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I first saw this in 2007 on a dvd which I own. Revisited it recently. Considering the budget n the team's inexperience, flaws can be overlooked n the last 30 mins will compensate the initial 50 mins boredom. It is about a loner n depressed guy living alone with his cat named Sir Lancelot. The guy wants to watch a horror film on a Halloween night but his cat doesn't get up from his chair n so our guy goes out to a private party uninvited after finding the invitation card on the road, unknown to him that the hosts has plans to murder the guy for some art collection. Nothing happens for 50 mins but the last 30 mins is full of bloodbath and hilarity.

I stumbled across 'Murder Party' last night on Netflix and thought it looked worth a watch. It was apparent pretty early on that this was filmed with a very low budget (the trivia section claims it was made with "no money"). The actors were unrecognisable, the sets were reasonably basic and there were not going to be any special effects at any point in the film clearly. None of that means it can't be a good film however. Hell, look at Kevin Smith's 'Clerks' for proof.

The director of 'Murder Party' has gone on to make some very well received horror/thriller films, so it very cool to see where he, Jeremy Saulnier, got his start. There are some elements to the film that would indicate there was class behind the camera. A lot of the dialogue is quite intriguing and surprisingly well written (a must for a low-budget film). Also considering the budget the horror scenes that feature later in the film were very well created. The film is short at only 80 minutes and even then feels like it could have shaved 15-20 minutes off. The pacing in the first half of the film is a slight issue. Also I wouldn't have minded seeing a more creative ending. All in all though this is a watchable enough film if you stumble across it on Netflix late one night.

A man picks up a piece of paper blowing around on the street which turns out to be an invitation to a "murder party". Being rather lonely he takes up the invitation and soon finds he will be the subject of the murder.

From here things get strange and sometimes quite humorous.

It's certainly worth a look and you won't feel you've wasted your time.

This was a movie that I was turned on to as I saw one of the writer/director's later films Green Room. I really dug what we had going on there, so through podcasts I learned about this one and added it to my list. I did come in relatively blind to just see what this was all about and thankfully, it is streaming on Netlix. The synopsis is a random invitation to a Halloween party leads a man into the hands of a rogue collective intent on murdering him for the sake of their art, sparking a bloodbath of mishap, mayhem and hilarity.

The movie kicks off establishing that it is Halloween. We have Christopher S. Hawley (Chris Sharp) renting a few horror VHS tapes before heading home. On his way he finds an invitation moving down the sidewalk in the wind. He picks it up and opens it, learning that he's been invited to something called 'Murder Party'. He takes it home with him. It is there he discovers that his jack-o-lantern has been smashed. He goes inside to settle in for the night. There's a funny scene where he goes to his chair to watch a movie and his cat, Sir Lancelot (Puff Snooty), won't get down. I like this being an intriguing way to establish that his cat doesn't respect him so people in life probably don't either.

Chris then decides to go this party. We learn this through him baking pumpkin bread with raisins from his smashed jack-o-lantern and then building a costume out of a cardboard box, which he makes into a sweet knight costume. He then heads out.

Things then take a turn though when he arrives. In the room is Macon (Macon Blair) who has a werewolf mask, Lexi (Stacy Rock) who is doing cocaine, Sky (Skei Saulnier), Paul (Paul Goldblatt) who is a vampire and Bill (William Lacey) who has the best costume as one of the Baseball Furies from The Warriors. They're shocked that someone shows up and they tie up Chris. This is a legit murder party and they're going to kill this unsuspecting guy.

The reason being is that Alexander (Sandy Barnett) is coming. He is a rich guy with a grant and all of these people are artists. They want that money as it could be life changing for them. Paul is a photographer and Bill is a painter. The movie really establishes what their mediums are while Lexi does movies that are art-based. Sky doesn't want to do this now that they have Chris, but things take a turn though when she eats some of the bread he brought and she has an allergic reaction, hitting her head which kills her. This group of people is pretentious and their secrets come out when Alexander and his drug dealer, Zycho (Bill Tangradi) shows up. It has some lethal results as buttons are pushed. They're not used to what their doing, so it is also bumbling and comedy follows.

As I lead this off, I didn't really know what I was getting into. I do have to give Saulnier credit. He didn't waste any time in introducing us to the characters or getting into what is going on here. I think a lot of that is the movie only runs 79 minutes and he really doesn't waste any of that time. It can be tough when you don't have a lot of characters like we do here, but all of them get fleshed out and I can tell you something about each one.

What makes this even better, none of these people are really killers. Sky is accidentally killed and the group really panics on what to do. They could just call the police, but you can't as there's a bunch of drugs and they have Chris tied up, as what happens to Sky is an accident. They all really want this grant, so they can't do anything that could scare off Alexander. He's a real jerk though and I love the reveal of his character. I don't think it is anything that is too shocking, especially with how he acts. It is just interesting though that they all fell for it.

Chris is also an interesting character for me. He really is tied up and gagged for most of the movie. Seeing what these people are saying they're going to do to him, his fear is growing where his fight or flight reflexes eventually come into effect. I like that when he gets his chance though, it is very realistic. The movie doesn't make him into this badass who just mows through everyone and I like it. I also like two of the characters in this collective are pushed to the edge until they break. What each does is different, but again quite believable.

I've already said that I thought the pacing was good here so the other thing I want to bring up would be that even when it slows in the middle to establish more of the characters, there are subtle things going on. The comedy here is pretty subtle as well so it really doesn't hurt like many tend to do for me. This movie does get wild when Chris gets free and where it ends up. I wasn't necessarily expecting that, but I will say I dug it. Pretty much every character has a reveal or growth and I can get down with that as well.

The acting really drives this movie though as the story isn't complex. If anything, it is all of the characters' stories are complex. Sharp does really well at being this bumbling guy that I felt bad for. He doesn't really have any friends, his cat doesn't respect him and due to his loneliness he went to this party, where he's going to be killed and no one is going to even really know. What makes it great though is the change that comes over his character and where it ends up. Blair was really good as the artist that is in love with Lexi, but she's not interested and he's just trying to impress her. What happens to him in the end was interesting for sure. Rock is extremely pretentious, but there's something about her that I found attractive. Goldblatt is a bit obviously and also a bisexual which plays into something interesting in the movie. Lacey was one of my favorite characters as he's not very engaged until the climax and I love where his breaking point takes him. Barnett is another interesting character along with his drug dealer Tangradi. Also shout-out to Hellhammer who is portrayed by Sampson Saulnier as a cute dog in a skeleton outfit.

That will take me next to the effects here. Something I give a lot of praise for Saulnier is the use of practical ones. Now some of this could actually be due to budgetary reasons, so if that is the case then, I'm glad he's working within those constraints. This movie doesn't use a lot of them as a good portion of it is hidden so there's that. These people aren't actually killers so they're working up to what they're trying to do. I thought through good cinematography, it is hidden and what is shown looked real. This includes something that happens at the end to Macon that looked really good and the climax I was on board with. The blood looks real with color and consistency for sure.

Now with that said, I ended up really digging this movie. It doesn't have the most complex story, but it is character driven and I think they're all pretty fleshed out with things that we see or through interactions with each other. It has a low runtime, which I think definitely helps. I thought the performances bring their characters to life. I would say there's not a lot in the way of effects, but it didn't necessarily need them as what we got looks good. The soundtrack didn't really stand out, but it fit for what was needed and it never took me out of the movie. I would rate that this is above average and I could see the beginnings of what I like about this director for sure.



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There's nothing I love more than big casts getting caught up in shenanigans. This film is exactly that, just all in the process of some art school rejects trying to film a snuff film. Character dynamics are really fun, Russian drug dealer ups the antics, pets with silly names, and more! It's a relaxed watch for sure, and not one that'll scare you. Overall, a good time.

Granted I gave it 10 stars, but I have no affiliation with this production. However I did go to UCLA Fine Art and WOW these guys hit the art scene on the belly button, jabbing Rabies needle right through, and into the inside of your spine! This film cracked me up, from beginning to end, it has a Jim Jarmusch feel to it in some spots, and lots of great indy, almost short film artsy fartsiness to it, but hits them all with great satire and loathing. I almost feel, like the adjoining film & art buildings at UCLA, that these guys film school was next to the euro hippy liberal art scene I was stuck in. And they fed off of and were tortured by no doubt. I can see now, how both artistes & film makers probably looked at each other like the grass is greener... only it's illegal and not bucolic.

I got that turn around pass at Blockbuster so I can rent dvds just as fast as I can watch them, thusly most dvds don't get past 7 minutes, but this will be one of those rare DVDs I will buy! And it will fit in with my fond memories of those KRAZY DAZE & KRAZY NIGHTS. Along with Mystery Train, Wild at Heart, the Moderns, School Daze, etc... it really hits a chord and made me crack up! The humor was awesome, biting, real, and so... well awesomely lame. Just like it was...is...shall ever be.

Great job guys, I hope you made a profit, to make your next.

Well done. Not just a horror movie that gets laughs from the horror gags. The humor was steady throughout, if you like dark comedy. I found the story to be refreshing as it doesn't "keyframe" its story with cliché. Whether it be Hollywood formula, cinematic guidelines, director's guild tribal knowledge, or actor's schizophrenia, this movie doesn't rely on these tried and true methods. It's shock value is in the twist of fate scenario(s), and the absurdity of human behavior.

The gore content was only at a level as what was necessary, not over the top. Some may disagree here, but think about all the zombie movies. Okay, the "art" room may have been a little graphic, emphasizing "little", but it was... "art", eh? Even the attempted gore had humorous tones. I didn't laugh out loud... but it was funny!

For those of you who like dark comedy, horror movies and action, and want something new and refreshing, watch Murder Party.

Oh, yeah, after watching it you'll learn that even a "cat" will understand that the master has had a really, really bad day.

I decided to watch this on Netflix earlier, and I'm glad I did. This movie was random, fun, quirky and bloody. Very intriguing for a low budget independent film.

The movie takes place on Halloween. It's about a guy named Chris Hawley, who happens to find an invitation to a 'Murder Party' while walking down the street. He dresses in a pretty bad cardboard costume and goes to the party. Pretty soon, he's tied up and all the hosts want to kill him. He sits there half the time, making weird faces while the party goers drink and do drugs. It's so interesting and random and quirky that I really enjoyed it. If you want a funny bloody Halloween flick, I would definitely recommend MURDER PARTY!!!

MURDER PARTY is a supposed spoof of slasher movies, thrillers where people are held hostage as well as a vehicle for poking fun at art generally.

The plot sees Chris, a somewhat lonely guy who lives alone with a cat, finding an invitation to a murder party. He makes a very ridiculous Sir Lancelot costume from cardboard boxes and goes to the party, which is held at a warehouse. There is no party and Chris finds himself trapped by a group of deranged drug addicts who plan to kill him and film the act.

The first few minutes of the movie were quite good and suitably misleading for what is to follow. There was nothing funny but Chris was an interesting character to start with. He would have been great in a different movie.

By the time he gets to the party, things go downhill quickly. This would have been better if made as a serious horror/thriller since its attempts to be funny come off as downright ridiculous or plain bizarre.

Chris Sharp plays the lead role very well. His reactions were well captured. In a more serious production, I would have been rooting for his character. But with this being a parody, I knew he was never in serious danger of harm.

The remaining actors are all terrible, either underacting or overacting in various degrees.

Most of this movie takes place in a single setting - a warehouse. There is nothing wrong with this - if the story and script play out well. Unfortunately they do not. The deranged drug addicts just talk a lot of endless nonsense about art and film whilst Chris is gagged and tied to a chair. Some scenes carry on like this for 10 minutes or more, making the modest running time drag out somewhat.

The direction is very much along the lines of parodies such as SCARY MOVIE. The gags are telegraphed in advance, the attempts at humour are massively overplayed, there is comic music in the background when Chris tries to escape and there are some incredibly silly special effects.

I am a fan of "so-bad-it's-good" movies such as CAMP BLOOD, THE NAIL GUN MASSACRE, TROLL 2, DON'T GO IN THE WOODS and CHOPPING MALL just to name a few. Comparing these laugh riots to MURDER PARTY proves that humour deriving from a serious subject only works when it is UNINTENTIONAL.

Overall, MURDER PARTY is a seriously unfunny movie that has one interesting thing about it - the main character. It is hard to recommend this to anyone, except for perhaps fans of SCARY MOVIE or other intentional spoofs. For everyone else, I advise keeping to established serious horror or go with "so-bad-it's-good" classics.

The Plot.

On Halloween Eve in Brooklyn, an average Joe loser named Chris finds an invitation to a costume party.

Arriving at the "party", Chris discovers he's fallen prey to the lethal trap set by deranged artists.

As the night wears on, rivalries within the group flare up.

A body count accrues, and Chris must take advantage of the ensuing chaos if he's to survive the night.

Plow budget but it works. Yes, the story sort of doesn't make sense all that much, but they make it interesting and so you're willing to stick it out to see what happens!

My quick rating 5,6/10. Fun yet very bizarre movie that follows a group that plans a murder party and drops a random invite on the street not really expecting anyone to show up to be killed, for real all in the name of "art" THe movie is basically humor, then drug induced inside jokes, then a complete full on blood bath. It is constant misfortune, turn of events, and strange coincidence that leads the whole story. Overall pretty damn funny and worth the watch. I personally had not sen this one before and glad I now did. Check it out if you get a chance. Just a small warning, the drug part of the movie drags on WAY too long. Beyond that, the gore makes up for it.

Without a doubt the absolut worst movie i have ever watched.

Accepting a strange party invitation, a middle-aged man finds that the event is really a ruse by a group of psychopaths intending to kill him only to continually thwart their attempts in the process and has to save himself from the remaining group finishing what they started.

This could've been quite the fun and enjoyable effort. What really tends to give this one a lot to work with is the exceptionally silly and goofy premise at the forefront of this one. The general concept of their ruse makes for a fun twist that's given right at the beginning of the film and the utterly cheesy premise has a lot of time to really work itself out with plenty of crazy encounters featuring him at the mercy of the group. The initial scenes of him mingling about the group where he's unaware of what they're going to do to him as they begin getting really obscure and off-the-wall makes for an overall stellar start to the film. As well, the way this quickly delves into the bonkers territory with their games and torture tactics which has a sense of unease in what's going on as they go through their routines and games with him which is where this one does slip somewhat but still has enough overt weirdness about it to really generate some fun times with their treatment of him setting up the film's best aspects in the final half. Consisting of a series of chases around not only their captive warehouse but also the neighboring art installation which ramps up the gore nicely but also has some thrilling action overall. Given that there's a lot of stellar gore and bloodshed, this here really makes for quite a fun time while it does have a few minor problems. The film's main issue is that it tends to downplay its stellar premise from the get- go with the idea of basically strapping him down in a chair for the main part of the film. He doesn't have much to do for almost nearly an hour into this and then has just slightly more to do than that in the overall finale so he really could've been written out of the film and not changed it much. That really does lower this one significantly since he doesn't do anything and has nothing to do with the story overall, rendering him somewhat useless than what should've been the case. As well, most of that is due to the film's other big issue with the really banal and overlong round of interviewing they go through which takes up so much time to accomplish nothing but irritation as nothing happens during these countless sessions and manages to drag this out with it's meandering and utterly unnecessary moments which are unneeded in the end. As well as the somewhat obvious low-budget nature of the film, these here are what really lower this one.

Rated R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence and heavy drug use.

Seriously, this is far from a 6, let alone a 9 or 10. I read one review that said they were hooked within the first 5 minutes. Literally nothing happens in the first 5 minutes. The main character pours some candy corn in a bowl, tries to get his cat to move so he can sit down and makes pumpkin bread. Which I've never even heard of but sounds gross. Especially with raisins. Then decides to go to a party that he found an invitation to on the ground. Then the movie goes downhill from there. I never write reviews on here but I felt the need to show the makers they need to have some integrity and let the people decide whether the movie is good or not. Which it's not. And I'm a little angry for wasting my time with it after reading the misleading reviews.

I liked the film for what it is: A spooky horror-comedy romp that plays on the pretentiousness of artists in a really campy sort of way. It had some good goods and gaffs and I enjoyed the characters, though some of the acting was a little cheese (what are you gonna do? This is horror, people). It leans a little more towards comedy at times than horror, but the last 25 minutes or so is pure bloody fun. I'd watch this again as Halloween viewing with friends and wouldn't be worried that they would hate me for picking a bad movie which is really all I can ask for.

Really can't compliment this movie enough considering it's no doubt tight budget constraints. The last scrappy indie movie to come up with a smart concept and execute it this well was Blair Witch. Quite refreshing to see a low budget "genre" picture that's actually well-made and delivers the goods. Filmmakers were smart about locations (Brooklyn industrial areas) and using Halloween night in NYC as a backdrop. Very nicely shot, well-edited, but above all it's the acting that makes this movie stand out. Has both broad and subtle humor and it's a lot of fun. Expect creators behind this production to go on to do other bigger and better things.

Overall, I enjoyed this. The characters are pretty funny and so is a good amount of the movie.

But the mid section and the end kinda drag without many jokes or action.

Probably would've made a better short film. I'd say 30 minutes or so could've been cut and the movie would've been better for it. Still worth a watch though!

The film which is Jeremy Saulnier's first feature film and 3rd film including 2 short films he made prior is actually not bad!

It tried to be what it wanted, a hilarious comedy with alot of gore and it succeeded. I love films where the main killers are humans cause it adds to the realism.

The protagonist on his own is an interesting one. A dimwit and a coward. We usually don't see those types of protagonists but Murder Party really made you feel bad for the guy despite him having very little lines.

The costumes for the killers are references and they are pretty cool!

7/10