This Roger Corman-produced slasher/comedy was long overdue on blu-ray, but it makes a fairly early 4K release and for all of the right reasons, too. It was originally made in 1982 on a shoestring budget and featured as many boobs as grizzly power-tool murders. Directed by Amy Holden Jones (who turned down editing E.T. for the chance to direct) and written by Rita Mae Brown, this feminist-agenda skin flick was played straight for the laughs and left critics scratching their heads and audiences enjoying the hell out of it.
Full of quotable lines and enough gore, gore, gore to soothe our savage needs, The Slumber Party Massacre begins with a radio announcing that a violent prisoner has escaped and is at large. Russ Thorn (Michael Villella) is back on the hunt through the teenage wasteland of southern California. It just so happens to also be the day that Trish Devereaux (Michelle Michaels), an 18 year old (and socially awkward) senior, decides to throw a slumber party while her parents are away for the weekend. No boys allowed.
After a lengthy gym shower with soap and discussions about their boobs, the teenage girls – Kim (Debra Deliso), Jackie (Andree Honore) and Diane (Gina Hunter) – make their plans, filling it with weed, pizza, and beer. The goofy boys – namely Diane's boyfriend John (Jim Boyce) and two other guys from school Jeff (David Millbern) and Neil (Joe Johnson) – make plans to scare the girls and crash the party.
Unfortunately, Russ “All of you are very pretty” Thorn has his own plans involving his exceptionally long power drill. Yes, it is as crude as that, folks. The boys are cowardly chickens and the girls are on their own to cut it off.
The satire in this exploitation flick is through the roof and clever, clever, clever. If you haven’t caught the parody of the slasher genre here yet just from the description, you just might not ever. The film is centered on a virgin’s fear of sex as a man comes at her with his big tool. The Slumber Party Massacre isn’t supposed to be taken seriously. And that’s what a lot of people give up on it for. Others were turned off by the fact that two feminists were behind the mayhem. Well, if the men are doing it, then why not the women?
Tits, butts, and blood. That’s the flick in a nutshell. The rest you have to read into and interpret as satire, parody, and, of course, to relive the horror as these girls are dealt with rather heinously. The Slumber Party Massacre – which, in 1982, had one of the best premieres in movie history – is one sleepover you won’t want to miss.
Its sequel takes more than a strong stomach to sit through the slaughter of young, naked women by a crazy killer waving around a very phallic-looking drill time and time again. It takes horror film know-how, a sharp wit, AND a case of beer. The fans of this twisted series know this. The fans also know just how incredibly left-of-center these two flicks are, with Slumber Party Massacre II taking home the crown for one of the weirdest b-movies – complete with a supernatural killer armed with a power-drilled guitar – to have ever seen the light of day.
Whether we are starting on the beach as the girls play volleyball or in a garage as the girls warm up their instruments, then end result is always the same: someone has the idea for a lingerie frolic that night at a home with no parental supervision in which a crazed killer gets the hankering for a whole lot of killing. When are these silly teens going to learn a thing or two? Hopefully, never.
Directed by Deborah Brock, the first sequel follows Courtney (Crystal Bernard, Wings), the only survivor of the first driller killer attack, as she and her friends – all members of a girl rock band – plan a weekend getaway at a condo with only their music and their boyfriends to be responsible for. Unfortunately, they can’t escape themselves and all the baggage they bring with them. Being in a band is hard work, you know.
What follows is a deadly dreamscape-walking nightmare in which a supernatural killer – dressed like a demented Elvis Presley – pops in and out of Courtney’s world, reducing her friends to a pile of gutted intestines while wise-cracking his way closer to her. Or is he just a product of Courtney’s imagination? A residual haunting from the first attack? As unclear and as hilariously silly as this one is, we will never know.
When you double the driller killer action, you get one hell of a twofer thriller! Scream Factory does us proud.
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Home Video Distributor: Shout Factory
Available on Blu-ray - February 21, 2023
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
Discs: 4K Ultra HD; Blu-ray Disc; Three-disc set
Region Encoding: 4K region-free; blu-ray locked to Region A
YOU KNOW THE DRILL. Put on your PJs and say your prayers ... it's time for one nightmare of an all-nighter with a double dose of slashtastic cult classics: The Slumber Party Massacre and Slumber Party Massacre II! In The Slumber Party Massacre, Trish (Michele Michaels) invites her high school basketball teammates over for a night they'll never forget — or survive — when an unexpected guest crashes the party: an escaped psychopath with a portable power drill. And in the freaky follow-up Slumber Party Massacre II, Courtney (Crystal Bernard) is tormented by dreams of the infamous Driller Killer returning to wreak havoc ... only to find that (bad) dreams really do come true when the murderous monster is reincarnated as an evil rocker.
VIDEO
Courtesy of Shout! Factory, The Slumber Party Massacre is presented in a 1.78:1, 1080p High Definition transfer that looks practically new again. This transfer was remastered from the original camera negative, removing much of the grit and fuzziness (examples of which we can see in the extras), leaving behind a picture that looks absolutely incredible . . . especially in 4K!
Audio:
The 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio is likewise excellent, allowing for every little sound to come through in perfect clarity. As usual, Shout! Factory has done a great job bringing a relatively obscure film back from the dead and making it look as fresh as the day it was first released.
Supplements:
Commentary:
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See Special Features for the details.
Special Features:
The Slumber Party doesn’t stop when it comes to the supplemental items!
DISC ONE (4K UHD): THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE (1982) & THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE II (1987)
- NEW 4K Scan Of The Original Camera Negative For Both Films
- In Dolby Vision (HDR 10 Compatible)
- 2.0 Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
- Audio Commentary With Director Amy Holden Jones And Actors Michael Villella And Debra Del Liso (The Slumber Party Massacre)
- Audio Commentary With Writer/Director/Producer Deborah Brock, Producer Don Daniel And Story Editor Beverly Gray (Slumber Party Massacre II)
DISC TWO (BLU-RAY): THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE (1982)
- NEW 4K Scan Of The Original Camera Negative
- 2.0 Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
- Audio Commentary With Director Amy Holden Jones And Actors Michael Villella And Debra Del Liso
- Sleepless Nights: The Making Of The Slumber Party Massacre
- Interview With Actor Riggs Kennedy
- Alternate Title Sequence
- Theatrical Trailer
- U.K. Teaser Trailer
- Still Gallery
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