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Hidden Halloween Favorite: ‘Murder Party’

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Murder Party

Years before the successes of Blue Ruin and Green Room, Jeremy Saulnier made a quiet debut with Murder Party, a horror comedy that saw a handful of midnight screenings on October 12, 2007, before releasing onto DVD on October 16, 2007. Without any fanfare or buzz upon release, Murder Party slipped by unnoticed for years before amassing a cult following. Which meant that Saulnier never earned back the money he put into making the film, and went back to his day job before amassing the funds to make Blue Ruin. Since Blue Ruin was a completely different type of film, Saulnier and star Macon Blair understandably distanced themselves temporarily from their comedic first feature, further relegating Murder Party to the shadows. Murder Party may not have the nail-biting intensity of its later siblings, but it’s twisted sense of humor, balls to the wall climax, and its holiday theming makes for a fun modern Halloween classic.

Murder Party

The plot is simple; milquetoast Christopher finds an invite on the street entitled “Murder Party.” With no other Halloween plans, and his cat Lancelot hogging his favorite chair, he constructs a knight costume out of cardboard and bakes pumpkin bread with raisins as a gift to the host and heads on his way to Brooklyn. He finds himself at a nondescript warehouse on a deserted street, and is greeted by a group of art students, all shocked that anyone bothered to show up to their party. Why? Because the sole reason for this particular Halloween shindig is to murder the unsuspecting guest for the sole sake of impressing a wealthy art patron into gifting them with a grant.

The art students go all out too, in terms of both murder preparations and Halloween costumes. There’s Paul the gothic vampire, Macon the werewolf, Sky the undead cheerlead, Lexi as Pris from Blade Runner, and Bill dressed as a Baseball Fury from The Warriors. If the name Macon gave you pause, it’s because he’s played by Macon Blair, already showing promise of stardom as the lovelorn fool with an obvious crush on disinterested Lexi. In fact, nearly every single character on screen borrows their actor’s moniker. It’s the first overt sign that this was a film fueled by blood, sweat, and tears among friends and family.

Everyone on screen pulls double duty in some way, with Macon Blair and Chris Sharm, the lead actor, also serving as executive producers. Sharp is also credited as a costumer for his cardboard knight. Well deserved, too, I might add. Murder Party is one that became a regular Halloween watch for me, and I’ve spent enough of those viewings wondering if I could construct a cardboard knight costume nearly as well made (I doubt it). The low budget also meant some ballsy moves during production. Like the needles used in the scene of ultimate truth or dare involving shots of Sodium Pentothal? Actual hypodermic needles filled with saline were used. Talk about taking method acting to a new level.

What Green Room did for the underground punk scene Murder Party does for pretentious art students. Saulnier always seems to be able to keep his finger on the pulse of a subculture, and his debut was no different. Save for some extremely comical situations, like Sky’s severe non-organic raisin allergy, the movie almost lulls you into thinking you’ve put on a sort of mumblecore comedy. That is until near fatal accidents pile up, harmful truths are revealed, the dog gets ahold of the drugs, and someone finally reaches their homicidal mass murder breaking point- all while poor Christopher is caught in the middle.

Hyper-violence and a glorious bloodbath make for one of the most fun final acts, with a satisfying conclusion to Christopher’s venture out on Halloween night. I’m with you, Christopher, perhaps staying home with horror movies and candy corn is a better plan.

Horror journalist, RT Top Critic, and Critics Choice Association member. Co-Host of the Bloody Disgusting Podcast. Has appeared on PBS series' Monstrum, served on the SXSW Midnighter shorts jury, and moderated horror panels for WonderCon and SeriesFest.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

LEPRECHAUN

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

LEPRECHAUN RETURNS sequel

Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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