Party Invaders - DVD

Film: Actually, David (Rhys Wakefield) and Jill (Ashley Hinshaw) are a real dream couple. But through a stupid mix-up David presses his lips on those of another girl, which Jill of course observes and immediately acknowledges by breaking up with her boyfriend. A big party is his last chance to win Jill back. His buddy Teddy (Logan Miller) sees the decadent bash as merely the perfect opportunity to have a hot adventure. Driven by hopes of reconciliation and teenage hormones running wild, the boys don't realize that a meteorite has struck nearby, releasing a mysterious electrical charge. Its effects are soon felt by the wildly partying partygoers. Just when David starts his last attempt to convince Jill of his feelings and Teddy is having fun in bed with the attractive Melanie (Natalie Hall), the electric voltage from outer space causes a time jump with sinister consequences: because suddenly all party guests exist twice...

Party Invaders uses a really original basic idea with high entertainment potential. Director Dennis Iliadis, known to genre fans for his remake of the horror classic Last House on the Left, has attempted to cross the classic body-snatching stuff with teen party movies like Project X or, of course, American Pie, and spice it all up with a little dash of And Every Day is Groundhog Day. It's a wild mix that works extremely well in some moments, but doesn't quite ignite in other scenes.

When Teddy can't believe his luck that he just had hot sex with a girl like Melanie, only to suddenly find himself in bed with her second version, it's similarly amusing as the way Alison (Suzanne Dengel) deals with her second version (played by Dengel's twin sister Colleen). As the time jumps get closer to now, the production picks up the pace as well, which greatly increases the entertainment factor. In the first half of the film, where the plot is mainly determined by the debauched partying with drinking bouts, bikini models and a sushi girl, the story, on the other hand, dwells too much on trivialities that get a bit monotonous in the long run. If there had been a little less partying and a little more invaders, Party Invaders could have been a thoroughly amusing fantasy fun. As it is, the whole thing unfortunately lacks the final kick to leave a lasting impression despite the good basic idea.

However, even if Iliadi's latest directorial effort doesn't have what it takes to become a genre cult film, it at least manages to keep viewers thinking about the film's ending for a while after the credits roll. At this point, of course, not too much should be revealed about the final third of Party Invaders. Suffice it to say that the resolution leaves room for interpretation and you can definitely discuss the ending for a long time. And that is - as long as you don't succumb to the temptation to interpret too much into the movie - really a lot of fun.

So Party Invaders falls short of its potential and is also no milestone of neither the teen party movie, nor the fantasy horror movie. But as an enjoyable entertainment for genre fans, who are not averse to the somewhat rougher teen humor, this unusual body-eater variant is absolutely successful. And therefore there is also a bottom line satisfied: worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The image of the DVD shows a decent overall sharpness. Isolated washed out moments are deliberately used stylistic devices and are not a flaw. The color scheme is coherent and also the contrasts can convince. Only in the darker scenes is there a slight loss of detail here and there. The sound is primarily determined by the dialogues and the party soundtrack. The latter provides a decent use of bass and the multichannel range also comes into play every now and then. Good!

Extras: Bonus features include short making of clips on the Sushi Girl attack (approx. 1:08 mins) and the pool house fight (approx. 2:52 mins), with the former taking a look at rehearsals and filming, while the pool house fight is presented as a comparison between storyboard and finished scene. There is also a casting shot (approx. 3:08 mins), special effects clips (approx. 1:07 mins) and photos of the make up effects (approx. 0:59 mins). The trailer rounds out the very concise bonus offerings.

Conclusion: Party Invaders is a mix of The Body Snatchers Are Coming, the party movie Project X, and various time warp films. Mystery and sci-fi meet crude American Pie humor here. It takes some getting used to, but it's a lot of fun - especially since you can rack your brains over the ending quite wonderfully. The DVD presents the film in good picture and sound quality, the extras are quite nice, but quite negligible. Even if the film can not quite stand up to the possibilities of the original starting idea and the party scenes seem a bit monotonous in the long run, there is for the still quite high entertainment value a clear: Recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp