Killer Pad

I have to say that I really enjoyed this movie. It is absolutely a comedy/horror hybrid, with the clear emphasis on comedy. The production values are surprisingly high, and the acting works, particularly when considered in light of the script and characterization. Just go in with the right expectations and you may enjoy.

This movie may apply to a niche crowd, but if you're inclined toward comedic horrors, give it a try. Movies that are somewhat similar that I also enjoy in a similar vein: Tequila Body Shots, Hatchet, Dead and Breakfast, Sean of the Dead. I particularly enjoyed the main guy characters; their characters were distinctly well defined and amusing; their acting was on point to the story, and not over the top; also not bad acting either.

I watched this film after seeing it was produced by the team that did "Dude where's my car". I know it's not the best reason to watch a film, but what the heck? I had an afternoon to kill.

There are some films that transcend the depths of awfulness and are then actually reborn again as an entertaining must see movie (See Vanilla Ice's classic Cool as Ice). However this film is just truly terrible. The characters are your typical stereotypes and the film just goes from one bad joke to another for 90 minutes. I don't know why but I watched the film to the end, I guess I'm a sucker for punishment. Once it did finish I was just left wishing that I could get the 90 minutes of my life back that I had just wasted. I was left feeling dirty and violated so I then watched Leon to try and cleanse myself once more.

Three stereotypical guys...though in this case all three come off as homosexual airheads...move to L.A. to "start their lives" where they are directed to a mansion by a transsexual realtor. After moving in, it's apparent that the house harbors a gateway to Hell, but they ignore this to throw a party under the persuasion of three stereotypical sluts. What had potential to be a decent, tongue-in-the-cheek parody of horror films quickly turns into a virtually unwatchable, unfunny, horribly acted and scripted take on what America has ignorantly considered to be funny for the last ten years: feces jokes, unrealistically slutty teens, midgets, and token racial characters. It's blatantly obvious why this film went straight to DVD with very little marketing. Englund really should have used the alias "Alan Smithee" instead of taking credit for the direction.

Let me start out by saying that nothing will ever, ever, and I do mean EVER top 'Lesbian Vampire Killers' for hysterical horror satire. But 'Killer Pad' just beat out 'Shaun of the Dead' for second place.

The humor in American horror satire is usually limited to slapstick, sight gags and pop-culture banter. Consequently it quickly becomes dated, and the humor loses its edge, leaving its audience to wander off in search of the next fix. 'Killer Pad' actually bothers with a script. The situational comedy is deftly arranged, so that the running jokes STAY funny, popping up in unexpected ways, and often the excuse to bring the gag up again is a gag in itself. The jokes don't need to be propped up by a backstory only one generation will really get; they're funny on their own. And likely to remain so!

The actors deserve equal credit for the comic success of the film. It's difficult to keep a character consistently, genuinely, believably oblivious for more than an hour, and to make the audience genuinely laugh at their idiocy instead of just rolling their eyes and getting bored. They achieve it, though. It's my favorite thing about this movie.

Those who come to 'Killer Pad' looking for shallow, cheap humor and obvious jokes will be disappointed, but for anyone seeking a fresh, fun spin on the "evil house" theme: you've found it. So sit back and enjoy!

He'd directed 976-EVIL which was a pretty good movie, but this one was terrible!

Irritatingly stupid characters, terrible special effects, pretty women but no nudity, and the film takes forever to get to the big party where everything is supposed to happen.

What a travesty! We finally had to give up and watch the movie on 16x forward scan, and we could tell nothing of interest was going on at all.

I'm glad it wasn't me who wasted my money on the rental!

Englund's next set to direct The Vij, which was a really good Russian horror movie. I hope he doesn't slaughter it!