In 2017 I saw then reviewed the first movie. I decided to watch it again for a better review after experiencing the insanity that was the film's sequel. The first movie is first, then I talk why II is so outrageous:
In my first of two reviews today, I decided to revisit and subsequently give this slasher a better rating (& also review that is written better, to state it plainly) than what I wrote in September of 2017. In these times where for years there has been “elevated horror” that usually doesn’t do much to thrill me, there’s other horror that just falls apart in the final act-I’m looking at you, Barbarian-and there’s still more that fall victim to the fallacies that make up modern filmmaking. As unpopular as it is to proclaim, 80’s slashers usually entertain me; they are unpretentious and can be a lot of fun. The Slumber Party Massacre fits that bill.
Famously written by Rita Mae Brown as a parody of the genre but produced as a serious film, there is still an undercurrent of a humorous tone, whether in dark comedic gags or funny dialogue. It’s as simple as you can get: a killer escapes from jail and goes on a rampage using a giant phallic drill, mostly at the house of Trish—who is having the titular event with some pals and a pair of boys that of course party-crash as new girl in town Valerie is across the street w/ her younger sister Courtney.
These slashers with all the petty young adult drama present (relationships, grades, etc.) is in full force here, but in this case I enjoy all the characters-from the scary-looking killer to the horny boys, the new girl and the bitchy judgmental girl-making the build-up to the killer raising hell at Trish’s house never a chore. The jump scares present were probably already cliché by 1982; those still tickled me pink. As this was also directed by a woman-Amy Holden Jones-perhaps the gratuitous female nudity was done as satire along with satisfying genre demands. The gory moments for certain will satisfy genre demands. The Casio keyboard soundtrack… well, it satisfied me! It was rather simplistic when it came to synth score but who cares when it was catchy and fit the film, right?
The genre will always be rife for parody so the original Brown script could have made for a hysterical spoof. That said, The Slumber Party Massacre being tongue in cheek instead still worked for me when the scenario & characters were done well in a basic slasher film milieu that was quick & rolled credits after 75 minutes. As I learned last night, Courtney became the lead of the film’s first sequel; her personality being completely different there didn’t really matter in a gonzo universe that world was but I’ll be posting that review (now).
Slumber Party Massacre II (1987)
Runtime: 77 glorious minutes
Directed by: Deborah Brock
Starring: Crystal Bernard, Kimberly McArthur, Patrick Lowe, Juliette Cummins, Heidi Kozak Haddad
From: Concorde Pictures
The rating is mainly due to the sheer amount of entertainment this gave me—and how this bedlam was totally unexpected. Last night via Shudder I decided to give this a spin as I've viewed the first in the series a few times now & found it to be a tongue in cheek take on the genre. II does a 180 and gives the viewer a campy, gonzo take & to me is best described as a fever dream had by either Vicky or Courtney, the siblings who were present in the first movie. The former is in “an institution” and the latter lives home alone with mom.
Courtney acts completely different in the sequel; perhaps I shouldn't nitpick when the movie is about her having nightmares about a driller killer who looks like John Travola playing Ford Fairlane if he was a psychotic wisecracking killer who then shows up in real life & at one point, literally sings and dances a tune before a kill & whose weapon is an absurd guitar/power drill combo... no, really.
The movie doesn't take itself seriously (character surnames like Kreuger and Voorhies made this abundantly clear if you didn't realize already at this point) and I had a lot of fun viewing this absurdity. Courtney's part of a girl rock band and they go to a relative's condo for the weekend to ostensibly practice on new songs but of course they instead party, which includes the rather bold pairing of champagne w/ corndogs. As there's hysterical 80's music throughout, rockabilly (?!), period clothing/hair and a dancing montage w/ all the girls... of course I guffawed often.
The best character was TJ, one of the boys who crashed the shindig. He is a total surfer dude and his voice is best described as, “Imagine if Ted 'Theodore' Logan grew up in Alabama then moved to California and became a dim-witted stoner!” He was a real trip. Many people will find this to be too outrageous and too goofy to fully enjoy. Personally, with all the grim modern horror out there, something so daffy and outlandish was amusing when it included those silly characters and still brought some nudity & a decent amount of gore for those craving such material.
Slumber Party Massacre II managed to entertain me quite a bit due to the combination of insane ideas and period details that are appealing to me. In addition, it's neat that women have directed & written all the entries in this series, including the remake.
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