The Slumber Party Massacre
The Slumber Party Massacre

Movie spotlight

The Slumber Party Massacre

1982
Movie
76 min
English

Trish invites her high school basketball teammates over for a night they'll never forget when an unexpected guest crashes the party: an escaped psychopath with a portable power drill.

Insights

IMDb5.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes75%
Google Users68%
Director: Amy Holden JonesGenres: Horror, Slasher

Plot Summary

A high school student, Trish, invites her friends over for a slumber party to celebrate her birthday. Unbeknownst to them, a deranged killer, Russ Weaver, who has recently escaped from a mental institution, is on the loose. Weaver, armed with a drill, begins to stalk and murder the girls one by one as the night progresses.

Critical Reception

The Slumber Party Massacre is often viewed as a surprisingly effective and well-crafted slasher film, especially given its budget and release era. It's appreciated for subverting some genre tropes and for its straightforward, suspenseful execution.

What Reviewers Say

  • Praised for its tense atmosphere and effective scares.

  • Noted for its surprisingly competent direction and pacing for a low-budget horror film.

  • Appreciated for its practical effects and suspenseful build-up.

  • Seen as a more thoughtful entry in the slasher genre.

Google audience: Google users generally find the film to be a fun and effective 80s slasher with good suspense, though some note its dated elements. It's often recommended for fans of the genre.

Awards & Accolades

None notable.

Fun Fact

While marketed as a straightforward slasher film, the screenplay was originally written by feminist writer Rita Mae Brown, and director Amy Holden Jones made efforts to subvert common horror tropes, such as the vulnerable final girl, by making the characters more proactive.

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My Review

TMDB Reviews

4 reviews
griggs79

griggs79

The Slumber Party Massacre is the feminist slasher that laid the groundwork for everything Scream would later get praised for. Written by feminist author Rita Mae Brown, it takes the typical slasher formula—a half-naked woman, a deranged ki...

JPV852

JPV852

Nothing real stand out about another slasher born out of the success of Halloween (and Friday the 13th, which was made for the same reason), but still watchable enough. **2.75/5**

GenerationofSwine

GenerationofSwin...

Which one was this? I can't really remember. I do, however, know it was the movie where they hire a lot of women and require them all to take their clothes off. The difference is, this one was written by a feminist for reasons probably o...

Wuchak

Wuchak

Routine early 80’s slasher in the Los Angeles burbs The original script was written as a parody, but that was changed when production began and it was shot as a serious slasher. Perhaps this explains why I busted out laughing on at least...