VICIOUS FUN (2020)
Horror comedy takes place in 1983 with horror magazine writer, Joel (Evan Marsh) crushing on his hot roommate Sarah (Alexa Rose Steele). A jealous Joel decides to follow her new boyfriend Bob (Ari Millen) and tails him to a bar and restaurant. There he befriends and questions Bob, who eventually leaves with a young woman, while Joel soon passes out drunk. Upon awakening, he finds himself in a bizarre twelve step meeting, at the restaurant, for what turns out to be a bunch of serial killers. Joel is mistaken for one of their number, until Bob joins in and outs him. Now Joel becomes their next intended victim until he finds an unexpected ally, when one of the psychos turns out to be a killer with a grudge against killers
Flick is directed by Cody Calahan from a script by James Villeneuve. It starts out to be a lot of bloody fun, as we first get introduced to this bunch of various serial murderers and then when Bob shows up to out Joel and the blood and body parts start to fly. It’s the second act that really hurts this flick as a change of locations to a police station, grinds the momentum and bloody fun to a halt. A lot of time is wasted with Joel and his new ally sitting in jail cells as the moronic police try to pin the bodies at the restaurant on them. It’s not until the third act, when Bob, along with remaining killers, the Jason-like Mike (Robert Maillet) and the Gacy-like Fritz (Julian Richings) attack the police station to finish their work. The film is fun from here on in, but never really fully recovers from the dead weight of the middle. The cast are all good and get the sarcastic tone of the material and there is plenty of blood, guts and action, when killers, cops and prey all collide. It’s just a slow mid-section that really keeps this from being a consistent delight from start to finish. Also stars David Koechner as the session leader, Sean Baek as cannibal Hideo, Amber Goldfarb as female killer Carrie and has a great 80s-esque electronic score by Steph Copeland. Worth a watch on Shudder, but not the complete blast it could have been with a little trimming in the second act.
-MonsterZero NJ
MonsterZero NJ's Movie Madhouse 