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Fangoria

Murder Game

A group of teenage friends getting together to play a game may sound like a fun time, but in the new DVD release THE MURDER GAME (not to be confused with the contemporaneous MURDER PARTY), it's the worst plan ever. In the movie, the gang loves to get together for the titular diversion, in which one person is the killer while the rest are innocent victims, who must figure out who the murderer is before they are picked off. After their disgruntled parents ban them from playing it in their homes, they decide the best staging area would be in a storage facility owned by one of the group's folks. While the beginning is all fun and amusement, they quickly realize that there's someone there who wants to play for real.

This somewhat silly but surprisingly entertaining film, directed by Robert Harari and written/produced by Harari and Jason Contino, isn't all that scary, but there's plenty of gore to make up for it. The film (a Best Feature winner at the Terror Film Festival and Salem Independent Horror Film Festival) showcases some very creative and memorable kill scenes, including deaths via pipe and fire extinguisher, which are more amusing than terrifying but diverting all the same. The special FX by Sandy Andrle and THE ROOST's Daniel J. Mazikowski are pretty outstanding for such a low-budget film, making the scenes that much more enjoyable.

There are also quite a few intentionally funny moments, thanks mostly to stoners Will and Dexter (Vince Eustace and Erik Soulliard), and the acting isn't terrible, though the dialogue sometimes falls flat and seems more rehearsed than natural. At 87 minutes, the story moves quickly and lacks the unnecessary plot fillers that tend to hurt more than benefit a film. The fast pace helps gloss over moments where the characters let their common sense become overridden by stupidity; unfortunately, there are numerous scenes like this, specifically when individuals who are supposed to be hiding erupt into frequent screaming matches. Though the finale is a bit disappointing, the climactic twist is surprising and unexpected.

The DVD supplements the movie with quite a few extras, among them trailers for THE MURDER GAME and other movies from 500 Pieces Films. The three deleted scenes aren't bad, but don't really add much to the story, so it didn't suffer from their loss. A Murder Gags outtake reel is pretty funny, and also included is the short film THE PUZZLE, 500 Pieces' first production which was specifically re-edited for this disc. It focuses on a woman who discovers a mysterious puzzle (guess how many pieces) that was left on her doorstep one night. She becomes increasingly alarmed as she puts it together, slowly realizing that the picture is looking more and more familiar. It's a fine piece of work, and in fact is scarier than THE MURDER GAME itself.

Also included is a commentary by Harari, Contino and stars Katie Sirk and Steve Polites. The quartet seem to have had a great time recording the commentary, which makes it equally enjoyable for the listener, and any number of interesting tidbits are shared. One such factoid involves the shooting of a scene for the movie's beginning after they had lensed the major action moments for the end; lacking a spare shirt for actor Samuel Klein, they had to tape together the one he had previously worn, since it had gotten slashed in those mayhem scenes. Overall, the MURDER GAME disc is a satisfying viewing experience; while it's not something to watch if you're looking to be scared out of your seat, it'll do just fine if you're looking to laugh and be disgusted at once.