Slumber Party Massacre

It's 1993. Four girls are having a slumber party in a cabin. Chad is Trish's jealous ex. All of them are attacked by the drill-welding killer, Russ Thorne. Trish is the sole survivor. It's present day. Dana leaves her overprotective mother and joins her friends on a girls weekend. Their car breaks down and they end up back to where the attack originally occurred.

It starts as a standard exploitation horror with a bit of comedy but it gets annoying as the standard becomes predictable. Then comes the shocking twist. It turns the whole movie upside down. I love the idea but not always the execution. It's jumping over the fine line to make fun of the original movies. Maybe a bit of subtlety would be more compelling. For example, Guy 1 and Guy 2 could simply be Chad 1 and Chad 2. It's possible to have two Chads in the same friends group. By doing the two Guys, the movie stops existing in the real world. This world isn't that real to begin with. Finally, there is the last act. The girls are being too girlie. There is something obvious. It keeps going on and on. It's better to cut it short. All in all, this is more imaginative and better made than the original.

This is definitely more of a reboot than a remake. It has a good setup and includes myriad homages to the original and even its wacky sequel.

The intent of the OG to satire the slasher and bring out strong female characters was somewhat subverted by producer Roger Corman (while still creating a very progressive slasher for its time). Well, this one goes for that concept full bore and I feel it achieves the goal.

There are a number of very funny scenes, including one with the guys next door having a half naked pillow fight & the girls stepping in to protect them. There's also a hilarious shower scene that just has to be seen to be believed. Sometimes things are a little too "on the nose" but it's still very fun. Oh, and the kills are pretty good too.

This reboot was a ton of fun.

A bunch of teenage girls go on vacation at the spot where another bunch of teenage girls were killed by driller killer, Russ Thorne, in the 90's and discover that he's still out there, looking for fresh blood to spill.

Though billed as a reboot, Slumber Party Massacre could just as easily be another sequel in the original franchise. Director Danishka Esterhazy paces the film well with a good amount of comedy and horror. The script has a few twists and surprises up its sleeve and turns the tables where they needed to be.

I suppose the director, whom I understand is a female feminist, wanted to combat the exploitation of women in movies by exploiting men. Not sure how or why that tactic makes sense. Bottom line, the movie is not very good, regardless of who's being exploited. I don't watch movies for political statements, I watch them to be entertained. This movie didn't entertain me.

2/10- poorly made movie on all levels.

Slumber Party Massacre has this interesting idea; "reimagining" the original while trying to subvert the genre's clichés. Well, it fails. At least not too miserably, since its confusion at being either satire or parody will give you a good laugh or two.

It's sleazy not because it has TV-Movie quality written all over it, but because its idea was done half-baked. While not as smart as it thinks it is, nevertheless is a much better film than the latest Black Christmas.