# Club Dread. Meh. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/club-dread-meh/293100 "2005-03-05T17:39:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/club-dread-meh/293100/1 "2005-03-05T17:39:07Z")
Or, “So _Super Troopers_ was a fluke, then.” So HBO finally got around to showing _Broken Lizard’s Club Dread._ The hubby and I missed the 12 minute window when it played at our local Superplex, and had been awaiting the cable premier with giddy anticipation, having found _Super Troopers_ to be work of sublime comic genius, seamlessly incorporating humor that ranges from slapstick to schoolyard to raunchy to highbrow (though barely.) _Club Dread,_ on the other hand, was, first and foremost, the eight-millionth slasher-film spoof in the last five years. I hadn’t quite clued into that from the previews, and I was disappointed when that turned out to be the film’s conceit. I don’t watch slasher films, so I totally didn’t get any subtle slasher parody, if indeed there was any. (There was some nice FX splatter, though.) Also there were a lot of Jimmy Buffett jokes. I caught the reference instantly, but I don’t have any more than a passing aquaintance with Parrotheads or Mr. Buffett’s oeuvre, so most of that was lost on me, too. It had a few fine comedic moments that were a dim glimmering of the brilliance that is _Super Troopers_, but largely it just fell flat. The chemistry wasn’t there. Despite the fact that they were filming on a tropical island covered with attractive, scantily clad people, they didn’t seem to be having _fun_. Maybe they should have stayed in Vermont? I can never hate Bill Paxton, whatever he plays, and it was great that they actually had him record some “Coconut Pete” songs. And it was cool that Farva got to bethe good guy. And I still want to have Jay Chandrasekhar’s babies, but only if he leaves off the dreadlocks wig. And growing the moustache again wouldn’t hurt. I see that there’s an unrated cut out on DVD. Would it be worth looking into? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/club-dread-meh/293100/2 "2005-03-05T17:44:05Z")
I pretty much agree. Some of the Jimmy Buffett jokes were funny - Pina Coladaberg and “Son of a son of a bitch” - but the movie fell pretty flat. It might’ve been an average movie if it hadn’t been the follow-up to the greatness that was _Super-Troopers_. Did anybody else feel like they ripped the death of the villain from _Cannibal!: The Musical_ ? ---
**Author:** ![Kyyrewyyoae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Kyyrewyyoae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyyrewyyoae)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/club-dread-meh/293100/3 "2005-03-05T20:55:52Z")
Agreed, it wasn’t anywhere as good as Super Troopers. I thought the live-action pac-man game was pretty funny though. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/club-dread-meh/293100/4 "2005-03-05T21:49:06Z")
> [@Kyyrewyyoae](#): > > Agreed, it wasn’t anywhere as good as Super Troopers. I thought the live-action pac-man game was pretty funny though. _snort_ Yes. That scene rocked. See, that’s the magic I’m talkin’ about. Why wasn’t there more of that? ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/club-dread-meh/293100/5 "2005-03-05T21:52:09Z")
My opinion on Club Dread is that it could not possibly live up to Super Troopers for one reason : In Super Troopers, you’ve essentially got a five-person buddy comedy. They’re friends. In Club Dread, they all hate each other. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/club-dread-meh/293100/6 "2005-03-05T23:21:01Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > My opinion on Club Dread is that it could not possibly live up to Super Troopers for one reason : In Super Troopers, you’ve essentially got a five-person buddy comedy. They’re friends. In Club Dread, they all hate each other. Well, that’s not quite accurate. Four of them hated Farva. _Club Dread_ (which I’d also looked forward to in great anticipation as well as clearing space on my DVD shelf next to _Super Troopers_) was too schizophrenic a movie to work. Was it a horror movie, a parody of horror movies, or a sex comedy? It simply wasn’t cohesive enough to work with that many primary characters. Compare it to, say, _Sean of the Dead_, which managed to be scary and hysterical, but it centered on a single character. If I could suggest ways to fix it but keep the five members of Broken Lizard, I’d limit the number of significant female characters to one (as was the case in _Troopers_) and reduce the stereotypical behaviour of the BL guys. What was with those stupid accents from Jay and the short guy? Yeesh. The movie’s too top-heavy to deal with pointless distractions unless they’re funny, and phony accents ain’t. The Pac-Man game was hilarious, though. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/club-dread-meh/293100/7 "2005-03-06T01:15:59Z")
Plus Super Troopers is basically them. There were a lot more people in the cast beside the Broken Lizard regs. Jordan Ladd just didn’t seem to cut it. (though she is almost as cute as her mom was) But I loved the Buffet jokes. Oh great! Now our lives depend on interpeting the lyrics of the world’s dumbest song! Hey I’m still in the room! ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/club-dread-meh/293100/8 "2005-03-06T01:28:48Z")
Brittany Daniel was mighty hot, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/club-dread-meh/293100/9 "2005-03-06T02:29:15Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Brittany Daniel was mighty hot, IMHO. Indeed. As is Lindsay Price. I agree, the movie sucked. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/club-dread-meh/293100/10 "2005-03-06T04:58:10Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Well, that’s not quite accurate. Four of them hated Farva. The fifth buddy in Super Troopers being the Police Chief fella, Brian Cox’s character. Not Farva. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/club-dread-meh/293100/11 "2005-03-06T17:50:13Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > The fifth buddy in Super Troopers being the Police Chief fella, Brian Cox’s character. Not Farva. Fair enough. Just don’t say “shenanigans” in his presence. Brian Cox and the rival police chief, Daniel von Bargen, had a great scene together (“Desperation is a stinky cologne”) and maybe _Club Dread_ was missing that small element of maturity to keep it grounded. I dunno. Movie sucked, is all. ---
**Author:** ![bittersweet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c57346/32.png) [@bittersweet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bittersweet)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/club-dread-meh/293100/12 "2005-03-06T23:16:20Z")
A friend of mine rented that movie, then came over my house to watch it. I found it too painful to bear, and left the room to clip coupons. It was just that ridiculous.