The Slumber Party Massacre: A Cult Classic Revisited

Slumber Parties are fun. No parents, underage drinking, a little weed and no boys (sometimes.) It all sounds like a perfect girl’s night out-unless there’s someone out to kill you. That’s the basis of the 1982 cult classic “The Slumber Party Massacre.” There’s plenty here to understand why this is a cult classic.

Trish decides to hold a slumber party with all of her high school basketball teammates. However, this typical night of partying turns sour when a power drill wielding murderer is out to get them.

This movie is pure, delicious 1980s horror schlock. It has all the ingredients: laughable acting, low-budget, very little plot, blood and nudity. Director/producer Amy Jones put it perfectly that this movie is like a Martin Scorsese female exploitation film. Exploitation is correct. It’s females getting killed and there’s an entire shower scene where we see them fully nude. The camera even pans to make the audience see the entire body.

As with any schlock  film, the acting is as corny as it gets. The actors are obviously trying their best, but the acting is either wooden or downright hilarious. Lines that are meant to be serious will cause the viewer to die laughing. Exactly what fans expect.

The blood and gore are there but not as much as the audience wants. Much of the gore is not shown. We do see blood splatter and the occasional open wound (and later a severed hand.) We don’t even see one death. The killer enters where one girl is hiding in the school’s gym,. She screams and then the movie cuts to the next scene. The audience is left hanging if she really got killed or not. It almost feels like a letdown.

Speaking of a letdown, the after two killing in quick succession, the blood bath comes to a halt for about 30 minutes. What we get instead is the girls and two boys being high school kids. “Friday the 13th” this isn’t and that movie came out two years before this one.

Michael Villella as the killer Russ Thorn does a commendable job. When he’s on screen, he has this freaky psychopath killer vibe about him. Even though he says very little, his facial expressions and his movements are spot on creepy.

The Blu-Ray special features are worth seeing. “Sleepless Nights: The Making of The Slumber Party Massacre” has some interesting behind the scenes insight from director/producer Amy Jones as well as from Michael Villella and Debra De Liso. It does a nice job of telling us about some of the things that happened during filming as well as fan reaction. Hearing that this movie had the largest screening audience is pretty impressive.

The other features are still, trailers for all three movies and an interview with Joseph Alan Johnson (Neil). This interview is interesting up until he starts reciting his poem. He may be one of those people who put the extra effort into his poetry reading, but his effort comes across as annoying than anything else.

The Slumber Party Massacre” is a glorious schlock buffet that any fan will gorge on. The extras are nice cake à la mode that makes this Blue-Ray release a must buy for the schlock fan.