Slumber Party Massacre (1982): Piece 1 of 3

 

I'll include my very early December 2006 IMDb review in this piece as I finally get all I can off my mind this year on this infamous 80s slasher film which has its fans and critics. I was rather surprised at the amount of negative response when moving through the IMDb user comments, as from what I have noticed in terms of the YouTube horror podcast sphere, The Slumber Party Massacre (1982) seems to be more well regarded. I guess it will always depend on what you want and expect as opposed to what you reject and disregard.

IMDB review:

No big-breasted teen chick is safe when escaped driller killer Russ Thorn crashes your slumber party. The guys aren't safe, either. The film also focuses on two sisters who live across the street from the girls being terrorized. The film shows that these sisters may be the only hope for those being chased and surrounded by the killer.

Made by women, I'm guessing they wanted to prove that the females can create a film as luridly exploitive and violent as their male counterparts..and perhaps do it better! They do depend on a LOT of false scares, and the plot is a bit cliché, but there are plenty of gory thrills to keep slasher fans entertained. One thing that is perhaps a draw is that the killer really gets his comeuppance. I'd say it's one of the better slasher films of the early 80's.

The women involved in the film process that brought this film to the screen has been the much discussed topic for 40 years. I think the feminist edge meant to be projected does make it through translation even if the very exploitative elements -- particularly the locker and shower scenes, and the removal of clothes for the slumber party, where nudity was plenty -- are there as well.

I noticed slasher fans were critical of the lack of gore, but I'm not sure where that comes from. Maybe they watched a cut version, I don't know. The violence in the film can get rather grisly, and there is one moment in the film where Russ Thorne (Michael Villella) counts the bodies he has accumulated in a vehicle trunk!

There were holes in foreheads, knife mutilations, open stomachs, protruding machete (I'm guessing to mimic Thorne being penetrated), a hacked off hand, gouged eyeballs, a dead body in a refrigerator, and a very bloody arm wound that costs the victim her life. I do agree there are plenty of cutaways as Thorne brings down his drill to obliterate his victims (that does include men, so his drill isn't particularly choosy), but I chalked that up to the limited finances Corman provided Amy Holden Jones and her production team.