Movie Mom

Movie Mom

Broken Lizard’s Club Dread

posted by rkumar | 7:49pm Wednesday February 25, 2004
D
Lowest Recommended Age:Mature High Schooler
Profanity:Very strong language
Nudity/Sex:Nudity, very explicit sexual references and situations, including threesomes, oral sex
Alcohol/Drugs:Drinking and drug use
Violence/Scariness:Grisly murders, graphic injuries, scary surprises
Diversity Issues:Diverse characters, many stereotypes
Movie Release Date:2004

Does the world really need a comic slasher movie? Or, to be more precise, does it need another failed attempt at one?

The would-be wild and crazy guys from would-be comedy troupe Broken Lizard have now produced a second film, taking all of the sex and drug jokes not funny enough for Super Troopers and adding in grisly violence courtesy of a masked serial killer with a machete. What they forgot to add in was imagination, wit, acting ability, or distinctive characters. What it does have is a lot of joke-oids — dialogue that has the rhythm of a joke but is no actual comic content. When a sweet young thing tells a character that she goes to Oral Roberts University, you know what the joke-oid is going to be. And imagine the non-riotous non-humor they can find in an Asian character whose name, Yu, sounds just like the word “you!” Twice! And then there’s that little statue with the huge genitals. And the sex in a graveyard: “Isn’t this like sacred or something?” “No, they’re dead!” And the beastiality humor. They even throw in that gone-and-should-have-been-forgotten chestnut, sarcastic clapping.

The only evidence of intelligence on the part of Broken Lizard was the decision to set the story in an island resort. That way, at least they had fun filming it. If only we had fun watching it.

The resort is owned by Coconut Pete (Bill Paxton), a slightly burnt-out Jimmy Buffett-type who had four gold records with songs about kicking back in paradise (he insists his “Pina Colada Burg” pre-dated “Margaritaville”).

The resort is like a grown-up version of the place Pinocchio turned into a donkey — all sex, drugs, drinking, and more sex. And lots of girls in and out of bikinis.

The movie opens with a threesome drinking ecstacy-spiked margaritas as they get ready to have sex with each other. They are all slashed to death by a masked killer, and the rest of the movie is just dumb joke-oids as we wait around for a bunch of almost-interchangeable characters to be killed off. I was sort of glad when each one died because it meant we were that much closer to the end.

Parents should know that the movie has extremely strong language and explicit sexual references and situations, including a threesome, beastiality, sex toys, and oral sex. Characters are in peril and there are several grisly murders with graphic wounds and a severed head. A character pees in his pants. Drinking, drug use, and promiscuous sex are portrayed as carefree and empowering. Drinking games include a super-soaker filled with tequila.

Families who see this movie should talk about how the characters decided whom to trust.

Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy the Scary Movie series.



Previous Posts

A Wrinkle in Time: 50th Anniversary Interview with Madeleine L'Engle's Granddaughter
Madeleine L'Engle’s classic book A Wrinkle in Time celebrates its 50th anniversary this week with a sumptuous new edition. It includes photos and biographical information about L’Engle, an introduction by US Ambassador for Children’s Literature Katherine Paterson, discussion questions, pages o

posted 8:00:58am Feb. 13, 2012 | read full post »

Celebrate Abraham Lincoln's Birthday
Celebrate the birthday of our 16th President with some of the classic movies about his life. Ahead of us this are are the Steven Spielberg epic, based on Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin, with Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field, which will be out in Decem

posted 8:00:32am Feb. 12, 2012 | read full post »

Tribute: Whitney Houston
Was there ever anyone more gifted than Whitney Houston?  She had the face and voice of an angel.  She had beauty, talent, and success including an unprecedented seven number one songs in a row and with Dolly Parton's song "I Will Always Love You" the biggest selling single by a female artist in hi

posted 9:22:32pm Feb. 11, 2012 | read full post »

Trailer: Darling Companion
Kevin Kline, Diane Keaton, and Richard Jenkins star in the upcoming "Darling Companion," about a lost dog, coming in April.   [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYYoaspzzlg[/youtube]

posted 3:52:01pm Feb. 11, 2012 | read full post »

Maps of Enchanted Places
The Awl has a wonderful illustrated story by Victoria Johnson featuring maps of the imaginary worlds of children's literature.  The maps of The Phantom Tollbooth, The Princess Bride, Winnie the Pooh, The Wizard of Oz, The Hobbit, and more are as inviting as the stories that take place there.  And

posted 8:00:36am Feb. 11, 2012 | read full post »

Advertisement
Comments Post the First Comment »
post a comment

Post a Comment

By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.

Share this story


About Beliefnet

Our mission is to help people like you find, and walk, a spiritual path that will bring comfort, hope, clarity, strength, and happiness. More about Beliefnet.

Help

Media Kit

Subscribe

Legal

Copyright © Beliefnet, Inc. and/or its licensors. All rights reserved. Use of this site is subject to Terms of Service and to our Privacy Policy. Constructed by Beliefnet.

Advertisement

Report as Inappropriate

You are reporting this content because it violates the Terms of Service.

All reported content is logged for investigation.