CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (3/31/20): DUDE BRO PARTY MASSACRE III

CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (3/31/20): 

DUDE BRO PARTY MASSACRE III

By Chris La Vigna (@Chris_LaVigna)

Dude, this movie will LITERALLY blow your mind...

The slasher boom of the 1980s continues to be a fertile ground of inspiration for filmmakers, even decades after the peak of its dominance in popular culture. For the comedy troupe 5-Second Films,  who gained popularity on the 'net producing hilarious micro-short films, The genre's tropes were the perfect setup for their first stab (heh heh) at feature filmmaking, the 2015 slasher parody DUDE BRO PARTY MASSACRE III.

First things first, it should be noted that this is a standalone film. There is no DUDE BRO PARTY MASSACRE or DUDE BRO PARTY MASSACRE II. Indeed, the movie's opening functions as an absurdly overstuffed "previously on..." montage, bringing the viewer up to speed on the violent killing spree(s) of a vicious psychopath known as MotherFace, who is the indefatigable nemesis of the Delta Bi Theta fraternity, a group of typically dumb frat bros who generally cause chaos wherever they go, but never face any consequences for it from their university or from the law because hey, it's the eighties, and bros are gonna be bros.

Our protagonist, a young man by the name of Brent (Alec Owen), joins the frat after the brutal murder of his twin brother Brock (also played by Owen), in the hopes of finding his killer and bringing him and/or her to justice. While initially getting static from some of the frat's more boisterous members, Brent is soon accepted into the fold, and brought along for a big bros-only retreat to a cabin in the woods. It does not go well. There is a lot of blood involved.

Brock (Alec Owen) doesn't survive the first few minutes, but don't worry, his twin brother Brent is on the case!

The film initially started as another one of the group's five second shorts, then proved to be so popular that they made a fake trailer. With fan support, plus tons of talent and gumption, it finally became a real full length film. Every member of the group was tasked with writing scenes for the film, but did so without any collaboration from the rest of the crew. Alec Owen himself crafted the franken-script from the clearly hilarious mess.

The film is presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio with severe analog distortion in order to look like a copy of a copy of a copy of a taped recording of the film shown on late night TV, complete with cuts a local station's graphics and bits of bizarre fake ads. It also boasts some notable names in the cast, including comedian Patton Oswalt (who's collaborated with the group in their shorts before), adult film actress Nina Hartley, musician and certified party animal Andrew W.K., and last but not least, co-star/survivor of the infamous "worst movie ever" THE ROOM, Greg Sestero.

That's right, fellas can be objectified too! It's 2020, Male Gaze! Get with the program!

But the main reason to check out the film is that it is just unrelentingly funny. The story itself might just be window dressing for the bevy of absurd dialogue, obscene sight gags, and all sorts of other weird bits, but not a single scene is wasted in terms of its comic potential. 

Whether it's the dopey Officer Sminkle (Brian Firenzi), a cop who wants to open up a mobile children's library, but unfortunately insists on calling it a "bang bus," Brent's need to consult the ghost of his deceased twin for help, or MotherFace's (Olivia Taylor Dudley) incredibly cheesy yet completely dead-on delivery of one post-kill one liners, this film is chock full of comedy gold. I cannot overstate how eager I am to get my friends to watch this film, so we can have a whole new arsenal of quotes and inside jokes at our disposal.

When all of this social distancing stuff is over, this will be the perfect movie to sit down with your friends/loved ones/roommates/kidnap victims and watch over some beers,  but for now, it's also just a good movie to watch alone in your place and get some much needed laughs to stave off the dregs of isolation.

DUDE BRO PARTY MASSACRE III is currently available to stream on Shudder.