[Spoilers Ahead]
There's a lot of heart in Jeremy Saulnier's Murder Party. It's easy to recognize that this was a film he cared deeply about making. And there are moments when it feels like Martin Scorsese's After Hours (1985) but with psychopathic, homicidal art students. I love the central idea of the film: a hapless guy unwittingly goes to a "party" run by a bunch of aspiring artists who want to murder him in the most creative way possible in order to secure a grant from their sociopathic patron. I love how the protagonist spends most of the movie tied to a chair while the villains ruin (and occasionally kill) each other due to their own stupidity. But Murder Party is in desperate need of another screenplay draft. About halfway through the film screeches to a halt while the villains play a game of "extreme truth or dare" which I suppose was meant to be funny, but in reality just feels like needless padding. I know that with this type of horror/comedy there can be considerable leeway with regard to plot holes. But here is a film where the central conflict is watching a stupid plan spectacularly fall apart in ridiculous, jaw-dropping ways. Good plotting is essential. Lingering questions like "Where Did the Invitation Come From" and "How Could Alexander Afford a Russian Hit-man/Drug Dealer if He's a Shmuck from New Jersey" are unacceptable.
6/10
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