Horror Movie Review: Slumber Party Massacre II (1987)

Released in 1982, The Slumber Party Massacre was an average slasher horror that chose shock tactics rather than tension building. It made for a far less thrilling movie but seemed to know that too so upped the blood and gore to high levels. Not a bad movie but one that was pretty unmemorable. You can read our review here.

That is not the case with this sequel.

Slumber Party Massacre II is a horror movie that you won’t be forgetting anytime soon. Not because it’s a classic to be held alongside the greats of the horror genre but because it is incredibly wacky and has one of the most memorable villains for all the wrong reasons.

Part slapstick, part gore-fest, part musical…writer and director Deborah Brock threw everything at the wall here and it’s a mess. An entertaining mess though.

Courtney (Crystal Bernard), a survivor of the first film is now a teenage girl but is plagued by nightmares of the events that took place that night. In her dreams she is chased by the killer who has had something of a transformation. He is now a greaser/rocker looking fella dressed in leather and armed with a guitar that has a drill instead of a neck.

It’s her birthday so she invites all her friends to come and spend the weekend with her at a private house outside town. Here the girls can practice the songs for their band (yes, they have a band) but it’s not long before the boys come knocking. Not before an obligatory topless pillow fight, of course.

Unfortunately, Courtney’s dreams become more and more violent and she sees the killer murdering her friends. She begins to question her sanity as he begins to appear even when she thinks she is awake. Is the killer back or is Courtney losing her mind?

Slumber Party Massacre II is so bad it’s good. It’s as simple as that. Its embraces the cheese and ramps it up to hilarious levels. The villain is the star spouting horrible one-liners and even breaking into song at one stage. Threatening? Absolutely not but for entertainment value he delivers.

It’s a pity most of the cast don’t follow suit with a range of bad to average acting. Most are completely forgettable and nothing but fodder for the guitar drill but Crystal Bernard throws out a serviceable attempt at acting.

Like the first film, Slumber Party Massacre II is all about the gore and it doesn’t disappoint. It’s over the top but that is exactly what is expected in a movie is absurd.

The biggest problem with the movie is the plot. For ages you’re left wondering if it’s all just a dream only for the killer to be revealed as real. How he has come back is never explained and that he is capable of dying again is very confusing. Just when the film seems to have settled on it all being real it is then revealed to be a dream only for that to be a dream also.

Don’t worry about that though. Just enjoy the wackiness of it all.

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