MOTW #40 THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE

[Kikabi]

The Movie of the Week #40:

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa185/Kikabi/spm.jpg

The Slumber Party Massacre - 1982

Close your eyes for a second . . . and sleep forever

Written by Rita Mae Brown
Directed by Amy Holden Jones

Original Music: Ralph Jones
Cinematography: Stephen L. Posey

Michelle Michaels: Trish Devereaux
Robin Stille: Valerie Bates
Michael Villella: Russ Thorn
Debra Deliso: Kim Clarke
Andree Honore: Jackie
Gina Mari (as Gina Smika): Diane
Jennifer Meyers: Courtney Bates
Rigg Kennedy: David Contant

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Upcoming Schedule:

May 18th - MOTW #41: Near Dark
May 25th - MOTW #42: House
Movie of the Week #43?
Please go to The Schmoe Horror Movie of the Week thread (http://www.joblo.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2749586#post2749586)to VOTE for which movie you'd like to see for Week #43

[Kikabi]

It's a pretty entertaining movie, written to be a parody, and those aspects peek out here and there. There are a number of funny and/or silly incidents. I especially like the neighbor hunting snails with a meat cleaver. The killer's weapon is so absurd it's laughable. The characters are likeable, even the most expendable ones, and there are some good kills and moments of suspense. Maybe (maybe?) guys enjoyed watching that lousy basketball game and shower scenes, but it felt a lot like padding with very little point to it beyond eye-candy. Too much gossiping (although the dialogue comes off natural) and doing each other's hair and such goes on. And why don't the girls just run away from the house? (I know, silly question - victims rarely do smart things in '80's slashers.)

I think the movie tries to retain whatever feminist statement Rita Mae Brown wanted to get across, tries but fails because the metaphors have no meaning beyond the obvious and specific. Think enough about it, and it can start feeling rather offensive to women. But it's not the kind of movie that invites deep thought, and there's not much there to think about.

[zombievictim]

Once in a long time does a horror film come along and completely stun you with it's unique concept, great characters, tremendous gore, and scary villain. This not that film. As a matter of fact, this film has none of the characteristics and is quite the opposite in practically everything said.

When you first see the title for this movie you think "Hmm...that could be a fun gory little slasher". I know that's what I thought when I netflixed it. But alas, I got a man hating, lesbian fantasy, crappily acted slasher. Wow did this movie blow.

First off, throughout the entire movie you can tell somethings not right. All of the females act a little too "friendly" and all the guys either act gay and weak, or dumb and jockish. That when I realized: this is a slasher made by a lesbian. And boy was I right. The male characters are pathetic to watch and are dumbed down way too much. The girls act like they're about two seconds away from making out each scene and the killer...oh lord the killer.

The killer has got to be the most pathetic accuse for a serial killer I have ever seen. He wears a completely denim outfit and uses his little drill as if it were his little peeper. I was quite annoyed by it. I just wished that I could have been in the movie so that when he tries to kill me I could shove the drill right down his throat and kick him in the nuts. That or else I would give him some lessons on how to be scary. I was more scared of the dikey little sister than this idiot.

Now, onto the gore. What happened here? There could have been a lot of great kills, I mean its a movie about a guy that uses a drill to kill young girls. How can you not execute on that? Most of the kills are offscreen with us just seeing the crappy after effects. The best kill was some stupid decapitation. Wow, how underwhelming in the gore department. And I thought that would be it's saving grace. Boy was I wrong.

I guess I can't really get into much of the acting because...there isn't any really. It's so bad in parts that I just sit there laughing that someone watched this during dailies and thought "These guys are doing a good job."

Now onto the directing. This is pretty much as point and shoot as you can get. It's simple and doesn't do much. But I mean, what else can you expect from some lesbian activist. Got to love it.

So in the end, a major disappointment for what I thought would be a so bad it's good slasher film that turned into a so bad it's horrible "I hate men" film. Let's hope "Sorority House Massacre" isn't as bad.

3/10

[yorrick brown]

i love this movie so much ,every cheesy thing about it.

9/10

[starcat]

i really cant remember, and i even own it... slumber party massacre 2 owns, that much i do know

[Cronos]

Good cheesy 80's slasher fun. Nothing more. 7/10

[Ratlehed]

Slumber Party Massacre has bad acting, a dumb story, lame special F/X, stupid dialogue, and a boring killer. But if you hang your brain next to your coat, the film is very enjoyable. It has a paper thin plot but there isnt alot of boring moments. Its either girls being stabbed, running and screaming, or getting naked. So there is always something going on.

The charectars are pretty good. But I kept getting people confused. The High School girls, thier teacher, and the girls younger sister are all pretty much the same age. At the start of the movie its hard to remember who is who. Once the cast gets slimmer its easier to remember.

The killer is pretty boring. He actually talks a little. But what he says doesnt make much sense. The drill weapon is one of the worst weapons ever. Some one slashes you with a drill and you'll get a bad scratch. Thats about it.

The movie is supposed to have these "girl power" messages or something. I didnt see any of it. Its pretty much the same as any other 80's slasher. The drill being a penis or whatever is just looking into it to much. Even if thats what the dir. or writer intended.

Pretty skimpy on the nudity. There is parts here and there. But with a title like this I'd expect more.

Seeing a young Brinke Stevens was cool. This was one of her first flicks. After this she went on to become one of the great 80's scream Queens. She's only in SPM for like 3 mins. But shes her T&A with the little screen time she has.

In the end its a 2.5/4 star movie. Its not very boring and there is enough humor and dumb moments to keep it entertaining. It also has one of the worst basketball scenes ever.

SPM 2.5/4
SPM part 2 1.5/4
Sorority House Massacre 1.5/4
SHM part 2 3/4 This one gets it right.
Hard To Die aka SHM part 3 2.5/4 alot of fun as well.

[ERIN_LoJ]

It's a silly, albeit fun, little flick that for some reason is hard to forget. The pizza guy scene stands out, as does the telephone repairwoman's death. THis movie is loads better than the sequels.

[JJFlamingo]

A really shitty and boring entry in the early 80s slasher sweepstakes, done with very little skill or energy. Worst, the quality of the female actresses' looks is extremely low, like they picked the most average-looking women off the street to perform in this (doesn't say much when the best-looking female is the telephone repairwoman who gets killed within the first ten minutes of the film in extremely lame fashion). While it's nice to see women in their nighties and all, the film could have benefited from a nice heavy dose of eroticism to spice the proceedings up, but instead the director chose to make the non-kill scenes as boring and monotonous as possible.

Those complaints are piddly though when you look at the film's villain, the "Driller-Killer", Russ Thorn (Michael Villia). Though we're told that he's an escapee from a nuthouse, all he really is is some middle-aged asshole in a denim jacket with no personality or charisma whatsoever. The script lamely tries to give him some one-liners in an attempt to make him "hip" or "funny", but the actor delivers them in such a monotone that we have to shake ourselves to remind us that it's supposed to be amusing. He sucks, and the feminist power concept here is absolutely laughable. If you want to see this concept done RIGHT, check out Part 2 of the series, which has good kills, hot chicks, and the Driller-Killer there is so insanely cool he almost rivals the legends of the genre. But this one, is just shit.

4/10

[PapaJupe2k]

I've always thought this was a fun little movie. Just enjoy it for what it is. I'm not going to over analyze. Girls stalked by a killer with a drill... fun.

I did think the actual killer could have been more menacing, didn't really buy it. Fun to watch on a rainy day or late night however.