There
was a time when you could see some pretty weird cultural detritus wash up on
UHF channels. Now you have to go out of your way to see grade z micro-budget oddities.
That’s the downside when every media outlet aspires to produce the next
prestige television show. However, your enthusiasm for nostalgic grunge will
probably be curbed by Tomm Jacobsen, Michael Rousselet, and Jon Salmon’s Dude Bro Party Massacre III (trailer here), a selection of
this year’s Los Angeles Film Festival, which releases today on VOD.
It
is the 1980s. We can tell because there is a picture of Pres. Reagan in nearly
every scene. The Delta Bis are the worst house on Chico’s fraternity row, but
they are survivors. Not only have they escaped punishment for their often fatal
pranks, they also lived to tell of their nearly fatal encounters with the
serial killer Motherface in Dude Bro
Party Massacres I and II. At
least, some of them did. For a while, Brock Chirino was one of the lucky ones,
but his luck runs out in the opening scenes. Fortunately, he has an identical
twin brother to investigate his murder. Brent Chirino couldn’t buy a clue at
the clue store, but he looks halfway bright compared to the dim bulbs
surrounding him.
According
to its framing device, DBPM3 only
exists on a VHS tape some bored kid recorded off his local UHF channel back in
the day. Supposedly, the Reagan administration destroyed all other known
copies, presumably because it is nearly unwatchable. Frankly, DBPM3 is arguably too ambitious for its
own good, throwing in a cabal of satanic cops, a suspiciously needy girlfriend,
and a grieving father bent on avenging the daughter who died when the Delta Bi’s
flooded their small town as a prank. Perhaps the only thing they neglected to
include was fun.
The
5-Second Film team best known for their web videos obviously understands the
affection for low budget straight to drive-in and video 80s horror films, but
not nearly enough of their jokes land. They try to compensate with some
unexpectedly surreal imagery, making the film an unusually erratic viewing experience.
Still, there are two amusingly appropriate cameos from Larry King and Nina
Hartley. A lot of people watched them in the Eighties, but nobody wants to
admit it on the record. When it comes to the 5-Second rep players, probably
Kelsey Gunn shows the most polish as Samantha, the desperate girlfriend of a
bizarrely chaste Delta Bi.
