Horror Movie Review: The Dinner Party (2020)

From writer/director Miles Doleac comes The Dinner Party. Starring Bill Sage, Jeremy London, Anne Williams, Mike Mayhall, Alli Hart and Ritchie Montgomery.

A classy, sexy, stylish and violent horror that takes many a surprising turn. Held up by strong performances, top effects and a gleeful finale.

It sees playwright Jeffery Duncan (Mike Mayhall) and his wife Haley (Alli Hart) arrive at a dinner party hosted by renowned surgeon Carmine Braun (Bill Sage). The party is for Jeffery to try and secure funding for his latest play and sees a whole host of eccentric personalities joining the fray.

The upper class of the art and cultural world, few are likeable but that’s kind of the point. Each introduced in their own unique and decadent way. Jeffery is desperate to fit in amongst these people much to the chagrin of his wife who is uncomfortable and out of place.

She has good reason to feel that way too. For as the night goes on and conversations turn to the occult, the true purpose of the dinner party is revealed. One that involves blood… a lot of blood.

A slow-burn of a horror, The Dinner Party makes it clear early on that this is not going to be a normal dinner party. However, it still manages to hold back enough that when things do take a dark turn, it’s still shocking.

A lot of this can be laid at the feet of the actors involved. A stellar bunch who really embody the disconnected elite characters they are supposed to play. They ooze class but are also a resentful and bitter bunch. The scenes at the dinner table where they share stories is captivating.

The anticipation for violence and gore builds and when it is unleashed it is in great fashion. As we said, The Dinner Party is a violent movie and pulls no punches with what it implies and shows.

When the inevitable tables are turned, we get an extra notch as the film becomes more frantic. This is a film where you’ll be cheering on the would be victim and hoping our cast of villains get their comeuppance.

It’s thoroughly enjoyable with only a few scenes feeling unnecessarily padded out and the introduction of a corrupt cop not hitting the mark. The latter could have been removed completely and it wouldn’t have made a difference.

Aside from that, The Dinner Party is recommended viewing.