History Film / Stag

* AllforNothing: [[spoiler: When the police do finally arrive after Pete has been shot and they shoot Serena, the remaining members of the group are still arguing and assigning blame on everyone but themselves. After all the hours they spent trying to come up with a convincing story to explain what happened and avoid jail time, they are no closer to having a story than they were when they first started arguing about it. In the end, everyone except Dan gets at least three years in prison for Reckless Endangerment, Kidnapping, or both, they are unable to avoid the prison time they were attempting to, and their reputations they were trying so hard to protect are shattered after their successful prosecutions for the events. The two most worried about their reputations, Michael Barnes and Victor Mallick, end up getting sentenced to the most jail time, Victor because he ended up snapping and stating he was willing to shoot Serena, and Michael because he lied to the prosecutor for an immunity deal when he was just as guilty as everyone else, save for Dan.]]

''Stag'' is a 1997 American thriller film, directed by Gavin Wilding, made for Creator/{{HBO}} and later released theatrically. ''Stag'' features an ensemble cast including Creator/BenGazzara, Creator/AndrewMcCarthy, Taylor Dayne, Creator/MarioVanPeebles, Lawrence Leritz, William [=McNamara=], John Henson, Creator/KevinDillon, and Creator/JerryStiller. It was produced by Creator/{{Lionsgate}} Entertainment.

** Also: [[spoiler: Pete Weber, who gets his just desserts from Serena after spending the majority of the film suggesting solutions to their problem that included killing her.]]

* TheMillstone: Pete Weber. It's his idea to toss the stripper in the air [[spoiler: causing her death.]] He also orders all the phones be disconnected, very nearly getting everyone caught when the alarm goes off and the alarm company can't reach Victor on the land line. He also suggests numerous plans to make things go away, and ultimately is the main reason all the characters are in the mess they're in. [[spoiler: Even when he gets his just desserts, he inadvertently causes Serena's death when the police burst in right after she shoots him, and she turns towards the cops, guns in hand, and they think she's an active threat and shoot her.]]

''Stag'' is a 1997 American thriller film, directed by Gavin Wilding, made for Creator/{{HBO}} and later released theatrically. ''Stag'' features an ensemble cast including Ben Gazzara, Creator/AndrewMcCarthy, Taylor Dayne, Creator/MarioVanPeebles, Lawrence Leritz, William [=McNamara=], John Henson, Creator/KevinDillon, and Creator/JerryStiller. It was produced by Creator/{{Lionsgate}} Entertainment.

* DrivenToSuicide: Timan. Early in the film, Pete discovers that Timan has a secret gay lover and quite publically threatens to blackmail him over this. Later, the realisation that he is unlikely to be able to extract himself from the situation without either going to prison or helping to cover up a major crime (or, in extremis, becoming an accessory to murder), combined with the fact--that even if he does somehow escape with life, family, career and reputation intact--he will still be under Pete's thumb, drives him to [[SuicideBySea drown himself in Victor's swimming pool]].
* DwindlingParty: Played with. Even though the movie focuses on the group simply trying to come up with solutions to save their reputations and avoid prison after the deaths of Kelly and Stoker, [[spoiler: Ben has a massive heart attack and dies after attempting to fight Dan, Timon commits suicide by drowning himself in Victor's pool, Pete gets fatally shot by Serena, and Serena gets killed when the police mistake her for an active threat when she turns towards them brandishing two guns.

* AHouseDivided: Initially the ten men are agreed that they will be unanimous I'm whatever action they decide to take regarding the two dead bodies in the living room, and the live stripper they have imprisoned In the bedroom. However, as the night wears own, relationships become strained and cracks start to show in the united façade, especially as some of the plans suggested become more...'drastic'.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: While Dan is one of the most moral characters in the film, and argues against killing Serena every step of the way, that doesn't mean he doesn't have his moments of being a jerk, especially when he comes up with a solution that involves kidnapping Serena's son permanently so she would report what happened to the police.

* MamaBear: The guests really compound their folly when they decide that the best way to ensure Serena's cooperation is to threaten her son. Never underestimate the protective insticts of a SingleMomStripper.

* ObviousVillainSecretVillain: Creator/AndrewMcCarthy's all-black-wearing, extortionist drug dealer on parole introduction (Complete with a screen crawl that lets us know all of it, and also that he's self-employed) lets the audience know this is a bad dude who is going to be a serious headache. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, so many of the other party guests are so anxious to avoid prosecution they eagerly side with Pete on a lot of his ideas, even when they go to a murderous extreme.]] As for the secret villain, [[spoiler: While Victor eventually folds to the pressure and decides to kill Serena to protect his impending marriage and reputation, in the end, the secret villain is actually Michael Barnes, who is more than happy to let things play out (He leaves the room for legal cover during one tense sequence, and after the police arrive, he attempts to cut a deal to throw everyone else under the bus and protect himself. It doesn't work.]]

* SuicideBySea: Timan--seeing no way out of the spiraling CrimeAfterCrime situation he is trapped in--drowns himself in Victor's swimming pool.

** [[spoiler: After Victor's nosy neighbor trips the alarm a second time, and the landlines have been disconnected at Pete's orders, a tense moment is interrupted by a call to Victor's cell phone from the alarm company. Since the alarm was tripped and reset, but they didn't get an all-clear call from Victor as he gave them previously, (And they couldn't call Victor due to the phones being out) The alarm company realistically notifies the police to investigate before reaching Victor on his cell phone. He panics and calls off the police, but they do arrive, and actually get out of the car before we see them respond to the radio call from the alarm company confirming it was another false alarm and leave.]]
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: While he ends up a JerkAss as the film progresses, in the early goings, Serena attempts to seduce Victor, basically telling him if they have sex, no one will ever know. But Victor, who's about to be married, maintains his scruples and turns Serena down.

* BigBad: Pete Weber. [[spoiler: While all of the guys, save for Dan and Timon, are largely of the JerkAss variety, Pete is the worst of all. He not only has a lot to lose, being on parole, but most of the more extreme solutions discussed to deal with the problem are Pete's ideas.]]

* IntoxicationEnsues: The straightedge Michael consumes several of the brownies Jon bakes, not realising that they contain hash.

* NosyNeighbour: One of the main threats of exposure the men face is Victor's neighbour Ben who keeps coming over to investigate the noises coming from Victor's house. Every time, one of the party-goers has to be sent out to divert him. Given the noises include gunshots and an imprisoned stripper kicking out the glass in in upstairs window in an attempt to escape, he is right to be suspicious.

* SingleMomStripper: Serena is a stripper and prostitute (she sleeps with some clients to earn extra cash) who has a 10 year old son Jamie at home. When the men learn of this, they try to use her son as a bargaining chip against her.

* ObviousVillainSecretVillain: Creator/AndrewMcCarthy's all-black-wearing, extortionist drug dealer on parole introduction (Complete with a screen crawl that lets us know all of it, and also that he's self-employed) lets the audience know this is a bad dude who is going to be a serious headache. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, so many of the other party guests are so anxious to avoid prosecution they eagerly side with Pete on a lot of his ideas, even when they go to a murderous extreme.]]

* ObviousVillainSurpriseVillain: Creator/AndrewMcCarthy's all-black-wearing, extortionist drug dealer on parole introduction (Complete with a screen crawl that lets us know all of it, and also that he's self-employed) lets the audience know this is a bad dude who is going to be a serious headache. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, so many of the other party guests are so anxious to avoid prosecution they eagerly side with Pete on a lot of his ideas, even when they go to a murderous extreme.]]

* ObviousVillain: Creator/AndrewMcCarthy's all-black-wearing, extortionist drug dealer on parole introduction (Complete with a screen crawl that lets us know all of it, and also that he's self-employed) lets the audience know this is a bad dude who is going to be a serious headache. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, so many of the other party guests are so anxious to avoid prosecution they eagerly side with Pete on a lot of his ideas, even when they go to a murderous extreme.]]

''Stag'' is a 1997 American thriller film, directed by Gavin Wilding, made for Creator/{{HBO}} and later released theatrically. ''Stag'' features an ensemble cast including Ben Gazzara, Creator/AndrewMcCarthy, Taylor Dayne, Creator/MarioVanPeebles, Lawrence Leritz, William [=McNamara=], John Henson, Creator/KevinDillon, and Jerry Stiller. It was produced by Creator/{{Lionsgate}} Entertainment.

* MamaBear: The guests really compound their folly when they decide that the best way to ensure Serena's cooperation is to threaten. Never underestimate the protective insticts of a SingleMomStripper.

''Stag'' is a 1997 American thriller film, directed by Gavin Wilding, made for Creator/{{HBO}} and later released theatrically. ''Stag'' features an ensemble cast including Ben Gazzara, Creator/AndrewMcCarthy, Taylor Dayne, Mario Van Peebles, Lawrence Leritz, William [=McNamara=], John Henson, Creator/KevinDillon, and Jerry Stiller. It was produced by Creator/{{Lionsgate}} Entertainment.

* ChekhovsGun: Jon's video camera. He is shooting footage of the party in the early scenes and only puts the camera away when situation goes to hell and Kelly and Stoker die. However, the viewer is certainly aware of it (and, if they are paying attention, it even remains in plain sight in scenes in the lounge), so it does not come out of nowhere when it plays a roll in the denouement.

* DrivenToSuicide: Timan. Early in the film, Pete discovers that Timan has a secret gay lover and quite publically threatens to blackmail him over this. Later, the realisation that he is unlikely to be able to extract himself from the situation without either going to prison or helping to cover up a major crime (or, in extremis, becoming an accessory to murder0, combined with the fact--that even if he does somehow escape with life, family, career and reputation intact--he will still be under Pete's thumb, drives him to [[SuicideBySea drown himself in Victor's swimming pool]].