Cast:
Bill Paxton as Coconut Pete
Elena Lyons as Stacy
Dan Montgomery Jr. as Rolo
Tanja Reichert as Kellie
Nat Faxon as Manny
Michael Weaver as Roy
Kevin Heffernan as Lars
Michael Yurchak as Burke
Jordan Ladd as Penelope
Brittany Daniel as Jenny
Richard Perello as Cliff
Steve Lemme as Juan
Jay Chandrasekhar as Putman
Paul Soter as Dave
Erik Stolhanske as Sam
Lindsay Price as Yu
Julio Bekhor as Carlos
Greg Cipes as Trevor
M.C. Gainey as Hank
Ryan Faulkner as Marcel
Veronica Segura as Zoe
Samm Levine as Dirk
Jessica Moreno as Fiona
Critique:
Pina Colada-burg. That about sums up Club Dread. If you think that title to a rip-off of the Jimmy Buffet song Margarittaville is funny, then you are ready for Club Dread, if not… you are probably in for a long movie.
Club Dread is almost a spoof of horror movies, while at the same time it is trying very hard to be a horror movie. There is plenty of classic horror moments and the movie is not afraid to let the blood fly. However, it is constantly asking the viewer not to take it seriously. This schizophrenia of goals might make a good excuse for a serial killer, but it makes for a very disjointed movie experience.
Bill Paxton plays Coconut Pete, a poor-mans Jimmy Buffet, who has turned a small island into a resort for horny college students in need of a weekend of drunken fun. The resort staff consists of a staple of horror movie victims just waiting for the machete to fall. Rounding out the island population are a small army of scantily clad party ants waiting to march to the next location to consume intoxicants while obliviously waiting for the action to happen around them.
As a comedy, Club Dread constantly falls flat. The humor misses its mark much more often than it hits, although there are some truly amusing moments. Even though there is some good suspense, as a horror movie it is just too silly. The acting is often stiff but that could be due to the inane dialog, while the action oscillates from classic horror to slap stick.
Who should see this movie? Fans of early 1980’s horror movies. If you do not know the movies being spoofed then you will be even more lost. There is a gratuitous amount of nudity that serves no purpose in progressing the story, but it is nice to look at. If you want a total mental escape then this might be the movie you are looking for. Everyone else should avoid it.
