I saw Dude Bro Party Massacre III at Bruce Campbell’s Horror Film Festival (2015) in Rosemont. Now, before we get too far into this thing – If you saw the name of this movie and thought, “What kind of shitty name is that?!”, just move along. Maybe check out my review for Splinter. It’s great and you don’t have to have a sense of humor to appreciate it. For those of you who “get it” (you know who you are!), read on.
If you didn’t see Dude Bro Party Massacre I or Dude Bro Party Massacre II, don’t fret. You can jump right into the franchise with Dude Bro Party Massacre III and you’ll be fine. Besides, there’s a very quick recap of the first two Dude Bro Party Massacres in the first few minutes of Dude Bro Party Massacre III. (I will not abbreviate this!) Besides-besides, the first two Dudes Bros Parties Massacres aren’t even real. The whole thing is an homage to 80s party massacre movie franchises. Actually, “homage to” sounds way too refined for this movie. Maybe “goof on” is more apropos.
So, a guy recounts (via flashbacks) the events of the last two massacres that he survived only to be slashered to death by an unseen killer who may or may not be the “motherface” who killed all the bros in the previous massacres. (that’s not a spoiler because it happens in the first 5 minutes. so, don’t get all worked up) That dead guy’s identical twin bro then sets out to find his bro’s killer and avenge his death. He pledges his bro’s frat, has some flashbacks of his own, tags along to a dude bro party, and bloody, violent hijinx ensue.
This is another head scratcher in the genre department. Is it a comedy? Well, it has Patton Oswalt in it and, as you may recall, he was hilarious in Big Fan and Young Adult. (relax, i’m kidding! Mr. Oswalt is a comedic acting treasure) This is definitely a comedy. It was made by the guys at 5 Second Films and funded by viewers like you! (Kickstarter) They packed in a lot of wackiness. A lot. Too much wackiness? Let’s just say that there are some gags that I didn’t appreciate as much as others. But, despite that, I had a lot of fun. And the audience had a blast too. But is it horror? Hmm. It’s not NOT horror. It follows the slasher formula that we’ve all come to know and love. And there’s blood and killing. Does it matter? I guess if you’ve made a sacred vow to watch only horror movies for the rest of your life, you might have to do some artful justifying on this one before they let you through the gates of hell (or heaven/valhalla/whatever wiccans believe in/etc.).
THE FINAL CUT: Dude Bro Party Massacre III is a ton of fun. It has some gory sight gags, some really funny lines, some outrageous characters, and one cameo so was-that-who-I-think-it-was that I thought it was an impersonator. Watch it with a crowd of bros and their [non-sexist term for female bros] who aren’t the types to wonder what’s up with the stupid title. (their words, not mine!)
No Real Danger 