Slumber Party Massacre #DoubleFeature #Horror

The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)

The Slumber Party Massacre has so many cool things happening besides the gore that if you blink too long, you might miss them. But seriously, the main draw for this film is the boobies and blood because how can you go wrong?

My favorite is the use of red in objects, clothes, beverages, etc. that has an exciting draw. It’s also very surreal. One of the red things is Kool-Aid, and I found it impressive that one of the girls added sugar to the big pre-sweetened packet.

The cheesy organ music is perfect, and they carried it through the film, and it gives this weird feel to the kill scenes like I’m watching a Vincent Price movie. Then there are cute kitties. Some might wonder why the one was in the closet, but if you don’t have cats, you just won’t understand. Another great thing is that they never show the kills, leaving what happens to the victims to the viewer’s imagination. The camera angles are pretty good too, which is very important in horror.

My biggest concern is the killer, Russ Thorn, played by Michael Villella. I don’t understand the motivation for his killing spree. I read recently that he was an escaped mental patient, though that wasn’t clear to me back in the 80s when I saw The Slumber Party Massacre the first time, not was it clear now. I must say that Villella plays a super pervy, creepy dude very well.

Everything in this movie is expected from an 80s slasher and is why it is one of my favorites.

Slumber Party Massacre II (1987)

Then comes Slumber Party Massacre II five years later. The saving grace of this film is how much wine you’re going to need with all the cheese coming at you. At times, it turns into corn, though, especially when TJ is in a scene.

The girls in the sequel are a lot sluttier than the first, well except Courtney, she’s wholesome, though still wanton. The character was in the first film, but with a different actress, Crystal Bernard plays her in this edition. Except for when she wakes from a nightmare, she’s calm, even when The Driller Killer is after her, who has an interesting, if not unbelievable, song and dance routine; it was fun, but I didn’t understand the point of it.

She’s been dreaming about him for a few days now, and when he comes to life, it’s like a bad Freddy Krueger moment. And unlike the first, he plays electric guitar with a humongous drill bit. Until the Driller Killer arrives, it’s on the dull side with lame teenage antics and weird editing.

Speaking of Freddy, there are two police officers, and one is Krueger. The other is Voorhies. Then comes the bit that annoyed me. Courtney and Matt are talking about what happened in the previous film, and they say, “what happened at the Craven’s.” Well, I appreciate the shout out to Wes, but it didn’t happen there, it was at the Deveraux house.

I think I’d love the Slumber Party Massacre films more if they hadn’t gone so tongue-in-cheek with the second film and not stuck with the facts of the first. For some reason, stuff like that just bothers me.

Even with the off sequel, I give this duet 4 out of 5 Stars.

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