Party Bus To Hell (2017)

***Fun small-budget horror in the Nevada desert, but trashy and one-dimensional*** A Las Vegas bus full of partyers travels though Nevada to the Burning Man Festival when they get stuck in the desert and a diabolical cult attacks. Tara Reid has a small part in the opening act. “Party Bus to Hell” (2017) has the same basic plot as the even lower-budget “The Craving” (2008), but exchanges the deadly creature for the evil cult, not to mention “The Craving” is serious horror while “Party Bus” is decidedly horror comedy. The desert locations, satanic cultists and goofy-costumes also bring to mind “Race with the Devil” (1975) and “The Road Warrior” (1981) (“Mad Max” is even mentioned in the movie). But it’s by far the least of these with “The Craving” being the best of the lot despite its spare change budget (don’t get me wrong, “The Road Warrior” is definitely worthy and “Race with the Devil” has its points of interest). The best things about “Party Bus” are the spectacular desert locations, quality soundtrack with some great metal and the amusing, kinetic tone. The inevitable creature looks quite wicked as well. But it’s all diminished by wallowing in a filthy spirit that borders on porn, hampered by sub-par women, except for one or two. Another flaw is the one-dimensional nature of the bulk of the film: A group confined in a bus with ee-vil people attacking outside. It gets dull after a while. The awful “Vampegeddon” (2010) is another micro-budget comparison, but “Party Bus” is significantly better. The movie runs 1 hour, 21 minutes and was shot in Nevada. GRADE: D+