I’m a
child of the ‘80s and being a horror fan I of course grew up watching slasher
movies. I remember looking at the covers of the VHS tapes at the video store.
There was never enough time to watch them all. One of the movies that I never
checked out was Slumber Party Massacre II. Time to see what I missed.
This is a
loose sequel to the original Slumber Party Massacre. In case you have seen that
movie, our main character is the younger sister of one of the main characters
from the original. Courtney is grown up and now plays guitar with her all girl
band. They take the weekend to get away from the parents. After some semi-naked
pillow fighting the boyfriends show up. Not long after that a killer starts to
pick the off one by one with his guitar drill! All the time that he does this
he quotes lines from songs, dances, and occasionally sings. Eventually Courtney
kills him and is safe… or is she?
I’ve made
a lot of friends who also love horror, especially slasher movies. Slumber Party
Massacre is very popular with many of them and honestly, I don’t get it. The
movie is very uneven with long stretches of filler. Conversations in the car,
by the pool, in the living room are common. We also get a couple of songs from
the girl band, which could be best summed up as bad rockabilly. Even for a
slasher movie these characters are completely underdeveloped. It doesn’t help
that the cast is terrible. The best actress in the bunch is Jennifer Rhodes and
she appears only briefly as Courtney’s Mom.
 |
| The one decent looking kill |
The
traditional hallmarks of a slasher movie are the gore and nudity. You can also
toss some comedy and/or self-aware jabs at the audience but those aren’t
necessary for a good entry into the genre. For the first two the movie is a
mixed bag. There are a couple decent makeup jobs and a single decent kill on
screen. But even by the late ‘80s when these movies were neutered by the
censors Slumber Party Massacre II is very tame. When it comes to the nudity I
suppose it is okay. But it is presented in a very forced and dumb sequence with
the girls in a pillow fight while dancing and pouring champagne on each other.
Maybe had I seen this when I was younger I might not have felt the same, but at
my age it feels forced. Like the filmmakers shoehorned the scene in for the
sake of nudity alone. I don’t like it.
The killer
is played for laughs. He dances and cracks this way thru the proceedings with
what is I think an attempt at comedic flair all while killing off the cast.
Sadly, I’ve seen it done much better and with a much scarier edge. The only
thing slightly amusing about the killer is his absurd choice of weapon. The
guitar/drill is considered iconic by some horror fans. In my opinion it is just
gimmicky and not terribly memorable.
Without
giving away any spoilers I do acknowledge that there is a legitimate argument
made to explain the disjointed plot and silly killer. In my opinion you still
need to make a movie that is entertaining and fun to watch. While you can try
explain away the flaws they are still there. Again, without giving away
spoilers there is an entire franchise that has basically made good movies while
dealing with a similar plot device.
Time to
sum things up. I might be picky but I want to care
about the characters in a horror movie. This way I’m interested in what I’m
watching. If that doesn’t work at least give me some good gore. Slumber Party
Massacre II brings nothing to the table. I’d say pass on this one. I might have
to re-watch the original or maybe check out part III which I’ve also not seen
before just to cleanse my horror movie palette.
© Copyright 2017 John Shatzer
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