Three teenage thieves infiltrate a mansion dinner party secretly hosted by a serial killer cult for the social elite.
I interviewed director Chris von Hoffmann a few years back when he was promoting his then latest feature, a post-apocalyptic horror/thriller called “Drifter.” I enjoyed the movie and am delighted to see that Chris is moving up in the ranks of filmmaking as his latest horror, “Monster Party,” includes Hollywood favorites Robin Tunney and Julian McMahon. When I first saw the trailer, about three young thieves who rob houses during the day while their occupants are out and then decide to break into a sprawling mansion, only to become trapped by its inhabitants, it grabbed my interest. I genuinely thought the title referred to the homeowners who trap the young thieves, and that they would turn out to be werewolves or vampires or, quite literally, monsters. While they are not the aforementioned creatures, they are monsters in their own right, serial killers. Or should I say, former serial killers.
Casper (Sam Strike) and his two best friends, Dodge (Brandon Micheal Hall) and his girlfriend Iris (Virginia Gardner), are petty thieves who steal from empty houses during the day to help bankroll their escape from their boring existence. When Casper’s father succumbs to his gambling addiction and owes $10,000 to a local casino owner, Casper informs Dodge and Iris that their next job has to be bigger than any of their previous ones. When Iris tells him that she had agreed to help a friend serve cocktails and party platters at a luxurious, upper-class mansion in the hills, she brings Casper and Dodge along as help, with the intent of robbing them so Casper can pay off his father’s debt. When they arrive at the house and begin their assumed tasks, Casper sneaks away to find the occupants’ hidden safe but no sooner has he begun his search, all hell breaks loose and it is revealed that the inhabitants are serial killers. Granted, the once-a-month meeting is the equivalent of an AA gathering, where each individual talks about their struggles to stay clean and kill-free but when one of them snaps and kills one of our three hapless protagonists, the remaining two must figure out a way to escape, without falling victim themselves.
The premise, overall, is pretty intriguing and for the most part, the cast does well with their respective roles. Both Robin Tunney and Julian McMahon do not disappoint but our lead hero, Casper, played by Sam Strike, is the film’s one weakness. Admittedly, he is a thief and steals from innocent people so he already has us rooting against him from the get-go but a stronger actor could have buried themselves in the role and had the audience cheering for him when he finally gets to perform some pretty cool heroic deeds but as it stands, you find yourself opting instead for the serial killers as they seem to be having much more fun with their parts. Overall, “Monster Party” manages to take a very formulaic horror trope and for the most part, turns it on its head but by the time the last act rolls around, it succumbs to conventional territory and takes what good it achieved earlier, and flushes it down the toilet.
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