#Francesca Bartoccini

[byneddiedingo]

The Slumber Party Massacre (Amy Holden Jones, 1982)

Cast: Michelle Michaels, Robin Stine, Michael Villella, Debra De Liso, Andree Honore, Gina Smika Hunter, Jennifer Meyers, Joseph Alan Johnson, David Milbern, Jim Boyce, Pamela Roylance, Brinke Stevens, Rigg Kennedy. Screenplay: Rita Mae Brown. Cinematography: Stephen L. Posey. Art direction: Francesca Bartoccini. Film editing: Sean Foley. Music: Ralph Jones. 

A shabby little shocker with honorable origins, The Slumber Party Massacre was scripted by Rita Mae Brown as a queer feminist parody of the slasher genre. But even the Roger Corman quickie factory wasn't prepared to go that far, so director Amy Holden Jones played the parody with a straight face. Still, the wit of Brown's original shows through often enough for the horror elements to be tinged with mockery. The ditzy high school students (played by twentysomething actresses) are terrorized by a power-drill-bearing escaped mental patient (Michael Villella). Most of the victims are the mean girls who decided not to invite newcomer Valerie (Robin Stille) to the sleepover being thrown by Trish (Michelle Michaels) while her parents are away for the weekend, but they also include a hapless pizza delivery boy and the older neighbor who agreed to look after the girls if they need help. There's a lot of shrieking and running around in the dark, but the blood, considering the gruesomeness of the murder instrument, is kept in check. Yes, it's a cult classic that defied the initial bad reviews and went on to inspire sequels, none of which are quite up to the original.