Club Dread is substantially underrated, but, at the same time, somewhat deserving of its lackluster ratings.

From the people that brought you Super Troopers comes a film that is ostensibly a comic take on the typical slasher film, featuring a killer loose on the remote Costa Rican island resort of a Jimmy Buffet-like figure played well by Bill Paxton.

The various sultry co-ed employees on the island begin dropping dead in mildly humorous ways and a panic ensues as the staff tries to cover up the killings, lest they be next.

The particulars of the film aren't necessarily important, because if you explain a comedy, it's no longer funny and then it's not worth watching. The important thing to note is that the theatrical cut, running at 104 minutes, is a full 15 minutes shorter than the unrated DVD edition. Jay Chandrasekhar fully stands by the theatrical cut as the intended and funnier cut, but he is so vastly wrong that it isn't even funny.

While I appreciated the film in theaters, I didn't find it nearly as funny as Super Troopers in any way and I was somewhat disappointed for some time after seeing it. Until I finally bought the unrated DVD, I found the movie to be enjoyable, amusing, and having many good lines, but vastly beneath Broken Lizard's potential.

It's very strange, but that 15 minutes of extra footage made all the difference in the world and catapulted the slight and somewhat malnourished movie up into the realm of their previous movie and even their far-superior follow-up, Beerfest. It's a night and day difference and I defy anyone that says the movie is not vastly improved with its extended opening and longer scene throughout. Comedy is, as they say, in the editing, and these missing chunks were felt even before I knew they were gone.

The plot of the film is, of course, enjoyably silly and features no real scares, but quite a few bloody laughs. The acting is excellent and, aside from the pitch-perfect comedy of the Broken Lizard troupe, features highlights from Bill Paxton, at his best, Jordan Ladd, and Brittany Daniel. Where comedy is concerned it ranks high, despite its flaws, and is well-deserving of more notice.

Now, if only we could get them to make movies faster.

IMDb

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