Cheerleader Massacre continues the franchise started in the 1980's by the Slumber Party Massacre franchise. A leaky gas tank strands a bus load of cheerleaders in the woods. They walk to a cabin and prepare to hunker down for the night before attempting to find their way back to civilization in the morning. But what they don't know is that there is a crazed killer in their midst. Soon the cheerleaders, and those traveling with them, begin to fall victim to the unknown assailant.
This new chapter in the Massacre franchise is connected with the Slumber Party movies only very loosely. A few scenes at the beginning are close to total rip offs from the original Slumber Party film. Also there is a scene where the police interview a "survivor" from the original movie, leading to a flash back scene which is taken from the original. It was not previously revealed that this character, who seemed to have been killed early in the fist movie, has actually survived. Regardless, the scene ends up being of little importance to the film as a whole other than to connect it to the original series. It also suggests that the killer from the original film was still alive, a thoroughly unlikely suggestion as anyone who has seen the original can attest.
Aside from revising the first movies plot somehow, this film manages to make the Slumber Party movies look pretty good in comparison. Cheerleader Massacre suffers who horrendous acting (worse even than the earlier movies), crummy script, total lack of scares, almost total lack of gore, nearly no special effects worth mention, and an obviously low budget. Most of the killing is done off screen to avoid having to do make up or effects. The camera work looks like it was done on a handy cam or something and the villain(s) fail to inspire much fear.
As for the marginally feminist message of the original series, it seems to be lost on Cheerleader Massacre entirely. It does, however, turn out that the killer is driven by suffering inflicted by homophobia perpetrated by fellow students and cheerleaders. This particular social commentary is merely touched on in passing as an explanation for the murders however, and it not developed as a theme or a strong message behind the film as a whole.
The film ends in the usual way, with the surviving women managing to seemingly do-away with the killer, but the way is left wide open for further sequels which would be hard to top this in terms of over-all cruddy film making.
0.5 severed heads out of 5
Rated 18A/R for violence, sexuality/nudity, language and some drug material.
Watch the trailer for Cheerleader Massacre.
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