's supposed to be. It just it's all over the place. And so she yeah, she's making out with them really aggressively and like Earlier, you know, he was really pursuing Jen, so I guess he's just moved on to Vivia and she's all for it. But he's like super fucking awkward. So how is he getting this girl so hot and bothered? And the whole moment here just doesn't really deliver. Like, yeah, he sees he hears like music turn on in the room above him, but it doesn't go anywhere. And remember earlier I said it feels like Vivia, when I learned that her character was written in the remainder of the film. Like it you can feel it. This moment right here is is one of those moments where specifically I'm like, I feel like they were like, we need to give Vivian something else to do. Let's write in a makeout scene. And we'll just we'll film it on the fly. It really feels like it's just very disconnected from the rest of the movie and doesn't really culminate in anything. Troy Escamilla: No, because she tells him he's distracted, really distracted by this window light. And she's like, Martin, do you know what the largest room in the world is? He's like, well, what? The room for improvement. And then she starts like kissing him. And then the scene ends. It's this really weird, really awkward. There there's it doesn't drive the plot at all. You're very right. It could just be they're they had to shoehorn Vivia in. and now, Professor Zito goes to the Prat house to inspect things. I don't know what he's what he's doing there, but he he goes, he goes inside, he's wandering around, he goes down into the basement and he finds that guillotine. And he finds a switch and he's like he's playing with it. And all of a sudden, Rider, someone comes up behind him and he turns around, he's like, What are you doing here? And the person pulled out an electric cord and shoves it in his neck and electrocutes him, I guess. Roger: It's honestly a cool visual, though it's very brief, but there's all these sparks going off behind him and he's shrieking and it looks really cool, but they cut away from it really fast. But again, my issue is with like the pacing and timeline. is this not it has this not been the day of the party for the whole extent of the day? from the moment that they had that meeting with the faculty and the heads of the sororities and the fraternities, that's the same day. Am I correct in saying that? Troy Escamilla: I think s yeah, it's both I don't know. That's yeah, the timeline is wonky and yeah, I I'm I'm thinking Roger: Well Troy Escamilla: it is, yeah. Roger: Well he shows up there and it's nighttime. Troy Escamilla: Mm-hmm. Roger: He shows up at the house, it's nighttime. This is the same house where the party's being held, is it not? Troy Escamilla: Yeah, yeah. Roger: So when I said earlier about like you start to get thrown off by locations and where you are and exact dates and times of things, this is one of the prime examples. The party, even if the party was not in full swing yet, the party would at least be Getting like set up. There would be people there. There would be, you know, decorations being hung. I don't know. Because right after this moment, there's actually a really cool hard cut, but it doesn't make sense. It goes from that really intense shot of him getting electrocuted into the full swing of the party. And okay, I could see if maybe he snuck in and was like looking for something there while the party was going on. But That sure ain't the case. when he walks in, that house is desolate. It's empty. There's nobody at inside. There's no cars parked outside. You know, there's no music playing. It's not like he's sneaking in there. And really, what is he doing there to begin with? I know he talked about it earlier. He talked about the house. They mentioned briefly that old windbag woman mentioned that the guillotine has been stolen. Keep in mind. That's and I mean that is an important plot point. Clearly, Vivia, her connect. Stole that guillotine from the storage center, wherever it was being kept. And that's why she has it. And so he's going there, I'm guessing, to find out if they have it. And he discovers it. But that is not set up for me. There is not enough breadcrumbs leading this guy to that house. There needs to be more establishment for this scene to even make sense being there. So for him to be coming to the house is just It's just, I guess for the sake of moving the story along, but I I don't know. The pacing here is so fucking wonky, Troy. It's so weird. And it got me r I was getting really frustrated at this point. I'm just like, I don't understand what's happening. And then you're gonna cut to the party like fully active in the same house the same evening. It just it seems like bad editing. Troy Escamilla: Mm-hmm. Yeah, the scene is re it's just really weird in the timeline of things. I was like, why is he there? What what's what's going on? But yeah, now we're at the party and it's looks like a Halloween party. Like we said, that everyone's in costumes, masks. You got those fucking bumblebee nerds. you know I'm talking about, right? The two kid the two guys dressed as bumblebees. Vivia there, she sneaks Martin in. all the sorority girls are there. you get I mean, you get that moment in the kitchen where Phoebe's told she's she needs to clean, and that Harrison comes in and flirts with with Phoebe and asks her to dance. And all the while, there's this it's just everything's happening. So you're getting just shots of different characters doing different things. You get the Bumblebee boys, that heavy set one and then that really nerd one. They they these are aggressively hitting on women and the women are slapping them. And there's that moment where there's two those two ladies. I don't even know what their costume is. I guess they're wearing like almost bikinis and they're out there day showgirl, Roger: They're like showgirls. Troy Escamilla: yeah, and they're just wearing like, you know, leotards and whatnot, whatever a showgirl wear. And these two fucking guys dressed as bumblebees, Roger, actually get on the floor so that they can put their faces right in these girls' asses and just oogle and ogle at them. Roger: The men, as I mentioned earlier, are awful. All the men are just repulsive individuals. And these two are the worst of them. And they're just absolute fucking pigs. but I I gotta say, and I touched on this a little bit earlier, you know, when it comes to this party sequence, like what a well crafted sequence. The location is phenomenal. We haven't even really talked about that. The the the abandoned house specifically looks great on camera. It is a great focal set piece for the film. And the party really makes the most of it. It's packed with people. Everyone's costume is so elaborate. There's a man dressed as a carrot dancing. Looks great. It's the best carrot costume I've ever seen. and yeah, the two bumblebees, everything just looks so themed. I do like here, even characters that we've spent very little time with, I feel like a lot of these characters feel very fleshed out and fully rationalized individuals in these scenes specifically. The the the party sequence l lets a lot of these smaller characters have a couple of moments that make them feel a little more three-dimensional, you know? They they don't feel like just cardboard. even though they're brief little vignette moments for all of them, I appreciate it. But I really love, like I dig the setup for this party sequence, but there is a lot going on. And a lot more pranks to come and a lot more fake outs. Things get really, really complicated. the the girls all arrive, they're all looking cute in different costumes. and immediately poor Phoebe is put to work by Veronica. You know, she goes in and says, hello, and like right away, she's like, it's good to see you here. Clean these, clean these dishes for me. and she starts to realize, I think, that like being part of the sorority is not all it's like. Set up. Troy Escamilla: Jen actually goes upstairs with Blake because Blake is there, and they're literally Gonna fuck. he's shirtless in bed. They're just making out and he's getting ready to put it in, Roger. When they hear someone call them downstairs because they have to be there for Veronica's toast. So she hesitantly goes down. She's like, I guess we gotta we gotta go. He's like, I'm gonna get you sooner or later. You know, he's he's not really he's wearing like an astronaut shirt or something. that was tight. Roger: He's in a hockey costume. Troy Escamilla: Those t the hockey costume, yeah. The the the tight jeans. but so they go downstairs and yeah, and then Roger: He's looking good. That hairy chest. And that aggressive blind delivery of I'm gonna get you sooner or later. Like have at it. Troy Escamilla: Mm-hmm. Roger: I'm not gonna put up no fight. Easy prey. Easy. Troy Escamilla: Easy, easy. Veronica gives downstairs, Veronica gives her toast, you know, to the sorority, to the the new pledges, blah, blah, blah. Blake and the guys get up and do their toast to the frat house, right? And this is when all of a sudden glass beer bottles start to shatter, explode. the doors slam shut. They can't open the doors. Someone's calling Jennifer's name over and over again. Jennifer Beatty. Jenna, and she's freaking out. All of a sudden, Roger, she hits the floor like a sack of potatoes and is pulled away, into the into the basement, dragged down into the basement. Everyone's screaming, panicking. People are trying to get into the basement. and then hard cuts to Vivia and Jennifer. laughing their asses off. Apparently this was another prank set up by Viviya, right? Roger: How? Is she wearing metal shoes and she used a fucking magnet to drag her across the floor from the basement? I Troy Escamilla: I there is Roger: don't understand. How the fuck did they pull that off? It's not like she had a rope tied to her ankles or anything. She just got dragged across a floor. It wa very confusing. I have very elaborate pranks. I don't know how these girls do it. I couldn't pull that shit off. I mean, Troy Escamilla: No Roger: teach me those tricks, I'll use them in my fucking horror movies, but this is some real nonsense. I do think it's also worth noting just because he does start to play a a part here. Very last minute, late into the story, the character of Harrison is finally given something to do. Other than this, he's just been kind of in the background, to be honest. he was there during that scene with the professor, and he was in the opening when you first saw the first shot of all the guys, he was in the group. But now he's had this moment where he meets Phoebe while she's doing dishes and she helps him with groceries and they start to bond and flirt. really weird decision to introduce this guy so last minute, because he's played as like one of the heroes almost. he's treated as though he's a major character, but he really doesn't have a lot to do. But when all the chaos starts happening, when Jen gets dragged across the floor by this mysterious force, he he's really involved and it ends up like building up into what is this big prank moment between him and Blake, that I guess they must have become savvy, become aware that the girls were gonna play a prank. And so they kind of plan this thing on their own. And for a moment, you start to think Blake is like turning into an asshole. He's the first one to be like, I'm getting the fuck out of here, leaving Jen behind and everything. And Harrison steps up, he's like, We gotta help her. And they start fighting over it. And then Blake pulls out a knife and starts stabbing him. And it ends up being this prank, this elaborate prank atop another potential prank. Which gets very confusing because bottles are breaking, walls are shaking, voices are muttering Jennifer's name. And when I said earlier, it starts to become hard to decipher what's a prank and what's not. I mean, this moment especially, you got two pranks happening, and you've got what I guess is re a real possession taking Jen over. And it's the most understated of of all the events that are occurring. The possession itself. is nothing more than her just kind of becoming kind of weak in the knees and leaning against the wall and hearing voices and nothing more. And everything else that's going on, I guess, is really just part of the prank. So it really makes the possession feel kind of lame Troy Escamilla: Yeah. Roger: because nothing's really happening. She's just hearing her name every once in a while. Troy Escamilla: Yeah, well yeah, because she comes they come back upstairs to let everybody know it's a prank, and when they open the basement door, she sees she sees Harrison on the floor, you know, supposedly dead, but it he just he comes to and smiles at him. He's like, April Fools, and they're and then they're at a moment where something yeah, she flips her head back, her eyes roll back, and she is you know, like that's the moment that Alan enters her body, I guess. so sh Once they p get done with this prank and stuff, she's upsta she's back with Blake and she tells Blake, Hey, I need to leave this house. Like, I'm going. I need to get out of here. We we stirred something up. I'm I'm gonna go. So she leaves. All right. She's she goes out of the picture and leaves Blake by himself. Well, we now cut to this I guess her name's Pam, the sorority gal named Pam. Right? She's she's Roger: Who fuck is Pam? You got plenty of other characters that I met prior to this that you could be killing off. You're gonna introduce a new one named Pam, who I've Troy Escamilla: Pam. Roger: never met before? Okay. Troy Escamilla: She's dressed in like that, what is it? A s twenties showgirl clapper outfit, I think. Roger: I think she's supposed to be like like a can can dancer or something. I don't know. Troy Escamilla: Or something. She's wearing something. It doesn't matter because we don't spend much time with her. Cause we all of a sudden she's walking down the hallway and we see somebody approach wearing where did this costume come from? This I never th this that's a full-fledged old-fashioned di diving suit complete with that huge metal helmet. I want to know where this fucking thing came from. Roger: Where did it come from and why are you waiting till the last 15 minutes of the movie to introduce this very elaborate and honestly very effective, though hard to navigate, I'm sure, fit diving costume. Like, I mean, you got no peripheral vision. It looks very heavy, but it's very dramatic on camera. If I saw someone wearing that looming in front of me, I'd be scared. Troy Escamilla: yeah. Roger: the fact that, out of nowhere, This is the costume of choice without any establishing shots of it or anything that would imply that this would be something that might be at their disposal at all. it does seem really confusing that this is what is now going to be the killer's costume of choice. Because it is like there is a whole sequence coming up of this guy going around just killing people off camera, but still killing people. and it is baffling that they wouldn't have wanted to. Play this into the story earlier. it's it looks great. It looks great. This costume is menacing. It is unique. It's unlike any other killer that I've seen that I can think of. And you're gonna hold off on this until now? Like, at least when old Henshaw got killed, show it. When the professor got killed, show it. Especially because you just have this moment with Pam where there is a dramatic, slider shot that reveals. The professor's dead body in the closet that she's going through, though she doesn't notice the corpse. It's in there. and then yeah, she just walks up and this this diver spears her with his trident. And it it's such a good-looking costume. I just think it's such a wasted opportunity to not introduce this thing until the final act of the film Troy Escamilla: and you know, I've all the let's let's and I think you acknowledged it, but all these these kills happen one right after another and we don't see any of them. We see him raise the trident and then we hear it cuts, we hear her scream, okay? now we Well Bl Blake is Blake is he's so she's dead. Blake is walking around, he gets called into the bath the bathroom door is shut and Jennifer calls him in. She's like, Blake, come into the bathroom. I decided to stay. So he he proceeds to to go in, okay? and so downstairs Phoebe is showing Harrison the the guillotine prank and she's saying this is what we were gonna do, this is how it works, and then they start kissing. And Veronica catches them kissing and she calls aggressively calls. Phoebe upstairs to tell Phoebe she better stay away from Albert Harrison. It's like you jealous bitch. Roger: Mm-hmm. I mean, I get it, girl. Like, she looks pretty in that, I don't know, that belly dancer costume or whatever, but Phoebe is striking and unique and looks lovely in that ballet costume. And it it's weird that like there'd be no female camaraderie here at all, but I guess this character is just there to be the token bitch and that is it. It's just so weird for her to introduce this angle with Phoebe last minute and then just be disposed of right away. It's not like this is like a sleepaway camp or something where you have really properly utilized the bitch for all she's worth. Like Veronica's been bitchy in a couple sequences, but other than that, overall, she's just been kind of an afterthought. and then you've got this whole big moment here where I guess you're supposed to realize that she has a thing for Harrison, though it's never been explored. So she's got this moment with Phoebe, and then she's disposed of. She's the next victim. And again, it just feels really like. Out of nowhere. and it's not like it's like this great kill sequence. Like again, it's a s a moment where she's she steps on a nail, she's on the stairs, the killer comes up behind her, raises a hammer, and it cuts away. And this is gonna become a trend. The killer's racking up a body count, like nobody's business. Like last 10 minutes of the movie, just killing, killing, but you don't see any of it. Like you virtually see nobody die on camera. Everything's a cutaway. Everything. And it's not like they can't pull off the effects here. Like we've seen some other things over the course of the film that I mean think I think prove that they're able to pull off a gore sequence when needed. There's not been a lot of it, but there are some effects in the movie when certain bodies are revealed. I just don't understand, like when you're making a film that's going to go as hard as it does with the very final moments of the film, why you wouldn't make like the whore gore and Kill sequence is a priority in this film, you know? Troy Escamilla: Yeah. Yeah. None of the none of the none of the deaths are shown. It's it's probably the, you know, there's a lot of c sort of disappointing things about it. But for for for a a brief like six or seven minutes, this becomes a a diehard slasher film, but none of the deaths are sh are shown. And it's really just like really disappointing, you know, especially at this time point period in the eighties when, you know, we've had some great slasher flicks that did the delivered on the gore. This one this one does not. And then I mean we even get like we cut back down to Albert down in the basement and he's down there with the guillotine and the the killer comes in and like forcefully grabs him, s forces him into the guillotine, and literally drops the blade. Do we see a decapitated head? No, we do see the blade rise up slowly and there's blood dripping from it, but that's that's it. That's all we get. And I mean, I guess it is good that finally this fucking guillotine is being used as a murder weapon, right? Finally. Roger: Yeah. Yeah. I mean it I almost wish in like in a way, like if they're gonna go as hard with the supernatural angle as they're about to, because the the killer's aesthetic, this this costume is so underutilized, I almost would have like ditch it and save it for a b a better film. And like let this all just be supernatural. Let the let the guillotine just rise up and decapitate the guy magically. I don't know. Cause this whole bit, the killer comes in and when you know it's really Jen in the costume, obviously, she manages to grab Harrison awkwardly and then throw him down to the guillotine and then he's just in place and then the thing drops. It just feels very clunky. Like I said, I almost wish they would have just gone full supernatural and let the house and the spirits and like what exists within it done the dirty work instead. It would I kind of feel like made for a more interesting conclusion. Cause then you've got another bit coming up here with with the delivery guy from earlier. what was his name? Troy Escamilla: Virgil. Roger: Virgil. That's right. I mean, I like that they bring the character back in. I mean, he's such a random little character, but you got a couple moments with him at the party. And then you've got this bit of him in the kitchen where he's got his back turned to the killer, and now the killer, who has too many weapons, this killer has so many fucking weapons in his diving suit, pulls out a machete, and there's this great setup of Virgil like with his hand holding on to the the the refrigerator door and You literally like you literally see the blade go up and come down and make contact with the wrist, and then it cuts on the action. And it's like, you obviously did it. You obviously filmed the effect. that was a fake arm, obviously. And you're you're why are you not showing? Just show show three more frames of it. Just show the thing get chopped. I'm not asking for a lot here, but this is a horror movie. And you're filming the moments and then cutting away from them, it just feels it kind of feels lazy. It feels clunky, but it also feels really lazy. Like why would you not deliver on these moments? Troy Escamilla: Well, here's the yeah, I I was yeah. I mean, I guess there's a reveal here in a few few seconds that's kinda cool and then probably the second most gore you get in the film fr next to the opening zombie sequence. But it's real weird. And now you got two gals, Mel Melanie outside smoking, and she runs into Sandy and they're they're leaving and she notices that the tombstone has been broken. And Martin. So cu keep in mind Martin's been a pretty good pretty prominent character throughout the whole film. he's dressed as a woman. We've we forgot to acknowledge Dad. He's dressed as Madame Bovary the through the whole thing. But he so the girl the one girl s leaves, Melanie, and Martin like chases after her. And is this the last time we see him? Or is he Roger: Not only does he chase after her, but you hear her like shriek. So I'm guessing he sexually assaulted this poor girl while he was drunk. a real sour note to end on with Martin, who's not really been like the selling point of the movie to begin with, but at least he was becoming more endearing. and he's had a couple funny moments. But then for him to suddenly have this last sequence where he chases after poor Sandy and it doesn't go anywhere. I would have expected him to at least come back and look for the girls and see everything that's happening. bring him in during the ending or something. you could have done something really fun with that. I I feel like this was a real wasted opportunity to give his character proper closure. Troy Escamilla: Yeah, he just disappears. They don't they don't make him a victim. Every all the other guy love interests d die. But Martin just wanders off after see after sa after Melanie or Sandy and that's the last you see of him. that I mean, yeah. Roger: Every other extradized for like the house is riddled with corpses. Why wouldn't you kill off a major playing character like Martin? Troy Escamilla: yeah, I it's it's it's it's puzzling. It's puzzling. and so the yeah, and so that's the end of Martin. the Bumblebee guys, the two the two horrible Bumblebee guys are sitting on the floor playing something card game or something, and they get I mean s now the killer I guess is somehow in the basement and it can shove a a spear thing as like a spear gun thing up through the floor and impales the the heavy set one and the other one is like, you look like you're about ready to puke. He it gets a he sh basically it's shoved through his b through his back. Again, you don't really see it, right? and so then that cuts and Vivia is you know wandering around the house. She comes in, she's looking for Martin. she opens the refrigerator to get a drink, as you would, and inside the refrigerator is basically Dismembered Virgil, the delivery guy. All chopped up and it's stu stuck in the refrigerator. Roger: It's not the best looking fake head I've ever seen by any means, but like if you're gonna go fucking decapitated head in a fridge effect, why wouldn't you show the kills? Like, it's not like they're like, we're making something PG 13. We don't want to show the violence. They're showing limbs and a decapitated Troy Escamilla: Mm-hmm. Roger: head, a bloody one. And they're gonna show some body reveals here, because she's about to run through the whole house and find everybody, the whole cast. Everyone in the cast list, she finds them, dead. She finds those those bees with the spear guns through their mouths. Why didn't I see that? You're showing the the result of it. You're showing the actual sp you know spear coming through the guy's throat and everything. Like, why wouldn't you show the process of that happening? Troy Escamilla: Yeah, When she goes up and how how did how does Phoebe not know any of this was going on? Because Phoebe's upstairs, I guess now. She finds Phoebe. She tells him everyone's dead. Phoebe at first doesn't believe her, but as they run down the stairs, they do trip over Veronica's dead body that goes rolling down the stairs. and yeah, now Phoebe goes downstairs with with Vivia and they see, like she's seeing it firsthand for herself. They're they're gonna try to get out of the house. This is yeah, they realize, yeah, this is not good. This is not a prank. Everyone is indeed dead. they w they go into the bathroom and they find Blake's body drowned in the bathtub. And that's the end of Blake. And I'm like, what a what a lame reveal. Like, what a lame reveal. Roger: my god. I thought that was his head in the fridge at first. And then like obviously I watched the film further and realized he had been drowned. But even then, I was like, you're not gonna show the decapitation. Like, you're not gonna show it in silhouette. Cause you remember when you closed the door, like you saw a silhouette, I was like, okay, like maybe he was decapitated. No, he was drowned. And I was like, drowned? This hot motherfucker, you're gonna give him all these moments and then you're just gonna reveal him in a tub. Like, it's just It it pisses me off. Just let him live. At this point, just let the fucker live. Like, what a waste. Troy Escamilla: They let they let Martin live. They let Martin live. So why couldn't Hottie live? And he, you know, and I actually think Blake is is was is way more just charismatic of a character. And it has nothing to do Roger: Yeah. Troy Escamilla: with his looks, just he's just way more charismatic. But he gets drowned in the bathtub and we don't even see it. You know, it's Roger: Yeah. Troy Escamilla: such a fucking I was so mad. I was so mad. Roger: Yeah. Troy Escamilla: and then all of a sudden, like they run out of the bathtub, or they run out of the they run sorry. They run out of the bathroom and then Jennifer like comes into the room. And She just looks at him and she says, He k he killed everybody. And they're like, What are you doing, Jennifer? We gotta get out of here. We're gonna go right out this front door. And then all of a sudden, like Jennifer pulls out that fucking trident from behind her back and starts pounding the floor with it. And she is full-fledged, possessed. Like her eye, like she this is she's possessed. And she starts pounding the the trident on the floor. She's saying, You my house, you assholes. And so now we went from a a slasher film for ten minutes, and now we are in full fledged demonic possession film. Roger: We are. We are. Yeah, she I mean like she's got a whole voice change and everything. I've been waiting twenty years for this. April fools, assholes. Like I don't know. I mean the line itself is sticky, but I gotta give the girl credit. At least the actress goes all in. Like when she's possessed, Jen is probably the most exciting part of the film. You know, aside from that absurd opening music video. she's really given it her all. She's Got a fake tongue and she's thrashing it around. She's foaming at the mouth. She's crawling on walls. She's crawling on ceilings. She's jumping on chandeliers. I mean, Jen really is giving it her all during this whole possession sequence. And it is pretty thrilling. Like what happens with this whole staircase bit, it feels out of fucking nowhere. Like, really, this film has no idea what it wants to be at the end of the day. But it doesn't mean that this Finale isn't like exciting. it's actually quite fun. This whole bit of her throwing the trident into the stairwell, and it just causes the whole thing to start exploding. And she's like telekinetic, using her telekinetic abilities to wreck this staircase as poor Vivia is like stuck on it, and pieces of the ceiling are falling. It's very elaborate. It's a big ending. It just does feel like. Really just out of nowhere. Like I knew things were getting supernatural, but this was a curveball. And I guess maybe that's cool. that's kind of exciting. you know, you really were playing the audience so they were expecting one thing, and then they got something drastically different. was it exactly what I was wanting out of the film? probably not. But it's still fun. I really do enjoy it. It's just it feels like I'm watching a different movie now. Troy Escamilla: my god, yeah. I mean this is it takes a it takes a hard turn. I was not when I pick up a movie called Killer Party, you know, and read it's about you know you know kids being killed off at a at a fr sorority party. This is not how I envisioned it ending. Now is it is it effective? Yeah. I actually think it's kind of terrifying when when you know they get trapped upstairs and the stairwells falling and she's crawling on the fucking w ceiling. Flipping that tongue back and forth, and her voice is terrifying, and she is just in full throttle attack mode. There's that moment where Vivia gets her ankle, the her the hand busts up from the the the floor and grabs Vivia and like twists her ankle. And now Vivia is hurt, and they are literally trying to get out of this house. And this demon is just, it's make the it's growling. It's I think it's terrifying, actually. and so they get to the window. of the house and they're going they open the window and poor Viviya is trying to get out onto the roof to escape this thing and you get that slow camera panning back to reveal as Viviya's out on the roof that now Jennifer somehow is on standing right above her on the ledge and grabs Roger: Yeah. Yeah. Troy Escamilla: her and like lifts her up into the air and then drops her down onto the ground. We're talking stories below and I think she breaks both of her legs. You see her land and she had to have broken both of her legs. Roger: yeah, I'm shocked she sh survived the drop in general. I mean, that's like it's like a big old frat house. It's gotta be like three floors plus an attic, you know? And so it's really shocking because this whole time, Croy, we've been complaining about how really like tame the violence is. And then all of a sudden you got this moment where they're kind of going all for it. And it may not be gory, bloody violence, but still like the things Jen is doing to get to these girls, it's it's Just physically like Extreme. she's tearing through walls. She's busting through ceilings. That shot of her crawling on the ceiling is so effective, you know? And then she busts through and grabs her by the ankle. Like she is relentless. It's it's really intense. And I was like, where is that energy for the majority of the film? Like, give me this in place of the music videos in the movie within the movie and the gags and the jokes and the pranks. Like, give me this. Just give me this, and I would have enjoyed it so much more. the the throw from the building and then her jumping down. There's a shot of Jen like jumping from the roof and landing and like circling poor injured Vivian. She's like snarling and frothing at the mouth. It all makes for a very dramatic buildup. And and Phoebe like scales the side of the building and comes down and she Starts to defend her friend, and we're getting what is like really kind of like a big climax between these three focal characters, which I do think is really cool because these three have been what have anchored the story through all of the turbulence. These three have been kind of the core of the film, and now like they're turning on each other. It does make for a surprising like play on my emotions. I'll say that. I was actually kind of feeling something. I'm like, my God, this kind of sucks. I feel bad. that Phoebe is kind of, you know, being forced to f battle and inevitably kill her very good friend. Troy Escamilla: Here's the thing is I there's all those moments you could because you can tell that these girls were close throughout the whole movie, but there's all these moments when Jennifer is pursuing them as the demon, where she'll snap back into her normal voice and be like, Jennifer, he's out of me again. He's he left me. I'm it's me, it's me. And Phoebe is like blatantly trying to go back to her. And Vivi's like, No, you're talking to a fucking lunatic. and then it then it gets to the point where. Jennifer stops even using her own voice. And in the demon voice, she's like, Phoebe it's me. He's out of me. And she's even still like trying to help her. She's what I'm she's screaming. I'm I'm here. I'm here. I'm I want to help you. So you can tell, like, there's there's camaraderie here. There's these girls are close. And what it's really to me, it's kind of heartbreaking to have poor pathetic Vivia like on the ground being pursued. Roger: Yeah. Troy Escamilla: She's helpless. She can't get up. She can't do anything. Her legs are broken. And she's like, crying and trying to back away and this demon is snarling. And yeah, you get you get the moment where Phoebe jumps, gets down, she climbs down, she grabs that stick and she starts beating, hitting, you know, hitting Jennifer to keep her away from Vivia. and she she beats the shit out of her and she's like Jen Jennifer's laying up against the the fence and sh Phoebe's like raising the the thing up and in her normal voice Jennifer tells her, do it, Phoebe, do it. And Phoebe imps shoves that fucking sp sp fence stake into Jennifer's heart, into her chest, killing her. Roger: For such a fluffy, frothy movie, like this film has been a lot of fun and jokes and pranks and just college kids being being shitty with each other, but full of nonsense. And I don't know, it just for this movie to be so relatively light overall, to end on such a dark note was really shocking to me. I didn't expect to go there with these characters, and like Phoebe is not. Prepared to handle this. And this I I mean, understandably so. Like she's she's the one that's panicking in the house, and Vivia is trying to navigate her through the house. And there's even points where she's been screaming to Jennifer, like you mentioned, like shrieking, and she's like, Stop, you're basically like luring her after us. But up to the very end, the very last moment, Phoebe is still questioning what she's doing. And it's not until Jennifer pleads with her in her own voice to kill her. that she does it and she impales her and kills her friend and it's yeah, it's real fucking dark. And again, and tonally it seems off from the the rest of the film. And you look at the character of Jen and you know, there have been plenty of films where individuals have been taken over and didn't really deserve it. But you know, this character specifically literally did nothing to deserve this. Like she just rode past the house on her bike. That's really all it is. She never went over to the tombstone. She didn't cause damage to it. She didn't steal anything. She didn't you know, kill somebody in the house. Like I'm trying to think of all the different scenarios, all the different setups that have had these kinds of like weird possession storylines. There's so many different ways you can take it. And she didn't do any of those things. She literally was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. And for her to be the most like docile of the group, you know, to be the most, Introverted of the three girls by far, I would say. For her to suffer this kind of fate just seems really cruel and sad. And I think it's like it's it's not necessarily a bad thing because for a film that I have a lot of gripes with, it l left me feeling a lot of emotions. And that's really surprising to me. But it is kind of disappointing just because I feel like the filmmakers. I don't feel like they really cared about their characters in this film. Like, nobody, I guess aside from Martin, nobody gets a happy ending here. As we're about to find out. There's another, there's there's a final moment here that's even more depressing. But specifically for the character Jennifer, like, I really would have expected that this would have maybe had more of a a ray of hope of some sort. you know, something because because this character's so innocent that there would be something that played out in her favor. Like after the demon was defeated, she comes back to life and they get her to the hospital. Something like that. You don't get that here. And it it feels Troy Escamilla: Mm-hmm. Roger: just so undeserved for her character. It did leave me feeling really sad. Troy Escamilla: Yeah, and that's the thing, right? For the for a film for the majority of its running time is is is definitely leaning into a college comedy, you know, and all and all that stuff. To have such a dark, like downbeat ending, I think it is what makes the movie a little bit more memorable than it probably should be, to be honest with you. I I don't think this movie would probably be remembered or have like the fan base it does, because it does have a fan base. If it wasn't for this ending, I really don't. because it goes dark. And yeah, I mean, so Jen's dead, and you get that moment of realization where Phoebe realizes what she did. And she's like, what did I do? My best friend, Jennifer, why Jennifer? Why Jennifer? And and Vivi's like, Well, maybe it's because she's the only one of us that didn't want to be here, and then you get and I I actually think this actress does a really fucking good job at this moment where she looks at Vivia. She's like, you shouldn't have done it, Vivia. You got him mad with all that haunting stuff. You raised a demon, Vivia. And then she does that thing where she looks up and she looks back down and she is she's now possessed. And she's like, You killed your best friend, Vivia. And it's it's just really fucking disturbing. And it's scary. It's creepy as fucking. Again, Vivia, this poor fucking Vivia, poor helpless Vivia. She's trying to back away. I I wan I wanna say, Roger, I wanna say luckily the police show up at this moment. I wanna say that, but you really can't, can ya? Roger: I mean, they handle this whole situation very poorly. Troy Escamilla: my Roger: They run in, obviously they they grab and detain Phoebe, who starts thrashing maniacally, like, get this girl in a straitjacket or something. But no, instead they just put her in the ambulance and wrap a towel around her and proceed to wheel poor Vivia who's shrieking at the top of her lungs, don't put me in there with her. Nobody's listening to her. And like it's like somebody acknowledge this poor woman. Especially when that girl was trying to attack the police moments ago. That you instantly should have separated the two. But no, they put her in the fucking ambulance with with crazy eyed Phoebe. And then they drive off into the night in the credits role. And like that's literally the end of the film. And I like the tone it ends on. It gave me, very much so gave me Mary Lou vibes. You know, the same kind of idea, like some two of the characters make it. And then they get in the vehicle and lo and behold, it's someone's possessed. Same thing here. And we've never talked about it, but whenever someone gets possessed, they have those great blue contacts. Troy Escamilla: Mm-hmm. Roger: and the visual of of of Vivia getting gurneyed into the ambulance and seeing Phoebe look down with those bright blue eyes. It's a cool visual. I guess there's something to be said about a film that is full of like lumps and bumps and hiccups along the way. But manages to knock out a really killer ending. Like that is worth acknowledging because the film ends stronger than it began. I'll say that. I mean, the opening is fun, but in the sense of like what it does to benefit the film, not like it really you could have cut out the opening 10 minutes and it has no impact on the rest of the movie in general. But the ending, like what they're building towards, I just wish that they would have given. Given that energy through the whole course of the film. I think they could have done so much more with the building and the development of the possession. Like with possession movies, the most of the fun is like learning that the person's possessed, Troy Escamilla: Hm. Roger: the signs and the symptoms. And like think of like the exorcist, all the little things that happen along the way that lead to the grand reveal. And here they just, they just held it. And held it and held it until very last minute. They're like shaking up the soda, shaking up the soda. Last minute they open it and then they let it explode all over. And it's great. But I just really wish that they would have cut out a lot of the excess. There's so much excess in this film and just really use that time to develop a stronger possession story. Troy Escamilla: I agree. Like I yeah, because we it well, apparently it is Alan, the kid who was killed in the sorority hazing, who is possessing everybody. And how he how is he such a like a I mean, this this is a fucking demon, Roger. This is a demon straight out of the exorcist or knight of the demons. This is that this is a gnarly d so how did Alan become that? I wanna know. but I mean, boy, I is that's I guess Roger: 'Cause he was working with the occult, Troy. There is one line about it, remember? Troy Escamilla: I guess he was playing with tarot cards and that's what's gonna happen. But I mean, and I just want Roger: Ha ha ha. Troy Escamilla: to every one of these fucking police officers and ambulance drivers need to lose their fucking job. Especially we're we're led to believe Vivio's killed because as the ambulance is driving away, she's screaming bloody murder. How why did they find they find the bodies? There are shots of them carrying the bodies out. So they know these kids they know there was a killer. They don't know who it was, they have no clue. But then they're shoving this poor woman who is screaming. Don't put me in there. Then shove her in there. I mean, it's it's horrible. But then you get that. This the other these are the best times of our lives. These are the b that's the song that plays over the closing credits, which I guess makes it a little bit more even just more disturbing or gut punchy. But I I mean g boy, this is an example. I I really think this is an example of an ending saving a film that would have been otherwise b blatantly forgettable. Blatantly forgettable. This is an example of the Did I want it to Yeah, I was gonna say I Roger: yeah. Yeah. I mean, whether you want it or not, what they do with it definitely elevates the material. Troy Escamilla: I was gonna say, do it did I did I want it to turn into a demonic possession film? No, absolutely not. Is a much better film because it did? absolutely. Roger: Yeah. Yeah. I really feel like they had concepts for like four different films and they just threw them all in a blender. Like they had like the the the the movie that opens it with the gay priest, the music video, a slasher, and a possession film, and they just threw it all together. And I'm like, we can make this into one movie. And it it definitely did not benefit the final product. and even like the poster, like we never talked about the poster, but talk about like some iconic imagery. But it also feels very like disconnected from what the film actually is. Like it's the image of the girl in like like what looks like a prom dress and then the skeletal hand wrapped around her. And it doesn't at all connect with the movie in general. So I just feel like there's a bunch of concepts floating around in this movie, and very few of them actually land properly. The only one that really does, shockingly enough, is the possession element, which final minutes. manages to land on its feet and it takes off running and it does get this film past the finish line. But I mean, there are several points where it's severely limped along the way, let's be real. Troy Escamilla: severely, severely. But yeah, you know, again, I'm I I'm glad I watched it again. I had I had memories of it. I mean, I think, you know, I knew I I know the ending is the most memorable part of the film. That's what I remembered blatantly going into this film, watching it for this review is like, we're gonna get to that ending. And I was just so curious to how you were going to view the direction that this film took. but yeah, there's some of it that's that's a chore, a little bit of a chore to get through. There's a whole hell of a lot of it that doesn't make a lot of sense. But Overall, I mean again if if you can make it through the first 45 minutes, or this is a what is it? It's not a 90-minute film. So if you can make it through the the first, f hour and 15 minutes, I I do think that this the the payoff is is worth it. it's a surprisingly dark film by the ending, and I wasn't expecting that. you do care about the characters, I think the three actresses particularly. in those final moments are all very strong and just really sell it and you it does hit you at an emotional level. So that's not that's something that's really hard to do for an AD slasher film. So I I do give it a lot of credit and I do think that this film is worth checking out solely for the ending. Again, it is a it's a film that the ending makes the movie. Roger: Well, I'm happy I saw it. I would probably watch it again, to be honest. Like it didn't leave me with that bad of an aftertaste in my mouth. If anything, I'm gonna just be excited to re revisit that goddamn White Sister music video because it's the only time I've ever seen them and it's the only time I ever will. I'm curious. I want to know what happened to those fuckers. And how much money do they put into this film to get it done? but yeah, no. Good times, weird movie. I understand why people have gripes with it. Well yeah, it's another one that I can check off the list and say, I've seen that movie around and now I've finally watched it. Thanks to you, Troy. Troy Escamilla: Awesome. Well, you know what? You know what the question my question's gonna be, are you giving me a movie for our next episode that I can check off my list or? Roger: I think the next one's gonna be a lot of fun. I think when I announce it, we're gonna know exactly what we're getting into. This is a film that is a it's a it's a killer creature feature, in the sense we're not saying creature is like monster, I'm saying like animals. Killer Troy Escamilla: Hmm. Roger: animals. notorious for using dochins dressed in the creature costumes to pull off the effects of what is. Giant rats killing people. It's notorious for having dochins in rat costumes, and that Troy Escamilla: Okay, I'm I'm intrigued. Roger: lured me in. We're watching Deadly Eyes, the 1982 killer rat feature. And yeah, no, it's notorious for having tiny dogs in rat costumes Troy Escamilla: Okay. Roger: attacking people. I can't fucking wait to watch this with you for. No, but I was lured in. Boy, was I lured in when I saw some footage of those doch. Troy Escamilla: Have you have you seen it? Okay. Okay. I I've never heard of it. Okay. this could be a fun one. we, you know, we've had a lot of fun with killer dogs before. Or I I guess these aren't killer dogs, but you we watched dog dogs, but so now we're moving from dogs to rats. And give me a doch and dress as a rat any day. That sounds like a fucking good time. I would, yeah. Ugh. Roger: any day of the week. Those are gonna be some long ass rats, but you know you know the game we're gonna be playing is gonna be Spot the Dochshine. Which shots Troy Escamilla: I can't wait. Roger: are actually doxins dressed as rats? I'm sure we're gonna know it when we watch Deadly Eyes. Troy Escamilla: Deadly Eyes. So, guys, you got a good one to look forward to. I think it's going to be a lot of fun just from the description. but yeah, that was Killer Party. Let us know your thoughts on Killer Party. Does the ending make the movie? Are you okay with the ending? Did you expect the ending? Like, I mean, this is a this is definitely a film that explores a lot of different genres, I guess. You know, trying to be a slasher, trying to be a college comedy, and then transcends into a very dark possession movie. So let us know your thoughts. Remember, we're on YouTube. Remember, give us a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts. Check out our Patreon. Thank you again, Carrie Cameron. And yeah, we'll be back next week with dochins, rat dochshans, rodent dochshans. I can't wait. Okay, Roger: Doctors with deadly eyes. Troy Escamilla: with that, guys, good night. Roger: Good night.