The film directed by Colton David Coate and Michael Coate, Guys at Parties Like It, is the most recent installment in feminist horror. In this movie, which is set at a fraternity party, a sorority sister ends up being involved in a flimsy hazing and is caught in a series of mishaps. The film’s neon lighting, kinetic cinematography, special effects and, most importantly, fashion is a visual feast by itself. But like the past horror films, Black Christmas (2019), Promising Young Woman, and Men, its style overpowers the substance of the film. The central points of focus in these films are completely visual and minimal to non-existent. The analysis of rape culture, toxic masculinity, and plethora of cliches that surround girlbosses are used far too excessively to the why the film fails to deliver.
The film chronicles Mary (Monica Garcia Bradley), a sorority sister known for being very loose. She goes to a party at the wild Delta Delta Chi house which happens to be having an initiation ceremony for pledges that same night. Each pledge is required to find a girl and “V” card them by the end of the night or their brothers will do it for them. Mary gets accidentally caught up in this ritual when a lone, desperate pledge named Brad (Anthony Notarile) realizes she is an easy target. Mary finds herself trapped in a game of cat and mouse at the frat house as she seeks to escape a horde of fraternity brothers who, for some reason, are hell bent on helping Brad win at any cost.
As guys at Parties Like It exemplifies, one does not need money to create a good movie. Cinematographer Corey Green understands how to create and keep an atmosphere. Although there is only one primary setting for the film, the movement of the camera and frequently changing lights at the party make the place interesting. Furthermore, the multiple chase scenes are also unique from one another while mix of diegetic music, party music, and ambient music creates an atmosphere that is palpable with anticipation.
The gore and blood created by a frat’s criminal activity is visceral and well done. The special effects were phenomenal, and Green makes sure to zoom in. I remember Guys at Parties Like It. All of the blood was amazing, but like I said it’s nothing in comparison to Terrifier 2.
The script has one major downfall, which is not being good. The only people we sympathize with are Mary and her sisters, as many horrendous things are executed to them. All of this is pity, alongside the pathetic semblances of character development, which is an even worse nightmare filled with cues to terrible events and terrible Twitter girlboss quotes. Right from the start, the audience is provided with minimal backstory and no time is invested in making the characters appealing. It would have been good if these sisters showed signs of being terrible people prior to the party. This represents a world in which every victim, no matter how insufferable they may be, is viewed as an “awful” representation of the media in regard to rape culture not just justice seeking. These girls are nothing more than silent victims contributing to the increasing attitude of “sluts can say no.”
This is an unusual decision given that there is so much footage of how truly horrible the brothers of Delta Delta Chi are. Tony (Pablo Samstrom) appears to be the president, and he’s some sort of coke-fuelled Mafioso. Virgin sadomasochist is broad. Of course, a brother, Kyle (Jackson Trent), is seen arguing with a girlfriend he has been filming without her knowledge and later has sex with her when she is extremely drunk. Perhaps the most baffling aspect is a brother who is snapback-deep in the closet, Connor (Yuhua Hamsaki), who also happens to be Mary’s gay best friend.
It was Connor who initiated the gossip regarding Mary’s sexual habits, and he does it once and it’s never addressed again. The character seems to add little of substance apart from the punishment for pledges who do not take the “V card”. It feels as if more effort could’ve been spent fleshing out Mary and her sister’s characters.
Guys at Parties Like It is engrossing from an engineering perspective; however, its screenplay and characters dilute the theme regarding toxic masculinity and rape culture. Although the film’s gore, sound, and camerawork are great, all these things are just frills on an incomplete artifact. Mary, our protagonist, and her sorority sisters are nothing but one dimensional characters whose only purpose seems to be to inflict pain on them. The male characters, on the other hand, caricature of a single enormous gay joke. They are diabolical in a way that is cartoonishly absurd. The film has no fresh insights, and it remains an incredibly outlandish and mediocre attempts of critique.
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To watch more movies like GUYS AT PARTIES LIKE IT (2024) visit hurawatch.