Slumber Party Massacre (1982) - The films premise is pretty self explanatory: An eighteen-year-old high school girl is left at home by her parents and she decides to have a slumber party. There is friction between some of the invited guests and the new girl, who is better at basketball than they, so the new girl decides to stay at home (which is conveniently across the street from the host's house). Meanwhile, a murderer of five people with a propensity for power tools has escaped and is at large, and eventually makes his way to the party, where the guests begin experiencing an attrition problem, with only the new girl to help them.
While most of the characters here are rather one dimensional they still manage to be likable. Also, there's the nice touch of the simple villain. His motives are simple; he's insane and escaped from prison. Plus, there's no mask or costume. Just a plain man who likes to kill people with power tools!
In addition, this film satisfies every eighties fans desires for blood, guts and lots of boobs! The kills can be slightly repetitive, but never really grow boring. Also, the fact that our main antagonist is damn near unstopable adds a necessary creepy factor. The man is the imbodyment of the "he must surely be dead" killer.
Performances all around are decent. There are some weak moments but the girls display a certain amount of common sense, such as always sticking together in at least pairs. Also, the male party crashers that one would expect to save the day don't quite live up to expectations. Or at all, really....
Overall, this film is a welcome take on the "teen girls in trouble" scenario. Instead of targeting babysitters as seen in Halloween, it's regular high school girls trying to enjoy the absence of parental supervision. I recommend checking this one out simply because it's an enjoyable way to spend eighty minutes. Which reminds me, it's short run time prevents it from growing tiresome or stale and causes the film to move along at a nice brisk pace. This is definitely a good late night popcorn movie with some friends or even a significant other. Check it out and spread the love!
Highlight Scene(s): The final moments where the two girls are locked in the bedroom but forget the open window certainly keeps us on edge. Plus the epic showdown by the pool is quite satisfying.
The scene where the little sister is hiding under the couch mere inches away from our maniac (who's playing dead, also lying down) makes us fear that she'll be busted at any moment. Definitely turns up the tension.
The many scenes in the garage keep us waiting, wondering when the lunatic will strike. This is done several times and starts to wear on the nerves in the best of ways.
No comments:
Post a Comment