SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE II
(1987,US)
"THE PARTY BEGINS WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT!!"
directed by: Deborah Brock
starring: Crystal Bernard, Kimberly MacArthur, Juliette Cummins,
Heidi Kozak, Atanas Ilitch, Patrick Lowe
(back of video blurb):
"The driller killer is back - and he parties for keeps !
The only sane survivor of SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE, Courtney, (Crystal
Bernard) dreams of the drill murderer returning. She can't shake the horrible
feeling that she and her friends will be viciously tormented and brutally
butchered. Again and again the nightmare returns. Dazed, Courtney loses
control. And her nightmare crosses into reality.
No one believes her, until it's too late. The driller killer returns
reincarnated as an evil rocker. He methodically stalks them; then violently
gores them to death
.one by one. Mixing elements of NIGHTMARE ON
ELM STREET with TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE , only the fittest can survive
in SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE II!"
choice dialogue:
"Sunday's my birthday and I don't want to go to a
mental hospital!!"
review by Erik Threlfall
As any horror fan will tell you, the late 80s weren't exactly chock
a block with slasher classics, so I approached SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE
II with low expectations. Part 1 was a decent enough entry, not quite
hitting the highs of HALLOWEEN or FRIDAY THE 13TH but steering
well clear of the horrifying lows of DON'T GO IN THE WOODS ... ALONE!.
However, having viewed the trailer for Part 2, it looked as if I was in
store for something akin to a Troma movie, which is high on my 'things
to avoid' list, up there with 'being repeatedly kicked in the groin' (can't
resist this pun, I find them Troma-tising
ho ho ho! ). The trailer
made it look like it was from the same 'look aren't we just so outrageous
and funny' type of film making and thus I sat back expecting to see the
'anti-HALLOWEEN'. And whilst SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE II does
fall well short of being a classic, it still manages to deliver a surprising
amount of entertainment.
The film is really a sequel in name only. The solitary connection with
part 1 is the character of Courtney (Crystal Bernard) who was the younger
sister of the original films heroine, Valerie. The trauma of their ordeal
has affected them in different ways. Poor Valerie ended up in a mental
hospital, but even more disturbing, Courtney has ended up playing guitar
in a 'Bangles' style rock band with her friends. (Unusually for films
of this kind, the girls mime the parts well, actually moving their hands
around the fretboards as the chords change, but the highly polished studio
quality of the music takes away from the realism, oh my God, I can't believe
I'm complaining about lack of realism in a slasher movie! Nurse !!!!).
Anyway, Courtney is plagued by nightmares of a greasy 50s style rocker
who kills his victims with a large drill bit attached to the end of his
guitar. I know what you're thinking, 'LSD or Marijuana?', but what I found
even more bizarre is the fact that they didn't take the obvious route
of modelling the killer after a spooky Marilyn Manson style goth, choosing
instead to go for something along the lines of 'Shakin Stevens'! Eeeeekk,
terrifying!!!
The minimalist plot has Courtney and the band packing up their instruments
and travelling to a secluded house for the weekend. There's ditsy drummer
Sally (Heidi Kovak, seen the following year in FRIDAY THE 13TH PART
VII: THE NEW BLOOD), highly sexed lead singer Sheila (Juliette Cummins,
also a FRIDAY femme in PART V) and the slightly more reserved
Amy (Kimberly MacArthur). Once they arrive at their isolated location
they quickly get drunk, eat corn dogs and dance as only 80s kids can.
Juliette Cummins takes off her top for the third time in a slasher, having
previously lost her blouse in FRIDAY THE 13TH: A NEW BEGINNING
and PSYCHO III. She then proceeds to whip her friends with her
bra (as you do) before the night descends into a slo-mo pillow fight.
No movie of this ilk would be complete without some boys invading the
party to scare the girls and thus we have the misfortune to be presented
with TJ (Joel Hoffman), Jeff (Scott Westmoreland) and Matt (Patrick Lowe,
Rob's brother) who is the one who makes Courtneys loins quiver. TJ is
the obnoxious one that everyone can't wait to see get killed. Jeff is
a typical slasher nobody, written into the script just to up the bodycount.
And Matt's function is to take off his shirt and let the girls ogle at
his pecs.
Courtney's nightmares intensify and she starts having visions whilst
awake of her friends being murdered. She sees a huge pimple manifest on
Sally's face and then explode (as disgusting as it sounds), she sees a
severed hand in her burger and gets attacked by a frozen chicken (prompting
one of the gents to exclaim "Something in the fridge attacked
you?!!!!"). When Sally goes missing, Courtney believes that her
visions are coming true and calls in officers Krueger and Voorhees (no
comment needed). However, we're treated to slice 'n' dice cliché
no.177, the cops don't believe her and thus don't respond to any further
calls for help later in the movie. Then, for no apparent reason, the insane
rocker materialises into reality and starts drilling through the cast.
The absurdity of the film's premise is to be applauded, with its mixture
of a typical sorority slasher with a pinch of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET,
however this doesn't disguise the films flaws. As with a lot of horror
comedies, it is neither particularly scary nor particularly funny although
I do admit to giggling a bit at the frozen chicken attack. The main problem
is that the makers are deliberately trying to be daft and that automatically
halves the fun for fans of all things dairy. It's so much more enjoyable
when you know that the film makers set out to produce a GONE WITH THE
WIND but somehow ended up with a ROLLER BOOGIE. The only real
cheese on offer is provided by the general naffness of the band. I defy
anyone not to chuckle at Sally's work in progress (presumably called 'Pie
in the Sky') which is about as melodic as a vacuum cleaner. Still, to
it's credit, the film does have a semi professional sheen and at a brisk
75 minutes it never outstays its welcome. The effects are well done and
theres plenty of red stuff on offer for gore hounds, it's just a shame
there isn't a bit more plot to go with it.
Imagine HALLOWEEN as a white chocolate Toblerone and THE DAY
AFTER HALLOWEEN as a particularly rancid tomato and in the middle
somewhere you'll find SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE II, slightly tastier
than a rice cake. I have yet to view Part 3 in the series but I hear it's
really good, apparently Kim Wilde haunts a group of nubile teens and goes
around stabbing them with her spiky hairdo
..or maybe not.
BODYCOUNT 7
female:4 / male:3
1) Female killed in dream sequence
2) Male drilled through chest
3) Female drilled through chest
4) Male drilled through back
whilst driving
5) Male gutted with drill
6) Female drilled in stomach
7) Female falls from a height
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