Film Review – Vicious Fun (2020)

There’s a fine art of blending effective horror and comedy, it takes reactive swish in a sharp script, alongside genuine, inventive scares with ample gore, that may or may not fall into splatter category.

Vicious Fun, another Shudder winner, has all of that gruesome goodness to a high degree. Being set in 1983, adds atmosphere.

Enthusiastic, formulated young writer Joel (Evan Marsh) is extremely fussy about the horror genre he knows and loves, he’s also covertly in love with cheerful roommate, Sarah (Alexa Rose Steele). It’s a one-sided crush.

On a night of many spontaneous decisions, Joel makes his first mistake by following Sarah’s latest boyfriend Bob (Ari Millen) to a Chinese restaurant in town before striking up a bizarre conversation over cocktails. Bob eventually departs leaving a now inebriated Joel to party with strangers until he passes out in a cleaning closet.

When he wakes up, Joel waltzes back into the now closed restaurant stumbling upon a circle of individuals sitting around the dancefloor which he was discoing across earlier in the evening.

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This group turn out to be serial killers participating in some kind of intervention who were expecting someone yet to turn up and think Joel is the guy.

Creating a charade, Joel lies to live, but is eventually found out with slips in his story and the return of Bob.
This pale, confident weirdo quickly figures out Joel is not actually part of their support group.

In steps ferociously sleek, Carrie (Amber Goldfarb) whom Joel had confronted when drunk, now helping him from being assassinated.

On a hidden agenda to take them all out, Carrie kicks ass and saves Joel until the police intervene.

Vicious Fun, proves to be a more than appropriate title, there’s a lot happening in quick succession. No classic, definitely inventive.

An enterprising retro vibe score composed by Steph Copeland heightens enjoyment.

Extra scene alert; don’t switch off during end credits.

Comedy, Horror | Canada, 2020 | 18 | 29th June 2021 | Shudder | Dir.Cody Calahan | Evan Marsh, Amber Goldfarb, Ari Millen, ulian Richings, Robert Maillet, Sean Baek, David Koechner, Alexa Rose Steele

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