Fête sanglante

This is definitely a true '80s slasher film! Since "Slumber Party Massacre" was released in 1982, you can say this may have been one of the films to create the '80s cheesy/slasher films...which is great! It is your basic '80 horror film; slumber party, drinking, comedic moments...and of course, the escaped maniac who is on his way to the party! Keep an eye out for Brinke Stevens as Linda, as this was one of her first roles. This is definitely a popcorn flick; so just sit back, & enjoy yourself. Also, the late Robin Stille was one of the leads in this film. She appeared in a few other '80s horror films, & is truly missed!

Without further ado, this simply is an early 80's slasher that's worth seeing (at least once). If not for any other reason, then watch it for the fact that this was written and directed by two women. I still can't believe it! All women in this film are portrait as helpless victims (except for two or so). Most of the killings are bloody and gory. And after only 8 minutes in the movie, the whole teenage female basketball-team goes fully nude and hits the showers(!). The camera gratuitously focuses on boobs and buttocks. Who said women can't make a decent horror movie? Haha! So boobs galore, spiced up with some good-looking gore. Unfortunately there's no story (the movie's title actually is the story). And we know who the killer is right from the start of the movie (we see his face all the time). It's just a crazy man escaped from the loony-bin. I was at least expecting some kind of twist, but about halfway through the movie I gave up this wishful thinking and just enjoyed the rest of it, being as there weren't going to be any surprises anyway. But still, this is a must-see for everyone who calls himself an 80's slasher-fan.

After newspaper headlines and radio announcements declare the escape of notorious murderer, Russ Thorn (Michael Villella), Trish's (Michelle Michaels) parents leave her alone for the weekend. Trish decides to invite her friends from the girls' basketball team over for the titular event. All but that new girl, Valerie (Robin Stille)!

But first, it's shower time! Watch that soap now, girls! Ahem.

Meanwhile, Thorn is busy dispatching the unwary to their early graves, via his eager auger bit. When the party itself gets underway, the true, bloody fun begins.

Basically, made for pocket change, and starring no one in particular, THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE is far better than it should be. Director Amy Jones knew how to make a slasher film! She understood that the audience for such films are predominantly male, so she packed her movie with female nudity and splatter. The resulting 77 minutes are pure, spectacular, 1980's gold!

BEST SCENES: #1- The pizza delivery! #2- Any close-ups of Thorn's pop-eyed self! #3- The refrigerator raid! #4- Valerie's attempt at using the circular saw!

Do not miss the gruesome, pool-side finale! Watch for Brinke Stevens as an early victim...

While her parents are away for the weekend, Trish invites a few of her girlfriends over for the weekend. Their plans include beer, weed, and pizza. Plans are interrupted, however, by an escaped mental patient with a very large power drill that he enjoys plunging into his victims. Girls in pajamas (or less) and a deranged killer - sounds like a good mix.

I never realized the screenplay for Slumber Party Massacre was written by novelist Rita Mae Brown. Over the years, I've enjoyed her Mrs Murphy mystery series. I've read that she originally intended the movie to be a parody of the slasher genre, but the producers went ahead and made it a more serious movie. There's still a lot of humor in the film that I find quite funny - the refrigerator door scene near the end being one example. Also, knowing that this was originally meant to be a parody, it helps explain a lot to me about the killer and the rest of the movie. On his own, Russ Thorn is not very frightening - just odd. Some of his facial expressions in the finale are priceless. I haven't read through all the comments on IMDb, so I'm sure this has been endlessly written about, but exactly what kind of power source was he using with that drill? There was no power cord and I've never seen a battery powered drill that can maintain that much power for that length of time. It must have been one of those nuclear drills so popular in the early 80s. The giant drill also makes for a very unwieldy, noisy weapon. Not the weapon of choice when sneaking up on people. I'll bet this was most likely a leftover irony from the original script.

Since its release, I think I've now seen Slumber Party Massacre three times. I enjoyed it much more this time, but still can't rate it higher than a 5/10. I think that had they gone ahead and made this a full- on parody, it would have been a much better movie.

Totally unpretentious '80's slasher is a cheesy, but fun ride.

Some lovely young ladies decide to throw a get together, only to have some loonie with a drill stop in to kill them all.

Slumber Party Massacre is a slasher fan's guilty pleasure with a pretty silly edge to it! One might just gather that from the DVD cover or poster for this film. It takes the predictable elements of the "splatter" film and with a complete lack of seriousness has a ton of fun with them. It makes sense considering that this film was originally written to be a slasher parody, and frankly still works well as a parody. The acting, directing, and special FX are all B-grade stuff, but overall that helps rather than henders the mood of the film.

At any rate, this film is strictly a good-time party kinda film, certainly nothing to be taken serious, but just enjoyed for it's humor (both intended and unintended) with the horror genre.

*** out of ****