2020 Directed by Cody Calahan
A loser whose life is passing him by accidentally stumbles into a secret underground self-help group for serial killers. Can he match wits with five killers and make it through the night alive? Stuck with only two options - kill or be killed, Joel will have to find his inner serial killer and muster a hidden strength to defeat the maniacs in his midst.
Evan Marsh Amber Goldfarb Ari Millen Julian Richings Robert Maillet Sean Baek David Koechner Alex Steele Kristopher Bowman Mark Gibson John Fray Joe Bostick Gord Rand MacKenzie Boyd-Garrison Randy Thomas Joanne Jansen Earl McLean Jr. Kameron Louangxay Natalie Jane Darryl Hinds Josette Jorge Craig Brown Ann Pirvu Tracy Baker Rodger Edralin Angel Adegboruwa Jeremy Hernandez Aisling Egan Tracy Rankin Show All…
As much as I love seeing a horror journalist in peril since 90% of the new wave of self proclaimed horror “journalists” in LA are jerkoffs pandering to whatever social justice will keep them relevant and hip for the next 17 minutes, I kinda checked out of Vicious Fun once I realized it was a doofy comedy thing. It’s ok… it'll definitely have an audience but I don’t think that audience is me—it’s a fun time and all but I prefer the more serious and less synth driven/less corny pandering of the other Canadian throwback, Summer of 84 to this—At least that movie felt like a real movie?
I think It’s time to retire neon, synths, setting movies in 1980-something, and move on to anything else.
It’s fine.
Vicious Fun is a successful subversion of the slasher genre, by way of a witty plot and its retro, visceral style. Despite its fair share of cliches and genre tropes, it's for sure a concise yet effectively engrossing ride for the general horror fans.
With its After Hours-ish storyline of a bonkers late night misadventure, Vicious Fun manages to squeeze the utmost entertainment values out of an ingeniously crafted story. Thanks to the memorable character building of its motley crew of villains that were ultimately perfected by its marvellous cast, Vicious Fun is able to leave an lasting impression for its gory, macabre portrait of a blood-soaked underworld where the innocent protagonist, played by an endearing Evan Marsh, has to…
Well, this was a delightful surprise.
Give me films drenched in moody neon color palettes with dreamy synth scores and I’ll forever be content. It is my favorite *aesthetic*.
This gives you that vibe in spades, plus it’s overflowing with heavily stylized charisma, wild splatter effects and a cinematic playfulness that belongs at the top of my ‘weird shit that feels good’ list. Always a favorite genre.
Give me your Jasons, your Bundys,
Your huddled masses yearning to kill free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the violent, the vicious to me,
I lift my lamp behind the Chinese restaurant.
Beginning was boring. I wish they stuck with the serial killer support group for longer. He coulda really stirred us up w some taxi killer stories. Needed more character building for the other killers as well. Oh well, it's still fun.
Reminded me alot of the creepshow holiday special with the shape shifters. Loved the synth score. Ari Millen really steals the show tho with his creepy Chuck Bass the killer impersonation 😂
While it could have been much vicious, this is definitely a hell of a fun movie.
I had no idea this film even existed until many of the horror fans I follow on Letterboxd started logging their entries. It got a pretty good reception from everyone around, so I decided to give it a go once I saw it was on HBOMAX.
And starting off, even though the use of the 80s for the entire setting of the film just felt unnecessary up to some extent, this film knows how to utilize it in a variety of ways. Though Steph Copeland's electric and vibrant synth driven score didn't fit as well as say a movie such as "Come True", it…
Kinda fun, but a few more drafts of the script would have gone a long way. For being a horror/comedy about a horror magazine writer getting caught up with some serial killers, it's not particularly funny. I kinda feel like horror nerds wrote this, which is great because I'm a horror nerd, but then didn't outsource any of the joke-writing to actual comedians. Also, why have horror nerds writing scripts if you are just gonna reference made-up horror movies? Idk why but that really bothered me. This could have relished in the love of early 80s horror (my favorite time-period for horror) but instead just talks about made-up movies.
I will give it a barely passing score though for a really great cold open, some good kills, a great villain and a good message on the importance of male/female friendship
This Shudder Original horror-comedy is based around a rather fun premise. Does it deliver on it? Well, partially at least.
The black humour is drolly amusing, the neon-drenched retro visuals are pleasing to look at and the practical gore effects are satisfyingly gruesome. However, the meta aspects are nothing radically new and the Assault on Precinct 13 riffery seen in the second half is just so-so (VFW did it better).
All in all, it could have done with a bigger budget and a bit more filmmaking muscle behind it all - but it's certainly not bad for a grisly Sunday afternoon viewing.
Vicious Fun Eh? (working Canadian title) was a lot of fun. I love this Letterboxd community, and this is yet another movie that I wouldn’t have heard about if not for all of your fantastic reviews on here. Pat yourselves on the back! My pandering is over. Since there are so many better reviews of Vicious Fun, I’m going to break this down with the good, the bad, and the vicious.
The Good:
This is a horror-comedy that works. The story of a (kind of) likable loser accidentally stumbling into a serial killer support group is unique and creative. The plot takes the audience for a fun ride I was totally on board with, and I’d very much watch a…
We are about to have a lot of fun tonight ☠️😈👻🎉🔥…
I was pretty hesitant about this, I wasn’t the hugest fan of the Oak room or let her out, but they both had elements to them that I liked.. and now I feel like Cody Callahan should do more horror comedies because this was a fucking blast.. it pays homage to the horror genre while making fun of it and all the various tropes.. the title is super appropriate, the action is awesome.. It’s the clear winner of the year for the movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously (next to psycho Gorman maybe) .. Don’t bother yourself by reading the plot I’ll just give you some key ingredients …
Panic Fest 2021
Film #22; Feature #6
Loved. Loved. Loved this film. I really hope this film finds an audience because it deserves to be seen.
A friend and I used to joke about never trusting anything with "fun" in the title, because it usually is not fun. You go through a town where there is some sort of raggedy amusement park called Fun City or Fun Town or Fun Zone. Those places are never actually fun. But this film puts the word fun right there in the title and actually delivers. It is indeed one of the most fun films I've seen in some time.
Set in a neon drenched 1983, the film follows Joel, a "horror journalist" for…
