slumber party massacre

You don’t have to dig very deep into the subtext of most slasher movies to uncover a psychological case study of gender roles, sexual repression, and a comical amount of phallic symbols. The Slumber Party Massacre (1982) contains no more or less than average, but sticks out from the rest by virtue of having been written by renowned feminist Rita Mae Brown and directed by Amy Jones, who made her debut with this piece of ‘80s exploitation for legendary producer Roger Corman.

Having two women behind the camera for a film like this might seem revolutionary – and Corman certainly wasn’t shy about talking it up at the time – but creatively The Slumber Party Massacre is pretty much the same old bag ‘o tricks. Naked girls, horny guys, lots of drinking, drugs and underage sex mixed with the requisite serial killer wielding his weapon of choice: a 2-foot cordless drill. Made on the cheap like most of Corman’s productions, for all its creators’ intentions of skewering slasher conventions, the film ends up reinforcing most of the iconography John Carpenter’s Halloween had already put in place.

When Trish (Michele Michaels) decides to invite the gang over for a party, the new girl in school, Valerie (Robin Stille) is left out of the mix. Too much of a threat in the looks department – and on the basketball court – Valerie keeps tabs on things from her house across the street, killing time with her younger sister. Meanwhile, the party is crashed by a notorious murderer who has targeted Trish and her friends…and any unfortunate neighbor or pizza delivery boy who gets in his way.

If you pay attention, the script for The Slumber Party Massacre makes some unusual creative decisions. There’s an undercurrent of lesbian attraction between several characters, not to mention the Phys Ed teacher who comes to the rescue. A strange focus on the relationship between Valerie and her sexually curious little sister, which amounts to nothing. And an even more bizarre fascination with sports, including who scored the sixth run in last night’s baseball game. Writer Rita Mae Brown is open about her own sexuality, which explains quite a bit of this. But combined with Corman’s required shower scenes and braless hot pants basketball uniforms, it makes for one very mixed message.

Director Amy Jones claims the film is a comedy, but that’s a stretch…or more likely a cop-out. The Slumber Party Massacre is a slightly offbeat copy of what came before it. As her first film, Jones should simply be proud that she turned in a well-shot, well-edited Corman quickie that made quite a bit of money and spawned two-sequels. Changing the world is a bit much to ask of any movie, let alone one shot in three weeks.

Shout Factory had previously released a Slumber Party Massacre Collection on DVD that contained all three films. This stand-alone blu-ray only contains the first, but does offer a substantial increase in clarity (I mean, it looks good!), not to mention the previous audio commentary and Making Of along with one part of the three-part documentary Sleepless Nights: The Making of the Slumber Party Massacre from the previous release. The only new extra is an interview with the rather eccentric actor Rigg Kennedy who played neighbor David Contant. Worth an upgrade? Possibly, if you feel very strongly that the first Massacre is the best and only a hi-def transfer from the original camera negative will do!