Underrated Slashers: The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)
Slumber Party Massacre is a 1982 slasher written by Rita Mae Brown and directed by Amy Holden Jones, making it a pretty unique duo of women for a movie made in the early 80s. This horror film was initially written as a feminist parody of the slasher genre but the producers altered the script to make it a bit more of a standard slasher.
Slumber Party Massacre is an underrated slasher. The movie has a cult following, however, it is not a household name like Killer Klowns From Outer Space or Evil Dead or something. Even though there were lots of forced changes to the production, I find it to be a solid slasher overall. 80s Slashers is one of my favorite genres so I may be a little biased, but this is one you should check out.
First things first, as the movie starts, you're greeted with that quintessential lo-fi '80s horror movie score. It sets the tone for the movie and gives it a more grainy and eerie feeling. The first scene begins with one of our main characters, Trish, nude and then putting on clothes before throwing away her old children’s toys. They reiterate that this is somewhat a coming-of-age story because in the very next scene, you get a fairly typical “I’m 18 now” conversation.
One thing I like about the movie is all the little fakeout it does throughout the movie, like constantly hearing screams, stalking shots, and characters shown off in the distance.
The first kill of the movie is interesting to me because it is done in broad daylight in a pretty populated place. You would usually expect alone in darkness for a “by the books” slasher movie. There is a lengthy nudity scene in the girl’s shower, that was so long because Jones was upset they were forcing her to show nudity, so this was like a “there it is” moment.
Linda's chase scene when she gets screwed is pretty awesome. The fact that she's relatively smart compared to the typical slasher victim adds a nice layer especially since some characters try to do dumber things later on. She tries very well to hide and clean up her mess, and it’s a cool change of pace. The fact that the school was closed and empty seemingly minutes after school was let out was kind of hilarious though.
Snail hunting is something I have never heard of anyone doing and it is bizarre that that’s what they had the neighbor doing outside. It’s also wild that Trish literally sees the killer standing outside her home looking into her window and doesn’t immediately leave the house especially once the power gets cut off.
There is a shot of Valerie looking out into the street that I like; I enjoy how it is presented with a slow pan and it feels very 80s. The dead pizza guy reveal was a great part of the movie and one of the best kills. It’s pretty funny later when they still eat the pizza of his body.
This group of friends is kind of dumb which is on par for a stereotypical slasher. Jackie makes a genius-level move that gets her killed and gets the killer in the house. Trish literally knocks down the killer and doesn’t even try to kill him just tries to run away out of the room she just barricaded. There is a part where the killer sees Valerie and her sister but it is stupid because she could have easily run out of the house, but decides to lock herself in a room.
I love the charm of these cheap ‘80s slashers. There is a part near the end where you can see that one of the weapons is clearly rubber. The way the killer dies is awesome with some great sloppy gore. The movie just sort of ends with no resolution. Credits immediately after the killer dies.
The killer racks up a decent number of kills in this movie and they’re cool too. I enjoy this movie and like that it is short and sweet (less than an hour and twenty minutes.) I haven’t seen the sequels or the 2021 remake, but I remember trying to watch part 2 and it was too weird. Maybe I’ll give them another chance.
In the end, Slumber Party Massacre has everything you want out of an 80s slasher movie – cool kills, nudity, drugs, and a pretty decent soundtrack. Is it scary? Nah, not really. But is it a good time? Absolutely.
