Sleepover Nightmare

I have been looking forward to checking this little movie out since it was shot in my area. I came in with very low expectations, but was actually a little surprised by the end. The story is very formulaic 80's fare, yet has a subtle charm. Richard Olak is great as Harry. The acting overall was not too bad, for being a lot of first-timers. The film is overall a little rough though and was not without it's problems. One thing that really bugged me was that the party ends before it even gets dark. What kind of party ends before night? Also it's called Sleepover Nightmare, and there is no real 'sleepover'. Kind of odd, but obviously used to get more focus on the four lead characters. Which is no big deal. The killer is nothing amazing, fairly cheesy and his 'origin' sequence really makes no sense, although some of his kills where very original. For gore hounds, it rates a little lower for the shear fact that most money shots are implied and out of camera frame. Recommended to anyone who is fans of low-budget horror looking for an easy watch.

The story is not original at all, but it is exactly more of what slasher fans want: people getting killed by a crazy psycho. In this case, teenagers (it is always them) are killed while in a party, at a remote house, by an unmasked - but long-hair-covering-the-face type of - killer. Pretty innovative, huh? But as I said, it just follows the road of 95% of the other titles in the subgenre. The real problem is that its OK script could have resulted in another average slasher movie, had they been granted more money to get decent producers, directors and actors - I must say that the guy who plays the killer acts well his part, though. It looks as if they used an old Cybershot to record it, giving the tone of a completely amateur project.

Telefilm Canada is government agency that helps fund movies and TV shows. It has been criticized for mostly funding obscure films with little appeal to the general public. It has been trying to fund more mainstream movies but it's too bad they didn't pass on this one. It was on a movie channel and I began watching I immediately assumed it would be a bad movie and it surpassed my expectations. But I was stuck on the couch and wanted to see how bad it would get. After watching the movie I assumed it was a first time director who somehow got the financing together. In Canada productions are often made by people who know how to write the proper grant applications not the people who can produce something of quality. But I found out the director has been around for many years making bad movies and I guess he knows the ins and outs of financing but never learned how to write or direct a movie. I thought at first it might be an over the top movie that was meant to be humorous but that was not the case it was a clichéd slasher film without any redeeming features except the bodies of some of the women in it. But if I want to see attractive woman I can watch an adult movie and they take their clothes off. This movie has no nudity but a fair amount of cleavage. It makes no sense and one doesn't care about any of the characters. Avoid this film. Don't let it make any money and perhaps the Canadian Government will be more careful about financing films. Movies can be mainstream and good at the same time. I hope Telefilm Canada learns that lesson one day.

First off, I'm not a big fan of slasher movies. I bought Sleepover Nightmare because it was filmed at my favorite performer's house. But it's an okay movie. I'm glad most of the gore was implied rather than explicitly shown! Same for the sex scenes. And the characters at least showed some sense by sticking together once they realized what was happening.

It did seem odd that the party ended so early and most of the kids left so soon, but I suppose that was necessary so more attention could be focused on the main characters.

A question though - don't Canadian cars have airbags, especially the police cars? All those car crashes and not one airbag deployed? Give me a break! Still, I think this is a movie that people who like this genre would enjoy.