Let’s go back to the teenage years where slumber parties were bountiful and all the girls got naked in front of each other while changing clothes. What fun! Oh, those were the days…but did women always get naked in front of each other as horror movies suggest? This journalist investigates with The Slumber Party Massacre (1982).
Written by Rita Mae Brown and directed by Amy Holden Jones, The Slumber Party Massacre (SPM) is often touted as a “feminist horror story.” It still checks off a lot of the obligatory horror movie clichés like outrageous nudity, jump scares, and a character being so close to getting help yet the TV or some other noise drowns out their screams for help and screams of death (specific, I know, but it happens more often than you’d think). To counter these tropes, however, SPM features a large cast of women (Michelle Michaels, Robin Stille, Debra De Liso, Andree Honore, Gina Smika Hunter, and Jennifer Meyers) who are distinctive in their personalities and in their unwillingness to simply be passive victims. It also passes the Bechdel test (it has at least two women in it, who talk to each other about something other than a man). Woo! If you think that’s not a big deal, just read up on how many movies pass the Bechdel test. It won’t take long.
As far as the plot goes, the title and cover tell you everything you need to know: slasher flick, 80s hair, 80s clothes, and some solid surprises. The best way to watch SPM is by knowing very little about the film so the story can unfold as intended. Especially don’t watch the trailer because it gives away some really good stuff and pretty much walks you through the entire movie, to which I say, “Bad movie trailer! You’re supposed to give a sip of the milk, not the whole friggin’ cow!”
SPM gives us deliciously spooky music (the soundtrack is on-point from the opening scene on) pairing nicely with the lurking danger of the Driller Killer (Michael Villella). SPM’s not exactly an action-packed film, but the strangeness of the character interactions keep the dead space entertaining- moments like a character eating pizza on top of a dead body because, hey, the pizza is still good. The Driller Killer’s methods of massacre offer the kind of unique, grimace-inducing gore fans of the genre hope for, and Villella deserves lauding for his performance; his crazy eyes pierce the soul the same way his high-powered drill pierces sternums.
Slumber Party Massacre is a great watch for your next slumber party, regular party, or massacre.
Disclaimer: Just because I am the Action Flick Chick and love action movies does not mean I condone real life violence in any way. Everyone has their own shit to deal with, be nice to each other.
