Club Dread

Super Troopers might not be a fantastic film, but there was a nice amount of charm and comedic chemistry shared between the five friends who took on the lead roles. So when the Broken Lizard crew followed-up their debut, you could at least count on them for some smart-ass remarks and genuinely amusing improvisation. Club Dread has its moments, but it's certainly not at the same level of quick-paced humour as Super Troopers, substituting a chance for a hilarious script with a zany whodunit on a tropical resort called Coconut Pete's Pleasure Island. The odd thing is that this film works as a suspenseful homage to classic slasher flicks, dropping hints and misleading clues along the way as you try to piece together the puzzle of who is butchering the guests of Coconut Pete's? Club Dread also has to be applauded for the fact that the comedy troop managed to play different characters here than in Super Troopers, most notable is Kevin Hefferman, who goes from being a complete asshole as Farva in Troopers to the romantic lead here, playing a soft and sensitive masseuse. This film tanked at the box office and apparently that means they're not allowed to put decent extras on the DVD, because there is nothing more than a pair of commentaries, which separate the five comedians into two groups. Both tracks are quite deadpan but are also sometimes a lot more funny than the film, containing enough side stories and inside jokes, as well as 'fessing up to all the horror flicks they stole their ideas from. It's a shame that even though Club Dread isn't hilarious it was stripped of possibly entertaining extras, and you realise this the most when the actors tell you about deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes insanity that should have been documented on this DVD. And don't hold your breath for any kind of special edition, especially given the fact that this underrated flick hit video stores less than two months after it quickly exited theatres. (Fox)