Slumber Party Massacre

Alternate titles : The Slumber Party Murders.

Tagline : "The Ultimate Driller Killer thriller."

One of those films where title tells you pretty much all you need to know about the plot. A group of girls head over to their school friend Trish's (Michelle Michaels) house for a sleepover, as her parents are away for the weekend.

But unfortunately for them, there's an escaped convict on the loose who's going round murdering people with an industrial power drill. Having already murdered a hapless telephone repair man and taken his van, he then sees about crashing their party and carving people up with his drill in loving detail.

As the bodies pile up, it seems no one in the neighbourhood is safe. As the neighbour, the girls boyfriends and even the pizza delivery guy all fall prey to the maniacal driller killer, as the girls attempt to arm themselves and fight back.

Produced by the infamous B-movie producer Roger Corman, "Slumber Party Massacre" was one of many 80s horrors filmed to cash in on the success of "Friday the 13th", and features plenty of blood, guts and (best of all) female nudity, which no decent 80s slasher movie should be without. So its kind of hard to imagine that this actually had a female director and was written by a noted feminist author (no, seriously).

Whilst perhaps not as memorable as other period movies of its ilk, this is never the less a highly entertaining low budget romp, which actually went on to spawn a number of sequels and spin offs. If you haven't seen this one yet, you should definitely check this one out.

Overall Marks :

Terrifying Trivia

• Alternate tag line "Close your eyes for a second...sleep forever".
• The script was originally written as a parody of the teen slasher movies that were doing the rounds at the time. However, the film makers shot it as a straight horror picture, which resulted in a lot of inadvertently humorous scenes.
• The films budget was $250,000.
• The original script was titled "Don't Open the Door".
• Amy Holden Brown had been working as a film editor and actually turned down the chance to edit "ET the Extra Terrestrial" in order to direct this.
• Scriptwriter Rita Mae Brown is actually a noted feminist author and political activist.
• The houses used in the film were actual houses on a residential street close to the studios, and not purpose built sets. As a result, the film had to be shot under the title "Sleepless Nights" as they figured the home owners would object if they found out what the real title of the film was.
• This was horror 'scream queen' Brinke Stevens first major role.
• Amy Holden Brown had filmed a prologue to this which she had financed herself, in order try and get a directing Job with Roger Corman's New World Pictures. When he saw it, he liked it so much he asked her to make an entire feature.
• The films musical score was done entirely on a Casio synthesiser.
• With the exception of Andree Honore, who played Jackie, none of the other girls that appear on the theatrical poster are actually in the movie.
• The original UK cinema release was passed uncut, but for the video release, the BBFC cut 30s out of it, which toned down virtually every kill scene. The distributors also changed the video title to "Slumber Party Murders", owing to the fact it was being released right in the middle of the UK video nasties furore and wanted a title that was a bit more innocuous. The 2003 DVD release was passed fully uncut, with the original title restored.

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