Broken Lizard’s Club Dread
Picture: B- Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: B-
Though it
was a decidedly hit-and-miss comedy, 2001’s Super Troopers still served as a promising introduction to Broken
Lizard, a comedy troupe comprised of Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve
Lemme, Paul Soter and Eric Stolhanske. The
guys were likable with their refreshing, ‘80s-style R-rated humor, which
incorporated bare breasts, tons of foul language, and adults rather than
teenagers behaving badly (think yesterday’s Caddyshack rather than today’s American
Pie), and the film ended up gaining a decent-sized cult following after
being released on video and DVD.
Club Dread starts to deliver on the promise
of Troopers. This time around, the Lizards are just as
funny, but they’re also better filmmakers (Chandrasekhar directs and all five
co-write). Dread pushes the guys to top their rather blandly-assembled
previous effort in style, partly because it’s meant to creep us out a little
bit, as well as makes us laugh – it’s a slasher film. The film’s simple setup has the troupe
playing the motley staff of an island resort for frisky singles when a killer
shows up and starts knocking them off one by one. The guys manage to inject the slasher
scenario with laughs that don’t undermine the scares. It’s Scary
Movie without the condescension; a slasher-comedy made by people who
actually like the genre. And again, it
reminds us how much better comedies were in the ‘80s.
Club Dread will hopefully be discovered as Troopers eventually was. The jokes are more sketch-based than we’re
used to seeing in films these days and also more intelligent. Like in Troopers,
the best and most memorable laughs aren’t the big ones, but rather the small
character moments in between the big gags.
This makes repeated viewings a must.
And it also makes Broken Lizard’s films much more interesting than, say,
any of the recent big-budget Ben Stiller comedies.
And let
us not forget Bill Paxton, who comes aboard Club Dread as an honorary Lizard, playing the resort’s celebrity
owner, a burnt-out Jimmy Buffett clone named Coconut Pete. As the great Brian Cox did in Troopers, Paxton gets down and dirty
and has a blast with the boys.
Presented
anamorphically in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio (as well as in a full screen
version on the flip side of the disc), Club
Dread looks pretty good, but not quite as good as a major studio release of
a current film should. Color ranges from
solid to a bit iffy and sharpness is a tad soft. The image’s shortcomings may be partly due to
the film’s modest budget. Sound quality
is similarly limited. The weak point of
the disc’s Dolby Digital 5.1 mix (sorry, no DTS) is the center channel, with
stretches of dialogue sounding a slightly strained compared to the rest of the
soundtrack. The surrounds seldom come
into play, but they are well-incorporated when they do. The LFE channel really only registers when
the score tosses out some deep bass to build tension. Overall, this presentation is acceptable but
unexciting.
The sole
extras that Fox grants Club Dread
are two commentary tracks, the first with director/writer/actor Jay
Chandrasekhar and writer/actor Erik Stolhanske and the second with the rest of
troupe, writer/actors Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme and Paul Soter. The tracks are pretty light as far as extras
go, offering – as one might guess – more jokes and anecdotes than technical
information. They’re both enjoyable
enough, but probably unnecessary for anyone other than hardcore Broken Lizard
fans.
Though
it’s a questionable purchase, Fox’s Club
Dread DVD is definitely worth a rental.
The film is not only a novelty for Horror fans, it’s also flat-out one
of the smartest dumb comedies in recent memory.
- Chad Eberle
