A teenage girls slumber party is crashed by an escaped electric drill wielding serial killer in The Slumber Party Massacre, the first of a series of spin off sequels in a franchise which, although less well known, rivals the likes of Halloween and Friday the 13th in length.
Slumber Party has all the hallmarks of other slasher films from the golden age of the sub-genre from whence is came; low budget, cheesy effects, bad acting, and a bunch of "teenage" characters who appear to be about ten years older than they are supposed to be getting sliced and diced by a madman.
What sets Slumber Party apart is that it is purported to be a "feminist slasher," which is undeniably an interesting concept since one thing that slasher films usually aren't considered to be known for is their feminism.
Not far into the movie it seems very questionable how justified it's feminist cred actually is. None of the female characters seemed particularly heroic or bright, and the abundance of female nudity outdid Friday the 13th, Halloween, and Nightmare on Elm Street combined easily. One could easily assume this movie was actually made by a hormone driven teenage boy rather than a bunch of feminists. Granted, all the male characters are absolute ass-hats, but that doesn't necessarily denote anything.
As the film progresses the drill wielding women hater manages to off two victims before the slumber party even begins. He then quickly makes his way through several more including a few various folks who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The young women eventually get some help from their neighbor and her younger sister as well as their gym teacher, all of whom have grown suspicious and come to check out the situation at the house.
Finally, when the surviving women work together they are able to finish off the killer with a machete and the credits role, fairly abruptly. By the end of the film it's message becomes more clear than in its first half where it appears to be no more than a more boring version of other slasher movies but with more naked women. The killer represents the oppression of women and the movies conclusion is a clear message that by working together women can overcome it. There's even a comically symbolic scene where the heroine lops off the killer drill bit with a machete.
Putting the films political message aside though, Slumber Party falls short of some of the other early slasher flicks in a variety of ways. For one thing, the villain isn't scary. He is a creep, for sure and he is easy to hate... but not scary. A guy in a red neck tuxedo with a drill just doesn't measure up to Michael Myers and you immediately get the impression that if a couple of these young women had decided to work together earlier on they could have kicked this wimpy misogynist goof's ass in the first half hour... but that wouldn't have made for much of a movie. On top of this, the killer is extremely boring, doing in each of his victims in basically the exact same way. Suspense, atmosphere, and character development are also all lacking, making it easy to passively watch the movie without getting too concerned about what might or might not happen. This is one slasher that may have actually had a lot more potential than it ended up using, but with remakes in style right now who knows, maybe it will get a second stab at it.
2.5 power drills out of 5
Rated 18A/R for violence, sexual content, nudity, language, and drug use.
Watch the Slumber Party Massacre trailer.
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