'Murder Party': Underrated Halloween Must-Watch

TV&Film

Nov 11

Halloween has come and gone once again, and you're left with the discarded wrappers of discounted candy, searching for the perfect thriller movie to watch. You've seen every Halloween movie at least twice now, the next Saw film won't be out until next year, and every ghost movie is starting to meld and mesh together. One may start to wonder, "Isn't there any Halloween movie that I haven't seen already? I'm not ready to give up the ghost and let Santa Claus spread his holly-jolly cheer where my jack-o-lantern used to be!"

Fortunately for you, one Halloween movie may have slipped under your radar. Murder Party, a 2007 indie comedy-thriller, is the perfect movie to help celebrate the holiday, or at least what’s left of it.

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The film takes place, naturally, on Halloween, as a lonely man named Christopher finds an invitation to the "Murder Party", which he assumes is a Halloween party. When his cat gets in the way of a horror movie marathon (yes, really), he crafts himself a makeshift cardboard outfit and heads to the location on the invite, wanting to see what the "Murder Party" is all about. Little does he know that the name is a lot more literal than initially expected.

Unlike most other thrillers, where the villain is some psychotic killer with no ulterior motive but to kill or seek vengeance, the antagonists of Murder Party are written much differently and creatively. Christopher is captured by a group of rather immature, unintelligent, costume-clad art students, who only seek to kill him so that they may receive an art grant from an equally pretentious rich kid and his creepy, drug-dealing (and pierogi-selling) assailant.

While everyone's random outbursts and threats to kill Christopher can be tense at times, there's no denying an air of self-awareness in the actions and dialogue of every character. It helps that none of these characters are inherently witty, intelligent, or even physically powerful. Everyone is a human through and through, and not some terrible unthinking creature without morals.

Don't let this film catch you off guard, however. It likes to bide its time with humorous and entertaining interactions between the characters before showing just what scares and twists the film is capable of. The practical effects, while gruesome, are still somewhat cheesy, and only add to the over-the-top nature of Murder Party that makes it all the more enjoyable. Each chase and death scene is set up almost as if it were a gruesome slapstick routine, albeit with the added bonus of consequence and realism as the punchline. Hilarious!

Each scene in Murder Party is set up and timed perfectly, leaving plenty of room for both screams and laughs. Every character is memorable in some shape or form, even though most of the cast wants to "artistically express" themselves with the protagonist's corpse. The writing is fun and self-aware but knows how to progress the story without meandering for too long, and the production quality is very top-notch for an indie film in 2007.

If you're still looking for a fun, yet tense Halloween slasher flick to indulge in before setting up your Christmas tree, then Murder Party is definitely for you. While it isn't easy to come across a physical copy of the movie, it's still widely available on a large number of streaming services, including YouTube, Amazon Prime, Vudu, and PlutoTV. So pull up a seat with a big bowl of your favorite candy, and give it a watch! If your cat hasn't already taken your seat from you, that is...

Final Rating: 9/10

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