Customer Reviews

Killer Pad

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4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Killer Pad (Robert Englund, 2008)

I rip on bad horror movies all the time, but I'll tell you what--I'm a sucker for a bad horror movie that's played for its badness, and I have been ever since discovering such classic horror parodies as Night of the Creeps and Return of the Living Dead back in the eighties. The latest one to cross my path is Killer Pad, the second feature directed by Robert Englund (the first, way way back when, was the cult hit 976-EVIL...and I'll bet three-quarters of those reading this are too young to get what that was a reference to). Yeah, Robert Englund. Freddy Krueger. You know the guy. So the director hasn't made a movie (behind the camera, anyway) in twenty years. What about the scriptwriter? Dan Stoller, a former production assistant turning his hand to writing a script for the first time. Oh, yeah, this is gonna be good.

Surprisingly, it is.

Three friends from suburban Chicago, Doug (Mean Girls' Daniel Franzese), Craig (Not Another Teen Movie's Eric Jungmann), and Brody (relative newcomer Shane McRae, who will be in the upcoming adaptation of monster literary hit The Help), flee their parents' houses for various reasons (which we can't get into here) and head for Los Angeles. After they're turned down for the rathole where they already paid their deposit because they have a pet, they come across Winnie (MADtv's Bobby Lee), a shady real estate agent who finds them a great deal on a house. And what a house it is, one of those massive modern-art all-glass mansions up off Mulholland. On Perdition Lane. At 666. So, you think there's a portal to hell in the basement? Well, maybe, but the boys stop caring when they meet their next-door neighbor Lucy (Legend of the Seeker's Emily Foxler) and her two best friends, Delilah (The Taqwacores' Noreen DeWulf, one of Maxim's Hot 100 in 2007) and Jezebel (Unrest's Corri English). Brody figures he's in LA, it's time to throw a house party, so aside from inviting the entire city, they call their old pal Backwater (The Sarah Silverman Program's Jeff Bryan Davis), the biggest partier they know. Except Backwater is now a priest-in-training and plans to use the party to convert the faithless...

Yes, you've probably heard a lot of these jokes before, though they've been updated. And yes, the whole thing is predictable and silly. But it's also very funny; I laughed out loud as many times while watching this as I did during The Hangover, at least. The actors are in general pretty good at what they do (and there are some hilarious cameos), Englund's directorial technique has improved, not that it was all that bad, and Stoller has a good sense of comic timing backed up very well by the actors performing the material. While it's not in the same league as Return of the Living Dead, it's miles better than something like Saturday the 14th or any horror spoof directed by and/or starring a Wayans brother. If you like bad horror flicks, this is a must. *** ½

I love this movie, and with the right expectations and temperament, you might too. Its a comedic horror, with acting purposely over the top, but, IMHO, not so much that its annoying. It strikes, to me, the right balance on all fronts without being annoying, but still being highly entertaining. FYI - I tend to absolutely hate slapstick humor, and I think this achieves the goals of a good comedy, and should appeal to men in their 20-30s. There's a good bit of oddly adult-ish/domestic humor to enjoy.

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Yes, this movie is terrible. It's a hilarious "horror" movie pocked full of horny teenage boys and gruesome deaths. Obviously this isn't a movie for content, but good for some laughs. Three guys move into a pad way that should be way out of their price budget. That is, except for that portal to hell in the basement... You can guess it's a silly movie, and is only compounded when the guys decide to throw a killer party. And that's where all the fun really begins...

Killer Pad may be built on clichés and teen-humor stereotypes and conventions, but it's still a very funny movie. Some of the credit naturally goes to director Robert Englund, but it's really the cast who carry this movie on their backs without ever letting it fall or flounder. The trio of losers at the center of the story could easily have become tediously annoying or unbearably stupid, but that just doesn't happen. Heck, I actually liked these guys. Yes, this is definitely a dumb comedy with horror overtones, and, yes, it will primarily appeal to adolescent males, but that doesn't mean that the rest of us can't enjoy it, too. Shoot fire, you've got comical situations, a scattering of great one-liners, a bevy of attractive young ladies, and even successful cameos by the likes of Joey Lawrence, Andy Milonakis, and Mad TV's Bobby Lee.

Best buds Brody (Shane McRae), Craig (Eric Jungmann), and Doug (Daniel Franzese), having finally moved out of their parents' houses, leave Illinois behind and head to L.A. to begin their lives anew. After some initial housing problems, local real estate agent Winnie (Bobby Lee) hooks them up with a sweetheart of a deal - a low-cost mansion located at 666 Perdition Road. The place is a portal to hell, but the guys think the fiery pit in the basement is a sewage problem and blame homeless "squatters" (like the Mexican dude who keeps trying to warn them that the devil lives there) for whatever problems creep up. With bodaciously fine neighbors like Lucy (Emily Foxler) and her friends Delilah (Noureen DeWulf) and Jezebel (Corri English), these guys aren't going anywhere. In fact, they start planning a killer party for their killer pad, hoping to score major points (or really just to score, period) with the girls.

It is a truly happening party. Lucy managed to get Demon Semen to perform (the girls just love Demon Semen, don't you know), and the partygoers include a bevy of beauties (including a couple of porn stars and a gang of Catholic school girls) and even Joey Lawrence (as himself). Unfortunately, as the party really begins to heat up, a series of unfortunate, freak party "accidents" leave several people quite dead - but the guys aren't going to let a little thing like that ruin such a killer party, especially since they haven't scored with their hot chicks yet. Will the guys ever realize what is really going on inside their house?

Quite frankly, I don't understand this film's R rating. There is no nudity to speak of (apart from a couple of male back sides), the language is far from extreme, most of the toilet humor is limited to one scene, and none of the deaths are really gory. I don't like the DVD box cover, either, as it makes the film look cartoonish. It's dumb, but it's not cartoonish.

Obviously, some viewers consider Killer Pad to be unwatchable rubbish, but I loved it. Maybe some, seeing that the film was directed by Robert Englund, expected this to be a horror film, and others just didn't appreciate the type of humor on display here. Any dumb comedy like this is always going to have its share of critics, but I hope the bad reviews aren't going to turn people away. Give this film a chance, and you just might find it as funny and entertaining as I did.

"The movie features some sparse gore and no nudity that I can remember (despite the "sexual humor including nudity" ratings advisement located on the back of the DVD) but it still functions as a sporadically entertaining comedy surrounding a soft, bland horror-centric theme. It's kind of like a cross between THE GATE, AMERICAN PIE, and an episode of ENTOURAGE, with AMERICAN PIE serving as the major inspirational ingredient." ... Like humor, a must see movie.........

With only his second directorial showing in feature films to date, Robert Englund (best known as Freddy Krueger) brings us 'Killer Pad': the story of three loser friends (Doug, Craig, and Brody) who take up residence in a haunted house (address: 666 Perdition Road) in Hollywood. The house is wicked. Seriously. Coyotes and portals to Hell are included in the price.

The movie includes a couple small camoes (Lin Shaye and Andy Milonakis included), and features a whole host of odd characters (possessed Mexicans, S&M midgets, Joey Lawrence?). If you haven't noticed yet, and I pity you if you haven't, this is a comedy. Is it funny? Eh. There are some good one liners and stupid-funny jokes. But it's pretty much all the same sarcastic humour we've been seeing from better movies with better actors and higher production value over the past few years. I'm actually getting a little bit tired of the unattractive male-centered movies. They're fun on occasion (Knocked Up, Superbad), but they're flooding the comedy market and it only takes one like this to ruin the streak.

There's plenty of hot (and not-so) women, alcohol, partying, and crude humour, but that's about as far as your interest will stretch. It's not UNenjoyable. . . but it's just not very good.

Final verdict: A pathetic 3.5/10.

'Killer Pad' is in stores now, but I'd highly suggest picking up something else.

-AP3-

Daniel Franzese (MEAN GIRLS), Eric Jungmann (NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE), Shane McRae (ALL OVER AGAIN), Emily Foxler (GRIZZLY PARK), Jeff Davis (THE MADNESS OF JANE), Corri English (UNREST) Hector Jimenez (NACHO LIBRE), Joey Lawrence (URBAN LEGENDS 2: FINAL CUT), Bobby Lee (MAD TV), Lin Shaye (2001 MANIACS), Andy Milonakis (THE ANDY MILONAKIS SHOW) and Sam McMurray (WISHCRAFT) star in Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund's 2nd directorial film; KILLER PAD. I am going to keep this review short because there is much to say and I am going to say basic things. This movie is hilarious and very funny. Englund cast great actors in this movie such as Andy Milonakis and Hector Jimenez. One of my favorite scenes is when Doug and Craig see Joey Lawrence dead and they say "Joey Lawrence came to our party!" and then they do a queer sissy high five. LMFAO!!!! This movie has some racist moments such as when they first go to their house and the 3 guys see what they think is the Grim Reaper and Doug says "..I think it's just a Mexican." Funniest line in the movie! I am going to stop there because there is a lot that should be a surprise. Infinity out of millions of light years infinity star rating! "PEACE!" as Andy Milonakis says in his 3rd season theme song of THE ANDY MILONAKIS SHOW.

This was a hillarious horror comedy. This movie put me in stitches very funny and a funny cameo by Bobby lee.

PROS:

-The sole dvd "Bonus Feature" shows what I believe is the cutting edge of HD Film-making (Yes REALLY!), but I'm certainly NOT an expert. HD Camera + Hard Drive + Magic Black Box Thingy = Instant "Dailies" with on-the-fly color correction, or something like that. Apparently, they were the first to do it.

Anyway, this "Behind the Scenes" featurette lasts for what seemed about 10 minutes. The folks who made this film are obviously "technically" gifted. Unfortunately for me, SMART CREW + STUPID IDEA = NOT-HAPPY-RENTER-PERSON!

CONS:

-The maturity level of the director and male crew members appears to be stunted at, I'm guessing, MAYBE 11, but not in a funny "aren't we a bunch-of-complete-idiots" sorta way. It's more of a "my, aren't we a frightened-bunch-of-homophobes with a strange on-going fascination with JOEY LAWRENCE, Hot Tubs, ETERNAL DAMNATION, and PRE-OP Transexuals" kinda thing.

-It's been a while since I rented this, but I seem to remember that the female characters were all written as complete wh*res and b*tches, unless of course they're "unattractive" in which case they're just HAGS!!! Again, I think it helps us see what these guys are attracted to and repelled by.

-And finally, the biggest "CON" that comes to mind is the amount of time that you'll lose by watching this film that you will NEVER EVER EVER GET BACK! Save yourself some time & money and just punch yourself in the "SHAMA-LAMA-DING-DONGS". And you'll feel SO MUCH BETTER afterwords.... or you'll pass out, which is good too.

It's a bloody comedy! Lighten up! There are some great lines and the story is totally fun and a good time for horror fans. The horror fans are freaked out because they found out that Robert Englund has a sense of humor!