Death Party

Credit to American video streaming services for picking up foreign movies, but this was a fairly unremarkable one - a by-the-numbers slasher. Characters were mostly indistinguishable. Motive was a common one for the subgenre. Police and security presence for a huge party seemed unrealistically small, particularly with one death after another. Some credit for the deaths, but when that's the main thing a horror movie has in its favor, that's disappointing.

You know that feeling, when you're trying to really like a movie, especially in order to encourage foreign cinema, but whatever you do, it's just not working out? Well, Party Hard Die Young is the perfect example of such a situation, because it goes by the book, a book written many decades ago, and it sticks to it page by page without any courage whatsoever in order to show some originality.

After minute 25 it was easy to anticipate exactly what was going to happen, and I got that right by the letter, something that others will do the same for sure, especially if they are horror fans. Anyway, the acting wasn't bad, the dialogue could have been improved, but the execution, the reveal, all of these were elements I've seen too many times before.

It is rather hard to recommend Party Hard Die Young because it is a weak versions of far better movies, so I do believe you could look elsewhere and find something more entertaining. You could even try Cut Off 2018, that one manages to deliver some mystery and tension to it.

Cheers!

Hundreds of European teens spend summer break partying on a small Croatian island, including a group of friends and classmates from am Austrian school, who are hunted down by a mysterious killer. Since the invention of cellphones you have to be quite creative to make a slasher film. This is where I have a problem with this movie, there were a few instances when the victims could have easily called or texted for help yet the reason for not doing so were quite lame . The movie was also a bit too talky. Yet, I think it was not that bad as there are dozens of horrible modern slashers out there, this one was engaging, with creative kills and not too bad acting!

So why shouldn't Austria make a horror movie that is filled with cliches and should make you as a viewer cringe almost all the way through? Does the question sound like an insult? It really was not meant to be. Just stating what is apparent. And as you can see by my score/rating, I didn't mind as much as others probably do.

So while some characters act like they don't remember what they did (last summer), there is at least one person who obviously does remember. Sceam if you can - be it of joy or just because you feel like it. Or just because you're getting the references. Predictable and all that - the real question is though: do you care?

Shudder's latest entry is a lackluster mix of 90s slasher cliches. Although it has some good ideas as well as some creepy moments. It's a little dragged out with one note characters and performances. In fact the best thing about it is the stylish way it's shot. It's plot is simple as a group of friends do something naughty and pay for it a year later. I wish I could say something solid about it but its just not great, it is however not awful just overly mediocre.

5/10