Club Dread (also known as
Broken Lizard's Club Dread) is a
2004The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...
comedyComedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. Also, films in this style typically have a happy ending . One of the oldest genres in film, some of the very first silent movies were comedies...
/
horror filmHorror films are movies that strive to elicit the emotions of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of death, the supernatural or mental illness...
, written by the comedy group
Broken LizardBroken Lizard is a comedy group best known for its films Super Troopers, Club Dread, and Beerfest. The five members of the group are Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske...
, who also created
Super TroopersSuper Troopers is a 2001 comedy film directed by Jay Chandrasekhar, written by and starring the Broken Lizard comedy group . Marisa Coughlan, Daniel von Bargen and Brian Cox co-star while Lynda Carter has a cameo appearance...
. It is
directedA film director, or filmmaker is a person who directs the making or production of a film. Some also consider a film producer to be a filmmaker....
by
Jay ChandrasekharJayanth Jambulingam Chandrasekhar is an American actor, comedian, writer, and film director with the comedy team Broken Lizard.-Biography:...
, one of the group members.
Though the story is set on an island in
Costa RicaCosta Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the east and south, the Pacific Ocean to the west and south and the Caribbean Sea to the east.Costa Rica, which translates literally as "Rich Coast", constitutionally...
, filming took place in
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
The opening overhead shots of the island were actually clips lifted from
Danny BoyleDanny Boyle is a British filmmaker and producer. He is best known for his work on films such as Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and Slumdog Millionaire...
's film
The BeachThe Beach is a 2000 drama film by the Trainspotting team of writer John Hodge, producer Andrew Macdonald and director Danny Boyle based on The Beach, a 1996 novel by Alex Garland...
.
Club Dread follows a familiar plot that stems from the novel
And Then There Were NoneAnd Then There Were None is a detective fiction novel by Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939 under the title Ten Little Niggers and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company in January 1940 under the title And Then There Were None...
by
Agatha ChristieDame Agatha Christie DBE , was an English crime writer of novels, short stories and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but is best remembered for her 80 detective novels and her successful West End theatre plays...
.
Club Dread (also known as
Broken Lizard's Club Dread) is a
2004The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...
comedyComedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. Also, films in this style typically have a happy ending . One of the oldest genres in film, some of the very first silent movies were comedies...
/
horror filmHorror films are movies that strive to elicit the emotions of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of death, the supernatural or mental illness...
, written by the comedy group
Broken LizardBroken Lizard is a comedy group best known for its films Super Troopers, Club Dread, and Beerfest. The five members of the group are Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske...
, who also created
Super TroopersSuper Troopers is a 2001 comedy film directed by Jay Chandrasekhar, written by and starring the Broken Lizard comedy group . Marisa Coughlan, Daniel von Bargen and Brian Cox co-star while Lynda Carter has a cameo appearance...
. It is
directedA film director, or filmmaker is a person who directs the making or production of a film. Some also consider a film producer to be a filmmaker....
by
Jay ChandrasekharJayanth Jambulingam Chandrasekhar is an American actor, comedian, writer, and film director with the comedy team Broken Lizard.-Biography:...
, one of the group members.
Though the story is set on an island in
Costa RicaCosta Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the east and south, the Pacific Ocean to the west and south and the Caribbean Sea to the east.Costa Rica, which translates literally as "Rich Coast", constitutionally...
, filming took place in
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
The opening overhead shots of the island were actually clips lifted from
Danny BoyleDanny Boyle is a British filmmaker and producer. He is best known for his work on films such as Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and Slumdog Millionaire...
's film
The BeachThe Beach is a 2000 drama film by the Trainspotting team of writer John Hodge, producer Andrew Macdonald and director Danny Boyle based on The Beach, a 1996 novel by Alex Garland...
.
Plot
Club Dread follows a familiar plot that stems from the novel
And Then There Were NoneAnd Then There Were None is a detective fiction novel by Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939 under the title Ten Little Niggers and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company in January 1940 under the title And Then There Were None...
by
Agatha ChristieDame Agatha Christie DBE , was an English crime writer of novels, short stories and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but is best remembered for her 80 detective novels and her successful West End theatre plays...
. In the movie, Coconut Pete (
Bill PaxtonWilliam "Bill" Paxton is an American actor and film director. He gained in popularity after his starring roles in the movies Apollo 13, Twister, and True Lies...
) is a has-been rock star who runs a non-stop party on his private island. Dead bodies begin to turn up, and the staff try to solve the murder mystery without any of the guests learning of the murders. The staff also have to try to avoid becoming the next victim, as the killer can only be one of them. One by one, they fall prey to the murder. But who is the killer on coconut island? That's for the staff to find out, one way or the other.
Soundtrack
On one of the disc's commentary tracks the filmmakers state that they screened the film for
Jimmy BuffettJames William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer, songwriter, author, businessman, and recently a movie producer best known for his "island escapism" lifestyle and music including hits such as "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday". He has a devoted base of fans known as "Parrotheads"...
, who was so amused that he requested permission to sing some of the film's songs on one of his live tours.
Alternate version
In 2005 an unrated edition was released to
DVDDVD, also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc,is an optical disc storage media format, and was founded in 1995. Its main uses are video and data storage...
. This version of the film contains an additional 15 minutes of footage for a 118-minute running time. It features several extended scenes, and also restores a subplot involving two cops (played by Paco Mauri and
Tony AmendolaTony Amendola is an American actor who is best known for his recurring role as the Jaffa master Bra'tac in Stargate SG-1.-Career:Major movie roles include Blow, The Mask of Zorro and its sequel, The Legend of Zorro...
) that was absent in the theatrical edition. Director
Jay ChandrasekharJayanth Jambulingam Chandrasekhar is an American actor, comedian, writer, and film director with the comedy team Broken Lizard.-Biography:...
states in one of the disc's commentary tracks that the original R-rated version is still the director's cut.
Critical reception
Club Dread has received mixed reviews, scoring 45% on review aggregator site
MetacriticMetacritic is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
based on 28 critics reviews, and 31% on
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films. The name derives from the historical cliché of throwing tomatoes and other produce at stage performers if a performance was particularly bad.- History :...
based on 95 reviews. According to
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films. The name derives from the historical cliché of throwing tomatoes and other produce at stage performers if a performance was particularly bad.- History :...
the overall consensus was "Comedy is too hit-or-miss in this slasher spoof".
Cast
- Brittany Daniel
Brittany Ann Daniel is an American television and film actress. She is the twin sister of actress and photographer Cynthia Daniel.-Early life and career:...
as Jenny
- Jay Chandrasekhar
Jayanth Jambulingam Chandrasekhar is an American actor, comedian, writer, and film director with the comedy team Broken Lizard.-Biography:...
as Putman
- Kevin Heffernan
Kevin Heffernan is an American actor, writer, producer, and director, and member of the Broken Lizard comedy group.Heffernan was born West Haven, Connecticut...
as Lars
- Steve Lemme
Steven "Steve" Lemme is an American actor, writer, and producer, and one of the members of the Broken Lizard comedy group. He attended Riverdale Country Day, a high school in New York, but after one year transferred to Fountain Valley School in Colorado, graduating in 1987...
as Juan
- Paul Soter
Paul Soter is an American actor, writer, and director, and one of the members of the Broken Lizard comedy group. As a child, he lived in Sacramento, Anchorage, Phoenix, and Denver. He graduated from Colgate University and was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity...
as Dave
- Erik Stolhanske
Erik Stolhanske is an American actor, writer, and producer, and one of the members of the Broken Lizard comedy group. He graduated from Breck School, then Colgate University...
as Sam
- Jordan Ladd
Jordan Elizabeth Ladd is an American actress.Ladd was born in Hollywood, California, the daughter of Charlie's Angels star Cheryl Ladd and David Ladd, a producer and former actor...
as Penelope
- Bill Paxton
William "Bill" Paxton is an American actor and film director. He gained in popularity after his starring roles in the movies Apollo 13, Twister, and True Lies...
as Coconut Pete
- Greg Cipes
Gregory Cipes is an American voice and film actor. He is also a singer, musician, composer, and professional surfer.-Life and career:...
as Trevor
- M.C. Gainey as Hank
- Lindsay Price
Lindsay Jaylyn Price is an American television actress, best known for starring in NBC's 2008 mid-season series, Lipstick Jungle. She is also known for her work on soap operas such as All My Children, The Bold and the Beautiful, and Beverly Hills 90210...
as Yu
External links