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Not 'Scary Movie'.

The thing I hear many people saying is that they expect it to be like Scary Movie.You cannot assume that. That's not even close to what Broken Lizard is going for. Broken Lizard is not trying to Parody (making specific jokes about specific films), but, in fact, it seems that they are they are trying to Satire (poke fun at the genre in a sardonic way, effectively poking at social situations). A ridiculous premise (killing on an island which is dedicated to drugs, sex and every other sin you can think), and pokes fun at just what culture is capable of now -- an island dedicated to having sex and taking drugs, imagined by a retired, loaded hippie.Yes, it's stupid humour, but it's smart, inside stupid humour. This is a movie that you have to think to enjoy somewhat, even if the humour is at its basest. Maybe that's not what you want going in, but if you're familiar with other Broken Lizard films (supertroopers), this should come as no surprise.Supertroopers fans: Keep an eye out for the big, blue feather. It's back. 7/10

A real good time

Despite treading what will be familiar territory for everyone that's ever seen a slasher and/or a slasher spoof, Broken Lizard's Club Dread works thanks to an almost constant stream of gags, and a constant stream that's almost constantly funny. Seeing fit to poke fun at every slasher cliché from horny teens to a killer that has to be killed at least three times before they finally die; Broken Lizard's Club Dread is a real good time, and gets the thumbs up from me for that reason. We find ourselves in the picturesque confines of Coconut Joe's Coconut Beach Resort - a place where young people go to have fun and, on this particular occasion, get sliced and diced. This isn't the only problem, as the killer has indicated that he doesn't want the guests to find out what's going, leaving the island's staff to cover up the escapades of the serial killer, while trying not to become the next one to wind up with their throat cut.The cast is largely made up of unknowns with one exception - B-movie superstar Bill Paxton! I was unaware that Bill was in this movie, and since he's one of my favourite actors of all time; finding out that he's a part of it made me very happy indeed. Bill gives a hilariously over the top performance as the resort's owner and once great 70's singer, Coconut Joe. Just like he has done a million times before, Bill lights up the screen with his presence and constantly begs the question "why doesn't he get the big roles he so rightly deserves?" The other major star of this movie is the script, which is a hell of a lot better than you would expect from a movie of this ilk. While it doesn't break any ground on the intellectual front, it does it's job as it remains funny for the duration and some of the lines of dialogue really are priceless. The film does have a couple of problems, one of which is the fact that in spite of the version I saw being the 'uncut' version, most if not all of the killings take place off screen and the other (bigger) one is that it's hideously overlong, running at least 20 minutes more than it should, which does become irritating. Still, this is more than decent entertainment and if you're a fan of slashers, I can't see why you'd dislike it.

Club Dreadful

Watching "Club Dread" I found it hard to believe that this movie was made by the same Broken Lizard comedy team that gave the world "Super Troopers."

While the latter film was one of the funniest comedies of the last five years, "Club Dread" is so spectacularly unfunny that it makes you wonder if "Super Troopers" was a fluke.

At its core, "Dread" seems a parody of slasher flicks in general and of "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" in particular. The killer on the loose at a tropical resort plotline is lifted directly from that earlier film.

But the movie fails to elicit even a single chuckle. Part of the problem is that many scenes are way too violent for a comedy. In fact, the killings are generally played straight and are bloody enough to fit right into any modern slasher film. At the same time, all the lame jokes keep things from getting too serious.

The end result is a movie that is schizophrenic in that it seems to want to work as a horror film AND as a comedy. Ultimately, "Club Dread" is too violent to be funny and too much of a wanna-be yukfest to be truly frightening.

In trying to achieve two goals, the movie fails at both.

The performances of actor/director Jay Chandrasekhar and the other members of Broken Lizard lack the anarchic glee and razor sharp wit that made "Super Troopers" a "must see and then see again" classic. Bill Paxton plays an always-sloshed Jimmy Buffet-style singer whose resort is the center of the action. One wonders if he wasn't drunk out of his mind, when he agreed to this role.

I have high hopes for Broken Lizard and hopefully their third film outing will see them on surer footing. As for this movie, a better title would be "Club Dreadful."

pretty sweet

this movie had everything. hot chicks, hilarious characters, funny scenarios, and best of all, MURDER! they guys from super troopers hit it big with Broken Lizard's Club Dread. this movie awesome. i loved it. the deaths were awesome and the blood effects were totally cool. for anyone who liked super troopers, i definately recommend this movie. Its about a guy named Coconut Pete(Bill Paxton) who runs a resort on an island. the staff starts to mysteriously die and its up to the rest of the staff to figure out what is going on. i cant wait for it to come out on dvd. this will definately be a great addition to my collection. 2 Thumbs WAY UP! Highly recommended!

'club bloody dreadful'.

how on earth an actor of talent like bill paxton agreed to appear in this mightily unfunny, boring, silly and overlong load of schlock tropicana crap is beyond me. apart from a few nubile scantily clad yank babes and some passably nice Caribbean scenery; the whole exercise is so unoriginally bland in the extreme that it makes you wonder how a turkey like this even got to be UK released compared to other more quality minded pieces of entertainment which only seems to surface on video or DVD. the story is so tired and done to death that it hardly even merits explaining here only to advise you not to bother and to watch paint dry instead. the obligatory cheesy 'out take' footage is included during the end credits to show us all how a load of overpaid ponce loveys must have had a great time making it but why didn't we mr. 'no talent' film director?

Kind of in-between

Club Dread was one of those in-between films. It wasn't bad, although it had bad parts. But it wasn't really good, although it had good parts. I had never heard of Broken Lizard or Jay Chandrasekhar, nor had I seen Super Troopers. So maybe I just don't get it. There was a lot of opportunity for nudity passed on, and I think that might have been part of the wry, just-under-the-radar humor that this was so full of. It has been called a horror movie spoof, but that's not completely accurate. It is a full-fledged slasher film, but they are obviously having a lot of fun with it. But not all of that fun making and thinking up this film translates into fun watching it. But I will give them credit for putting something out that isn't the same as everything else out there. Kudos for Brittany Daniel who made this easy on the eyes, too. I'd say check it out, but just don't have unrealistic expectations.

No SUPER TROOPERS, but decent

Grossing just under $5 million, Club Dread was not only one of the biggest box office failures of 2004, but also one of the biggest critical failures as well. Not surprisingly, the harshest critics of the movie were Broken Lizard fans themselves and who can blame them? SUPER TROOPERS was a comedic masterpiece that became an instant cult classic so naturally everyone, including myself, was expecting CLUB DREAD to be the same. While certainly, nowhere near as good as SUPER TROOPERS, the movie still is better than most movies that have come during the past few years, mainly thanks to some of the hilarious moments from Michael Weaver. There are a handful of other funny scenes scattered throughout the movie, though for the most part this is a horror movie and a pretty good one too. It is genuinely scary and surprisingly clever considering it's from the SUPER TROOPERS guys. Recommended as a rental. ***

Pretty freakin' good.

Steve, Kevin, and Paul came up to Colgate tonight to screen the movie at their alma mater, so a few of us got together and went down to see the movie. And let me tell you, it was pretty funny.The first thing is that you cannot go into it expecting Supertroopers again. This movie, although it is a comedy, is also a horror film. A new batch of tourists come to Paradise Island for a week of fun and non-sobriety. However, someone has started killing off the workers at the club, and the other workers have to catch him and stop other people from knowing about it.Without giving away any spoilers, I can tell you this: it was great. Broken Lizard has somehow made a movie that's insanely funny, and also a bit of a horror flick. The girls across the row from us kept freaking out between laughs, so I guess that was the intended effect. Bill Paxton was great, and was a damn believable island hippie. (Think Sammy Hagar right now, and his fun in Cabo San Lucas.) Steve Lemme seems to have a place in the Broken Lizard movies, and he was awesome this time. Kevin Heffernan is the centerpoint of this film, and he held the role really well. Of course, Paul, Erik and Jay had did a good job, too.Anyway, it's probably worth your cash. If you're a Broken Lizard fan, go see the movie. If you want to laugh but with a little horror, go see it. And keep an eye on these guys - they're gonna be big.

Trying to keep my excitement under wraps!!

Super Troopers... Amazing. My favorite movie genre is comedy, and I love a lot of comedy movies; for instance, Dumb and Dumber, Zoolander, Me Myself & Irene, just to name a few. From the moment I saw Super Troopers, the others just fell into second place. Broken Lizard, the team behind this madness, are true genius comedians. What makes them so great though, is there ability to translate this comedy in to a film.

With all of that being said, Club Dread promises to carry on the tradition of outrageously funny comedy... we can only all hope and pray that it is!

What's people's problem?

The people that don't like this movie expected way too much from it. People have said that it is a standard horror flick, but they're wrong. This movie is a parody of the horror genre. If you watch the movie knowing that they're not making a serious horror movie (and that isn't hard to realize), then you're opinion would change drastically. This isn't supposed to be a smart-funny either. It's just something that you watch for a good time with friends. They're too many serious movies in theatres anyways, it's nice to have some relief from uber-serious movies with something that doesn't have several plot twist and emotional rollercoasters. People, just lighten up and realize the entertainment purposes of this film. It's not for over-mature parents or little school girls. It's for the teenagers that have to sneak into the movies because they're 17th birthday is in 2 weeks, it's for the general person that wants to laugh and escape bills and the real world. It's not a movie that will make you cry, it's a happy movie for happy people. Got it? ...Good

Falls a bit short but still some great scares and laughs.

I wanted to give this one a try after seeing Super Troopers, another Broken Lizard film. While Club Dread falls short compared to the comical impact of Super Troopers, it does have some hidden gems and may appeal to most Broken Lizard fans. These guys are just the kings of brainless humor.

I'm a fan of horror/comedies and this one does an okay job. The scares work, and there are a few parts where you'll actually find yourself inching toward the edge of your seat, but not necessarily on the edge of it. One reviewer mentions Shaun of the Dead in their Club Dread review. There is no comparison. In no way does Club Dread reach the caliber of Shaun of the Dead, which is one of the funniest, and scariest horror/comedies I've ever seen.

Club Dread is funny in some parts, scary in some parts, and I will watch it again (someday) because it is entertaining. But it is not one of the best horror/comedies I've ever seen, and can't be lumped in with the likes of Shaun of the Dead. Club Dread is campy, dumb, full of sexual innuendo and drunk partiers. It works on its own level. Come on, we're talking about Broken Lizard here.

The drawbacks of the film are Jay speaking in a faux British accent while wearing a dreadlock wig. I was expecting a more caribbean sounding accent, but after a while it grew on me and was just as dumb and comically effective as the rest of the stuff.

I've seen better, but I've seen much worse too.

Pac Man!! I'd play it.

I'm sorry but all of you guys who said they were unoriginal are wrong. Try to name one movie where they played Pac-man like that. That was GREAT!!! I don't believe that the movie needed to have a great plot line. Super Troopers (although very great) didn't have a perfect stratagem. It was supossed to be funny and it was. People who compared it to the Scary Movie trilogy (for example... they were better than Club Dread) shouldn't be allowed to watch movies anymore, or at least comment on them. I wouldn't say that Broken Lizard is the next Monty Python,no offense, but Python is pretty hard to beat in my eyes. I enjoyed the movie, so did everyone else in the theater, just don't expect Super Troopers 2.

Broken Lizard are hilarious

I wasn't expecting this to be as good as supertroopers, but it nearly was. this was a movie poking fun at movies like scream, etc., but did such a better job than the scary movie series. this is because broken lizard are so naturally funny, and they take on their characters really well. Jay and Steve were hilarious.

Poor excuse for a movie.

To the people giving this movie 5 stars; How are you Paul, Jay, Kevin, Erik, and Steve?. I can't say enough bad things about this movie. I had to watch Super Troopers to cleanse the palate afterwards. And I kept an open mind, mind you. The two stars are for the gratuitous nudity (Penelope especially) and Bill Paxton's hilarious turn as an angry phony.

Follow thee banana, follow thee banana!

Broken Lizard – man I can't even begin to tell you, how much I liked their debut "Super Troopers" – crazy movie with jokes packed so tightly that you couldn't breath between laughs. I had very high hopes waiting for "Club Dread" - Bill Paxton, slasher theme, hedonistic island paradise, and of course broken lizard jokes, how can you go wrong with it. And then I saw it….Very weak movie. First of all – the slasher doesn't work. Call me old fashioned but when in comes to this kind of movie you have at least build some kind of tension. The killings here weren't cool, weren't scary, weren't inventive. I couldn't care less for the next person dying, so for a slasher movie it was boring.For humor – if it was on par with "Super troopers" I wouldn't mind the bad slasher theme, but worst of all the jokes were flat. Don't get me wrong there were few very funny ones, but most of them where just weak, weaker then scarymovies4 style.And now a word about direction – that was the weakest link. The whole thing collapsed half way and then starts to rolling deep down there, where you are wondering "should I watch whole thing or just push stop button". Jay Chandrasekher direction in „Super Troopers" wasn't spectacular, but it didn't interfere, and gave the movie kind of good rush. Here his direction just collapse. And that was the saddest thing for me. Because after "ST" I would watch any movie by this guy, for any price. Gladly I didn't pay for "Club Dread" that much.So, there were few good death scenes (hand on the knife), few great funny scenes (pacman for sure), but the whole movie wasn't funny, wasn't well made, hadn't got a heart and soul of previous Broken Lizard craziness, and that is just sad thing man.

I you dont like Broken Lizard...

Then why in hell did you go and see Club dread, this movie was funny, entertaining and everything I hoped for coming from the lizards, and that my friends is the true essence of movies, movie dont change life, I dont care about a touching story, all I want when I watch a movie is to get entertained, and I was when I watch Club Dread.The first time I watched Super Troopers I tought the movie was funny but not that much, after a few watching I started to like it more and more, and I know the same we occure when I get my hands on Club dread's DVD, especially since its gonna be longer. So if you dont like the movie, or the ones that made the movie, just stay home and shut up.

Terrible, a few lame one-liners, that's it.

Waste of time. The only highlight is Jordan Ladd's scene, so I rated this movie a 2, one for each of them. I can't believe she would do a topless scene in a movie this bad. She hasn't proven herself to be the greatest actress ever, but she has very famous parents and in Hollywood, nepotism counts for everything (look at Tori Spelling, if her father didn't own half of Hollywood, it would be impossible for her to have any sort of career).
You would think Jordan would at least save a scene like that for some flick that might make a blip on a movie chart somewhere.....Very disappointing, very few laughs, too stupid to be any sort of horror movie, a few good Jimmy Buffett jokes, but basically a big waste of time.
At least Brittany Daniel looks great in a bikini, so there is that...

Where the hell are the jokes?

The second feature from the comedy troupe Broken Lizard, the first being Super Troopers. That film was one of the crappiest I've seen of the last few years, but my brother wanted to see Club Dread and I'm easy. And I didn't hate it. Don't get me wrong, I didn't like it either, but I've seen a lot worse. It's a slasher comedy, although it needs way, way more comedy. I found it to be more adequate as a slasher flick, a slasher flick with a few amusing jokes tacked on. The plot involves a serial killer on a rampage on a Costa Rican resort island. This resort is owned by Coconut Pete, a clone of Jimmy Buffet. This character amused me a lot. As performers, the members of Broken Lizard (and, by the way, I don't know which actors qualify as part of this troupe) do have talent, but they seriously need to learn how to write a movie script. I may not have hated this movie, but I've got to wonder who the hell keeps giving these nobodies money. 5/10.

A little disappointing....

After SUPER TROOPERS these guys became comedy gods in my eyes. I caught an early screening of CLUB DREAD last night and the magic seems almost gone. It's not a bad film, it is actually quite good, a little inventive, and balances the laughs and the scares well. Thing is that the comedy that seemed so fresh and thought out in SUPER TROOPERS seems stale in this film. I don't know if it was the fact that the characters weren't as well drawn, or just.... well...... I'm not entirely sure.Nonetheless, after the movie I felt a little disappointed. I still love Broken Lizard, I just think they are capable of better than this.

a SPOOF

As I'm reading most of these comments on the movie, and even as I was sitting in the theatre, I've noticed that many people have completely missed the face that this movie was intended to be a spoof. The "poor accents" and "horrible writing" are supposed to be there, and make it funny. It doesn't dive in to it as much as Scary Movie, or create another genre because it took itself too seriously like Scream, but I think it was so in the middle that people thought they were just going to a bad horror movie. Some of the gags on this movie were brilliant(pac-man), and througout the entire movie there was something to laugh at. Overall, I gave the movie an 8 out of 10.
It wasn't as flat out hilarious as Super Troopers, but if you like humor that goes from being extremely subtle to completely outlandish in seconds then this movie is for you.