Dude Bro Party Massacre III Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		3.0

Dude Bro Party Massacre III Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf November 8, 2024

According to the picture’s opening crawl, “Dude Bro Party Massacre III” is a film from the 1980s that was banned and destroyed by President Reagan due to its monumentally violent content. The only copy of the feature that managed to survive was a VHS tape of an early morning public access showing in Minneapolis, allowing the legend of “Dude Bro Party Massacre III” to live on once again, complete with awkwardly edited commercial breaks. At last, the public is gifted a chance to witness one of the most grotesque B-movies in cinema history, with its unrelenting terror, gore, and fraternity neuroses, stuffed into a slasher extravaganza that finally brings to the screen what the horror genre has been missing: a Larry King cameo.

After frat row has been decimated by tragedies, including the death of Delta-Bi legend Brock (Alec Owen), and terrorized by the wrath of serial killer Motherface, the locals are looking to put the past behind them, moving on with their excessive drinking and hazing of new pledges. Confronting his pain, Brock’s twin, Brent (Owen), arrives on campus, welcomed by Delta-Bi brothers Todd (Joey Scoma), Z.Q. (Mike James), and Turbeaux (Paul Prado). On the hunt for clues concerning the murder of his sibling, Brent quickly finds a home with the Delta-Bi gang, following the guys as they’re forced to spend the weekend at a lake house when a prank involving Dean Pepperstone (Nina Hartley) goes awry. Attempting to settle in and get the party started, the Delta-Bis are quickly marked for death by Motherface, who returns in full force, picking off the brothers one by one, leaving Brent to figure out who’s behind the murders and confront his own family issues.

“Dude Bro Party Massacre III” emerges from the minds of 5-Second Films, a “vertically-branded viral humor depository” making the jump from YouTube to the big screen. Primarily living up to their brand name with incredibly brief blasts of absurd comedy, 5-Second Films aspires to build something more substantial but just as strange with this feature-length effort. Of course, it doesn’t arrive in a neat package, assuming the look and sound of an old VHS recording, playing up the legend of “Dude Bro Party Massacre III” and its rareness, with the video tape all that remains of a second sequel few received the opportunity to see the first time around. Sending up cinema from the 1980s (and VCR culture) has become a welcome filmmaking trend over the last decade, challenging the production to come up with a different take on a traditional pantsing, clearing away tracking issues to emerge as a clever and madcap take on slasher messiness.

For the most part, “Dude Bro Party Massacre III” works as a blast of ideas and references. The production does a competent job compiling what looks like a wish list of screen events, including an impressive body count as frat guys and civilians are chopped, ripped apart, and exploded by Motherface, with blood delivered in streams, not drops. Featuring a mostly unknown cast (Patton Oswalt cameos as a police captain, Andrew W.K. shows up as a long lost party hound), the effort retains impressive energy, finding the players acting to a point of exhaustion, emphasizing one-lines and character idiosyncrasies as archetypes are slapped around, filling era-specific requirements of broadness and simplicity. Conjuring terror isn’t actually the goal here, with most of “Dude Bro Party Massacre III” as silly as can be, especially when it deals with the aftermath of Delta-Bi’s previous senior prank, where the gang accidentally flooded an entire town, killing everyone but the local paddle boat vendor. The production gets plenty of mileage out that subplot.

Fraternity panic makes up most of “Dude Bro Party Massacre III,” but fringe characters receive their chance to shine. Caught up in the hunt are cops Buttiker (Maria Del Carmen) and Sminkle (Brian Firenzi), a coked out lawman who sleeps with his eyes open and holds a dream to launch his own mobile library, which he unfortunately names “Bang Bus.” The addition of an outside perspective is welcome, and Firenzi ends up stealing the movie with his lovably daffy performance, nailing jokes with encouraging timing and giving himself fully to the wild nature of the feature.

Dude Bro Party Massacre III Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.35:1 aspect ratio) presentation for the film is meant to resemble a lost VHS viewing experience. In the supplements, footage from an unaltered "Dude Bro Party Massacre III" is included, but the main feature intends to lose clarity, supplying a low-res look at the endeavor. Detail isn't the goal here, but a general understanding of frame elements remains, examining the broad appearances of the cast and the locations. Colors are also manipulated, delivering a drained, duped look, but basic hues are appreciable. Skin tones are reasonably natural. Delineation is acceptable. Compression struggles at times, with some mild banding present.

Of special note are the English subtitles, which are loaded with misspellings and mistakes, making them unusable for the most part.

Dude Bro Party Massacre III Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix retains clear dialogue exchanges, even with an "aged" presentation. Performances are aggressive but balanced, and thespian choices are appreciable. Scoring supports with a clear synth sound, occasionally slipping into the surrounds for a more immersive experience. Sound effects also play with the rears, along with some group activity. Low-end isn't challenged.

Dude Bro Party Massacre III Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc 1

• Commentary #1 features "Cast Audio."

• Commentary #2 features "Filmmakers Audio."

Disc 2

• "It Came from the Internet: The Making of 'DBPM3'" (HD) includes "From 5-Second to Feature" (20:12), "Attack of the Script" (21:55 – audio is out of sync during the opening half of this segment), "Bro-Duction" (25:55), "Dude Bro Lives!" (16:51). The featurettes include interviews with Brian Firenzi, Michael Rousselet, Jon Worley, Paul Prado, Jon Salmon, Ben Gigli, Michael E. Peter, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Kelsey Gunn, Timothy Ciancio, Alec Owen, Maria Del Carmen, Patton Oswalt, Joey Scoma, Mike James, Tomm Jacobsen, Keith Calder, Sarah Farrand, Glenn R. Miller, Greg Sestero, and Jimmy Wong.

• Deleted Scenes (HD) include "Affirmations with Turtleneck & Flannel" (:33), "Original Ending" (1:47), "Alternate Ending" (2:35), "Magical Wonders" (1:02), and "Extended Scene on Paddy Paddle Boat" (1:08).

• "More Videos" explore "5-Second Films Supercut" (18:07), "Derek Teaches You French" (1:26), "Brock Teaches You Dancing" (1:11), and "Storyboard to Scenes Comparison" (7:37). "Deadmeat: DBPM3 Kill Count" is listed as well, but only contains a short Leonard Maltin joke which is also included as an easter egg.

• Trailers include "Official" (1:54, HD) "For Your Consideration" (1:27, HD), and "Original 2011 Sketch" (1:28, SD).

Dude Bro Party Massacre III Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Stretching "Dude Bro Party Massacre III" to 90 minutes is asking too much of the audience. The movie loses steam at the halfway point, crying out for a tighter edit that plays faster and more mischievous, but it soon becomes clear the feature is about establishing the working parts of 5-Second Films for a larger audience. Thankfully, moments of hilarity remain, and the picture is inventive in its adoration for the excesses of the genre and the world of VHS recording. "Dude Bro Party Massacre III" is a joke, but a fairly good one, allowing 5-Second Films a shot at the big leagues with this loving ode to nightmare fuel.