So what happens when you take Alfred Hitchcock's Rope, mix in a little swirl of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians, and throw both into the new millennium with some hipster Gen-X/Y dialogue? You get RSVP, Mark Anthony Galluzzo's sophomore effort after 1999's Trash. Can it possibly stack up against the classics that it tries so hard to emulate? Honestly, it cannot, but it proves to be an oddly fun movie in the process.

Nick (Rick Otto) is throwing a party for his best friend Jim, and has invited a bunch of cookie-cutter pals to attend. The only truly notable are Terry (played by Silent Bob's hetero-lifemate Jason Mewes in standard form) and Leigh (May's Nora Zehetner, but she's notable only because she's gorgeous...owee!) Everybody else proves to be mere fodder in Nick's murderous scheme. Jim, thought to be late to the party, has been murdered by Nick and stuffed, Rope-style, into a bench (which is foreshadowed in an earlier dialogue exchange more obviously than a snowshovel to the face). Nick's studies in criminal psychology have proven to be a bit taxing on the poor guy's mind, and he has set up the perfect crime to gain himself textbook notoriety. He starts knocking off partygoers in what he hopes to be an infamous scene of mass-murder for which he will never be caught, yet forever remembered.

RSVP was formulaic at best. It took previously established (and far better executed) ideas from some masters in the genre, and tried to give it a modern spin. You can guess, with almost pinpoint accuracy, who will live and who will die. Dialogue is standard "hip" twentysomething conversations, peppered with lingo and dimestore philosophy. Rick Otto himself comes across as a poor man's Ben Affleck, right down to line delivery and body language. But, despite all these flaws, the damn thing WORKS. While far from groundbreaking, RSVP is immensely goofy fun. There are a few almost sitcom-esque moments where someone is about to walk into one of the hiding places for the many corpses, and Nick's bipolar reactions when his plan starts to fall apart are pretty funny stuff. Add in some over-the-top killings, a game of "Twixter" (No licensing fees for YOU, Milton Bradley!) and an ungodly amount of marijuana, and you get 100 minutes of brainless fun.

Picture quality was decent throughout, although there was a fair amount of artifacting (especially in the beginning black shots) and some print damage. Colors were very good, giving added warmth to the earthy tones of the apartment. Sound was a 5.1 Dolby mix, but I heard nothing in the rear speakers. Besides that, it was generally very clear, and nice and bassy during the nailgun killings. Extras include a commentary track, deleted scenes, and a rather entertaining behind-the-scenes featurette. The featurette itself is the highlight, with Jason Mewes chasing around and antagonizing members of the crew with a camcorder.

I definitely wouldn't compare this movie to Hitchcock. I think it's an unfair comparison. Comparing true cinema classics to b-grade fare such as this is rather silly. While some of the flavor is there, this movie is far from being a classic. However, it does entertain, and is a perfect beer-and-popcorn movie.