Humor takes a dark turn in ‘Club Dread’

If awards-season burnout has resulted in a sudden, overwhelming aversion to classy, high-toned movies, the dumb fun of “Club Dread” may provide an antidote. Make that smart, dumb fun.

The latest from the Broken Lizard comedy team concerns an island resort catering to drunk college students where the partying is nonstop hearty until someone starts killing the staff.

The troupe’s previous effort was the small-town-police comedy “Super Troopers.” A modest success at the box office, that film has developed an afterlife on cable and home video, and has achieved something of a cult following within the armed forces.

In their newest film, all the troupe members play roles that knowingly tweak their previous characters. But here’s the real secret to “Club Dread”: Not only is it a loving throwback to the spring break sex comedies of the troupe’s collective youth, but it also skillfully grafts on the thrills of a stalker/slasher movie. Screaming with laughter can turn to just screaming.

The cast also features Bill Paxton as the washed-up rocker (his well-worn signature hit is “Pina Colada Burg”) who owns the island, Brittany Daniel as the obsessively fit aerobics instructor and Jordan Ladd as a guest who may be more than merely nutty.

Working in an amiably irreverent manner inspired by the enduring early comedies of Ivan Reitman, John Landis and Harold Ramis, the egalitarian-minded Broken Lizard team again shares writing credit on “Club Dread,” with member Jay Chandrasekhar getting the director’s credit.

-- Mark Olsen