THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE 1 & 2
****
Directed by Amy Holden Jones & Deborah Brock.
Starring Michelle Michaels, Robin Stille, Michael Villela,Atanas Ilitch.
Horror, US, 77 minutes and 77 minutes, Certificate 18.
Released in the UK on Limited Edition 4K UHD & Blu-ray on November 18th by 101 Films
As titles go you really could not come up with a better one. Strung together in that order, the words SLUMBER PARTY and MASSACRE tell you exactly what you’re in for, working both as a premise and statement of intent. For those not in the know it may sound like a blunt and graceless thing, everything that detractors of the genre assume it is; an endless parade of one-note teenage characters, usually played by adults very obviously in their mid-twenties, in varying states of undress being murdered in increasingly horrible ways and little else. The more clued-up with good taste however know that director Amy Holden Jones first entry in the franchise knows exactly what the detractors are thinking and plays on its perceived limitations to greatly entertaining and blackly comic effect.
The slumber party at the heart of matters in the first entry is being held by Trish, taking advantage of her parents leaving town for the weekend. Inviting her friends around to smoke dope, talk about boys, drink beer and eat pizza, the last thing they expect is escaped mass murderer Russ Thorne to turn up with his massive drill. There are other factors at play here; horny male classmates desperate to crash the party and nice girl neighbour Valerie babysitting her sister Courtney being the most apparent. Jones handles all these elements well, often adding blackly comic sight gags to the background in a number of scenes that elevates the film above the run of the mill stalk and slash cliches. The cast are a sympathetic and likeable bunch deftly wired into the script's darkly comic notes, the etiquette of eating pizza around the delivery boy’s fresh corpse being a particular highlight.
Filmed five years later, the sequel is an entirely different affair, even if it uses the bare bones of its predecessor's premise. Courtney is the only returning character, now grown up enough to attend slumber parties with her pals/bandmates. Suffering from a case of PTSD, she has nightmarish visions of a rock star like figure murdering her friends with his drill topped guitar. Made at the height of Freddy Krueger’s popularity this entry, now helmed by Deborah Brock, attempts to cash in on that particular franchise but the results are risible. Gone is the witty character interplay, deft pacing and psycho-sexual subtext that elevated the first film. What we have here is a repetitive series of scenes involving moronic characters and a supremely annoying antagonist. Making little sense on a number of levels it falls back on one of the most unimaginative cliches imaginable. This entry has its defenders but suffers in comparison to any other slasher let alone its superior preceding entry.
Both films are presented here in excellent 4K transfers, preserving that early 80’s film look in a pristine fashion that nicely highlights the still impressive and bloody gore. The extras may at first glance appear to be slightly paltry but the two twenty plus minute documentaries manage to fit in a wealth of insight and gossip ably supported by the commentary tracks from the directors and supporting crew. Perhaps the biggest draw is the unrated cut for the sequel that runs a full ten minutes longer than the original cut. A more than worthy upgrade from the long out of print bare bones DVD, this UK release is an excellent addition not just for fans of these films, but for anyone else with a passing interest in the slasher genre and its many vicarious and thought provoking pleasures.
Iain MacLeod
