Party Night

source: Party Night

A few notes for the director, just in case he is wondering why his movie is so awful: Don't hire a bunch of 35-year-old actors to play teenagers. You need to learn the difference between handheld camerawork and 'shake the camera for no reason'. Suspense is not built by filming outside in the bright midday sun. People standing talking for an entire scene is lazy, unimaginative and boring. Music should complement the picture, not contradict it. Making multiple cuts back and forth during the same shot is absolutely pointless. Visuals and sound need to be captured on something better than your phone. The actors shouldn't laugh at every line, especially when nothing funny has been said. A prom usually has more than six people at it. Three pretty girls won't usually date three ugly guys. When driving at night, most people use headlights to light their way. Those points apply to the first 20 mins of the movie. I gave up making notes after that :)

Wasn't the greatest movie but had a good storyline. The killer was cool just wish I knew more about the character and who he was. The acting was pretty bad but overall still watchable. Pretty good practical effects.

Heading to a special after-party, a group of friends arrive at a secluded cabin in the woods for a special after-prom party only to find the area being stalked by a ravenous killer who begins to kill them off one-by-one and must find a way to stop him and get away from the house alive. This one wasn't all that bad of a low-budget slasher. One of the main positives here is the rather solid homage to the old-school slasher setups that are usually featured here. The general setup of the group heading out into the middle of the woods for a secluded party no one knows about and coming across the killer hunting in the area serves as the usually fun setup that emerges here as the to-the-point storyline and shorter running time keeps this quite heavily in line with that style. That, in turn, leads into the other big aspect to like here with the slashing scenes which typically take on the quick and brutal style. From the opening spree murders that set the film up, to the deaths around the cabin that spring up and feature them finding the killer taking them out which forces them to engage in several confrontations with him around the cabin which has some fun encounters. Preparing the way for the final girl chase around the cabin finding all the dead bodies left around for the final confrontation, these here are all that really hold this one up. Among the first problem here is the utter ridiculous storyline that offers up no real sense at all. The idea of the group of kids going to a cabin in the woods that a friend owns the night after prom lets out is such a goofy premise for these kinds of genre efforts and really stretches the kind of incredulity already when it covers their lack of a party that concerns ridiculously petty teenage problems since this weak idea doesn't really work well enough to last for a feature-length idea. Lastly, the film is so cheaply made that it's nearly impossible to take this seriously in the slightest. The sound is so hard to hear that it's at times impossible to pick out what's being said, the general look and feel of the cabin speaks highly to the idea of just having used public property without permission and the special effects in total are just cringeworthy. The blood is about the consistency of colored water, trickles out like water and resembles food-coloring while the less said about the decapitation the better. These are what really hold this one back the most. Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, a mild sex scene, and underage drinking.

This is the absolute worst horror movie I have ever seen. You could have at least made it look more real when killing people. Totally not worth my time watching this movie. My 5 year old nephew could have done a better job filming this movie blindfolded. So disappointed. Never will I watch again. Totally sucked even the blood didnt look real and the cute you could see the bandage you put on their necks.

Shot in sixteen days and funded through Kickstarter, Party Night is a love letter to low budget slasher flicks of the 80's and already I feel at risk of swallowing my own tongue. I usually hate this kind of pandering because often it's just a painful reminder cynical and cannibalistic nature of contemporary pop culture or it's simply the product a couple of horror fanboys unable to even spell the word accessible. Party Night has these homage elements, but they are so minute, they are barely worth of note. I don't know whether inexperience or keen instinct was at play, but writer/director Troy Escimalla did the right thing and made a fully authentic, contemporary version of the film's that inspired him. Party Night is short and sweet and cheap. It relies on two things, it's cast, who have great chemistry together and who all deliver unexpectedly organic performances, and it's brutal kills which cover up the frugality with an ostensibly cruel tone. There are no latex explosions here, but then again, this film never feels like an unintentional parody. A firm grasp is kept on mood and pace and honestly, that is the kind of directorial wariness that separates the men from the boys. In conclusion, I'm glad to say that Party Night has one hell of a misleading one sheet and is not an insufferable fan film that overstays its welcome with the tagline. There's form, there's tact, there's surprisingly good acting. The time flew passed as i watched this and yes that does have something to do with the running time being seventy minutes, but I can clearly imagine myself sitting through another twenty as the characters were just that likable and the suspense was that tangible. I would definitely recommend this one.

I checked this film out on Amazon Prime and it was a fun short 1 hour 10 minute ride. The acting is decent and while this isn't "horrifying" it's a fun throwback slasher flick that does what it sets out to do which is entertain. I'm interested to see what else the director has to offer with his other films.

Working as a bit of tribute to the slashers of the 1980s, writer/director Troy Escamilla's Party Night gives much more. His use of character developing dialogue makes for well rounded characters that the audience can care about. His actors are all very talented and their chemistry with each other can't be denied. Of course, this film does deliver the goods that we all want from this type of film. The death scenes are well executed with enough of the red stuff to satisfy slasher film fans.

The acting was the worst, very forced. There is no chemistry between the couples. A pet peeve for me is when people don't use curtains like the girls in this movie, they got undressed in front of window. One of them sees a guy outside, but no one believes her or wants to leave. It was only an hour and ten minutes, but that was too long for this movie. The killer takes down 3 guys that could be football players, without a problem, but gets ended by a a petite girl in a prom dress. Also, the blood looked like pizza sauce and sauce they used was way too watery coming out of there necks. Truly a bad movie all around. Don't watch this movie.

Party Night attempts to emulate the body-count slashers of the '80s, wherein a group of carefree teens are gorily sliced and diced by a masked maniac, the grisly special effects being the real stars of the movie. A strong plot isn't a necessity just so long as the blood flows (the more creative the death, the better), and at least one of the actresses gets nekkid to take a shower and/or have sex. Writer/director Troy Escamilla follows this simple template with a generic plot about three high school couples driving to a remote lake house to hold their own private post-prom party only to be attacked one-by-one by a murderous masked maniac wielding a machete. However, he fails to deliver when it comes to the kills and the nudity: while bloody, the slayings are dull and repetitive, and all we get in the way of T&A is one actress in her underwear and a coy sex scene in which the girl keeps her bra on. Worse still, when the killer isn't at work, his intended victims spend most of their time bickering or playing cards, which isn't exactly fun. With no scares, zero atmosphere, and an ending that leaves the viewer none the wiser about the identity of the killer or their motive, Party Night is a weak addition to the slasher genre.