Movie review: Horror film 'Monster Party' shocking - and awe-ful funny

<h3 class="briefHead">"Monster Party" - ★ ★ ★</h3>

Do you really want to know how horribly comic this horror movie can get?

A sleazy guy gives one of those slow, sarcastic claps to young Iris (Virginia Gardner) in his rich father's Malibu mansion.

One of the clapping hands belongs to him. The other one used to belong to Iris' boyfriend Dodge (Brandon Micheal Hall), now chopped to pieces in the bright, white upstairs bathtub.

I'm not particularly a fan of splatter movies, but Chris von Hoffman's "Monster Party" ranks as one of the better genre entries.

It packs much more suspense, humor and shock value than the current "Halloween" reboot. Plus, its main characters aren't as IQ-challenged.

Three burglars - Iris, Dodge and Casper (Sam Strike) - pose as caterers so they can gain access to the mansion party of patriarch Patrick Dawson (Julian McMahon).

He and his nervous wife (Robin Tunney) want their big party to be special, and from the get-go, we can tell something's out of sync.

Creepy Patrick sniffs Iris when he meets her. When the guests finally arrive, one young blonde looks at the caterers and silently mouths, "Please. Help. Me."

Von Hoffman has great fun playing with our curiosity as the guests gather around a table and introduce themselves with "I am an addict," followed by how long each has been "sober."

Make no mistake, "Monster Party" quickly escalates into Grand-Guignol gruesomeness. But it never crosses the line into the abject sadism of torture porn.

"I'm ready to make the Dawsons great again!" Patrick proclaims to his wife.

See? Von Hoffman directs every scene with loving, tongue-in-cheek fun.

Even if the cheek might be missing at the moment.

<b>Starring:</b> Sam Strike, Robin Tunney, Erin Moriarty, Julian McMahon

<b>Directed by:</b> Chris von Hoffman

<b>Other:</b> An RLJ Entertainment release. At the Woodridge Cinemas. Not rated: coarse language, extreme violence. 89 minutes