Slumber Party Massacre (2021)
Directed By: Danishka Esterhazy
Starring: Hannah Gonera, Alex McGregor, Mila Rayne, Frances Sholto-Douglas
Plot Summary: A slumber party turns into a bloodbath, as a psychotic serial killer wielding a power drill disrupts the fun.
The original The Slumber Party Massacre from 1982 seemed to be something that was bound to happen within the slasher horror subgenre. I mean, the title screams scantily clad girls getting sliced and diced. However, the interesting thing about the film was it was written and directed by a woman. This female perspective is incredibly rare in slashers, especially in the ‘80s. I feel like this context is important when talking about the remake, which I am happy to report is also written and directed by a woman. In preparation for this remake, I wanted to go back and revisit the ‘80s film. To sum up my feelings on the original film: it’s a fun and at times very self-aware slasher that is interesting in that it has proactive female leads but at the same time still feels like a typical body-count film. I also found it interesting that the killers drill is not subtly a stand-in-phallic symbol, again a tongue-in-cheek nod to the genre’s gender politics. But how does the remake stand up? Actually, incredibly well. This time around the movie has more depth and story than the original film and wisely shifts the narrative even more to the female perspective. It also weaves women’s issues like sexual assault into the plot without it feeling overt.
Suzanne Keilly’s screenplay is overflowing with sardonically witty dialogue that crackles. Keilly injects a lot of hilarious meta-jokes, gender flips and some wonderful nods to the original Slumber Party Massacre as well as its over-the-top sequels. I even feel like she snuck in a Nail Gun Massacre reference which made my black heart sing! Director Danishka Esterhazy clearly gets the mood of the piece which sways brilliantly between dark, self-aware humor and a nice emotional core used to thread it all together. The characters are not just slice-and-dice fodder, and you really do care about them. It also helps that the cast is great. Hannah Gonera brings a star-making presence here and she is someone that is easy to both relate to and to root for. Alex McGregor, Mila Rayne and Frances Sholto-Douglas are all excellent. In fact, I didn’t spot a single bad performance in the entire cast.
I also feel like I need to give a shout out to another extremely strong aspect of the thing: the production values. Trevor Calverley’s cinematography really gives this movie a big scope that drips with atmosphere. It helps give the overall lower-budget movie a grand scale feeling. Robert Cardoso does an excellent job with production design, and sets have a nice lived-in feel. Slumber Party also features some really well-done splatter effects that have an old school ‘80s vibe.
Though I enjoyed this movie a lot I can see a few shaggy plot elements that is hard to get into fully without spoilers. Still, the movie clearly has a lot of talent, and hard work that went into it. I am overjoyed that this isn’t just a horror cash-grab.
Outside of its gore-coated exterior lies a smart satirical remake of a ‘80s cult-classic.
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Big film nerd and TCM Obsessed. Author of The Ultimate Guide to Strange Cinema from Schiffer Publishing. Resume includes: AMC’s The Bite, Scream Magazine etc. Love all kinds of movies and television and have interviewed a wide range of actors, writers, producers and directors. I currently am a regular co-host on the podcast The Humanoids from the Deep Dive and have a second book in the works from Bear Manor.
