Slumber Party Massacre

Slumber Party Massacre has this interesting idea; "reimagining" the original while trying to subvert the genre's clichés. Well, it fails. At least not too miserably, since its confusion at being either satire or parody will give you a good laugh or two.

It's sleazy not because it has TV-Movie quality written all over it, but because its idea was done half-baked. While not as smart as it thinks it is, nevertheless is a much better film than the latest Black Christmas.

It's 1993. Four girls are having a slumber party in a cabin. Chad is Trish's jealous ex. All of them are attacked by the drill-welding killer, Russ Thorne. Trish is the sole survivor. It's present day. Dana leaves her overprotective mother and joins her friends on a girls weekend. Their car breaks down and they end up back to where the attack originally occurred.

It starts as a standard exploitation horror with a bit of comedy but it gets annoying as the standard becomes predictable. Then comes the shocking twist. It turns the whole movie upside down. I love the idea but not always the execution. It's jumping over the fine line to make fun of the original movies. Maybe a bit of subtlety would be more compelling. For example, Guy 1 and Guy 2 could simply be Chad 1 and Chad 2. It's possible to have two Chads in the same friends group. By doing the two Guys, the movie stops existing in the real world. This world isn't that real to begin with. Finally, there is the last act. The girls are being too girlie. There is something obvious. It keeps going on and on. It's better to cut it short. All in all, this is more imaginative and better made than the original.

When I sat down to watch the 2021 remake of the 1982 "The Slumber Party Massacre", I must admit that my expectations weren't high for director Danishka Esterhazy's movie. Why? Well, simply put, because this seemed to be yet another unnecessary remake from the well of inspiration that is running dry in Hollywood.

However, I got the opportunity to watch "Slumber Party Massacre" and being a horror fan, of course I opted to sit down and watch it.

And while this 2021 remake was watchable, it was by no means a grand horror experience. And as I had anticipated and feared, then it was utterly and completely another unnecessary remake, much akin to the likes of the "Poltergeist", "Evil Dead" and "Pet Sematary" remakes, to mention but a few pointless horror remakes. So if you enjoyed the original 1982 slasher movie from Roger Corman, then you might as well just skip on this 2021 version.

If you are a newcomer to the franchise, then sure, I suppose there is some enjoyment to be found in the 2021 "Slumber Party Massacre" from writer Suzanne Kelly.

For an avid horror fan such as myself, then this 2021 movie was a walk in the park. There was nothing scary about the movie, actually, unless you consider the strange way that Russ Thorn held his head tilted and stared with widely opened eyes. It was something that made me laugh every time I saw it.

The acting performances in the movie were adequate, taking into consideration the concept of the movie and the fact that it is a slasher flick.

As for the murder scenes in "Slumber Party Massacre", which is what the audience wants in slasher flicks, then they were actually adequate enough. Not really impressive or memorable, but watchable and fair enough.

The 2021 "Slumber Party Massacre" was a swing and a miss, and it is not a movie that I will ever be returning to watch a second time, believe you me.

My rating of "Slumber Party Massacre" lands on a generous but less than mediocre four out of ten stars.

The days of big-breasted, scantily clad scream queens are over. This being 2021, bimbos are no longer acceptable, but himbos are apparently still fair game: the only nudity in Slumber Party Massacre '21 is from a load of buff guys (this includes a shirtless pillow fight and, yes, a shower scene!), while the clever, tough and resourceful characters are all female. It's not so much gender equality as it is total gender reversal. Thankfully, it's all knowingly daft and obviously tongue-in-cheek, director Danishka Esterhazy having fun tipping the scales in favour of the fairer sex (two of the male characters are so disposable they are called Guy 1 and Guy 2).

The film sees pals Dana (Hannah Gonera), Maeve (Frances Sholto-Douglas), Breanie (Alex McGregor) and Ashley (Reze-Tiana Wessels) celebrating graduation by hiring a cabin for a weekend of partying; crashing the fun is Alix (Mila Rayne), younger sister of one of the girls (can't recall which one). However, while driving to the retreat, the girls experience car trouble and have to spend the night at an old lakeside house, not far from where four girls were murdered back in '93 by drill-wielding psycho Russ Thorn (Rob van Vuuren). No sooner have the girls slipped into their PJs than up pops Russ, oversized phallic drill in hand; what he doesn't realise is that the girls have come prepared...

Esterhazy piles on the gore, with a quite a few graphic kills, but never takes things seriously enough to make it truly horrifying. The result is relatively entertaining inconsequential nonsense that requires little thought from the viewer and, as such, should appeal to most fans of the original movie (except the ones hoping for boobs); it certainly entertained me more than the big slasher movie of the year, Halloween Kills, which failed on so many levels.

A bunch of teenage girls go on vacation at the spot where another bunch of teenage girls were killed by driller killer, Russ Thorne, in the 90's and discover that he's still out there, looking for fresh blood to spill.

Though billed as a reboot, Slumber Party Massacre could just as easily be another sequel in the original franchise. Director Danishka Esterhazy paces the film well with a good amount of comedy and horror. The script has a few twists and surprises up its sleeve and turns the tables where they needed to be.