"Sleepover Nightmare" isn't all that terrible of a slasher, and is pretty good.
**SPOILERS**
Arriving at a secluded lake, Dwight, (Chad R. Rook) introduces new girlfriend Karli, (Hayley Sales) to friends Rick, (Graham Wright) Harry, (Richard Olak) Sara, (Ace Hicks) Yvonne, (Ashleigh Harrington) Quinn, (Jonas Shandel) and Michael, (Benjamin R. Hanson) at a giant party. As he reconnects with old friend Shannon, (Kristine Cofsky) leaving her to his friends, she tries to enjoy the party which gets him jealous. With the rest of the party-goers leaving to have them stay there, they start to realize that something is wrong. With the guests turning up dead, the remaining members find themselves at the mercy of a maniacal killer that has targeted them. Forced to defend themselves from him, they try to get out of the house and away from the killer.
The Good News: This here is a rather impressive slasher entry. This one does have a rather clichéd plot yet manages to have fun with it. There's a great pace to this one, as it's short enough to make it seem really quick without feeling bogged down in unnecessary plot-points. That allows for a lot of great points in the film to really give out some fun parts. There's a fun sequence early on where a group of wasted teens wander upon the killer in the back part of the property and don't think to run, instead thinking he's a member of the party and begin to crack jokes, unaware of the fact that he's concealing a weapon and preparing to strike. It's a pretty fun moment, and along with the last half, is great fun. That last half is the best part of the film, and also contains a lot to like about it. The numerous chase sequences are fantastic, as they take place all over the house and use the surroundings to good use. From the inventiveness of the situation to fantastic amount of intelligence displayed at the characters in the situation, it becomes a lot more fun and realistic. This is even more impressive when it's found out that there's no break from the action. This one starts off and just keeps going, never once stopping once the killer has been realized and just keeps going, which is what makes it a non-stop parade of spectacular suspense scenes. The kills in here aren't that bad, and with it's big body count it has a pretty nice opportunity to do so. There's several in here who get impaled with a spiked gardening pole, another is smashed into a tree trunk from a crashed car, one is nailed to a door facing with a set of kitchen knives stabbed in the back, having a car door smashed repeatedly against the face, being hacked to pieces with an outboard motor and having a beer can forcibly crushed on the forehead. There's more in here, and there's plenty of blood and gore on display from these kills. This one here is a pleasant surprise.
The Bad News: This one here doesn't have a whole lot of flaws. The main one is the fact that this one appears as overly clichéd as just about any other slasher out there. There's nothing really new that this one does that a million other ones haven't done. Once again having a bunch of teens with problems stuck at an isolated location getting picked off one-by-one isn't anything new, and is a plot-line that really doesn't offer up anything that hasn't been seen before. It's something that has been seen before and very easily could be written-off outright due to it being just another slasher that uses a story that has been done hundreds of times before this one. Though this one has fun with it, there's nothing really new and to some, it could be seen as something really hurtful to the film. The fact that the back-story for the killer's motivation doesn't really make any sense is something else to get over. It's such a hackneyed excuse that using it doesn't offer up any clarity and just makes the killer seem more like a really terrible one rather than anything else. These here are the film's main flaws.
The Final Verdict: A rather fun entry in the genre, this one isn't that bad and has some good points to really get going. Recommended to the big slasher fan or those of the direct-to-video craze, while those who are really against those kinds of films will find nothing of real importance here.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Nudity, mild sex scenes and drug use
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