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The original SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE came out in 1982, hot on the success of HALLOWEEN, FRIDAY THE 13th and PROM NIGHT. As Corman did with the bulk of his flicks he took a formula that had worked for others and then put his own spin on it to make his film similar but completely different. Such was SLUMBER PARTY. All the pieces of the puzzle were there.
Hot young horny girls
Plenty of opportunities for sex
A deranged lunatic looking to kill all of them.
In a twist that only Corman could love though this killer was stalking around with a very large, very sharp drill.
How is any young horror fan supposed to avoid that lure. Boobs, Sex and a huge pointy drill. You know we were all lining up early for that one.
And the film didn't and still doesn't disappoint.
Watching the original for the first time in probably 20 years I was surprised how well the film holds up. It is one creepy, blood soaked ride, every bit as much fun as it was the first time I watched it. Great seeing Brinke Stevens, haven't watched her in a film in way to long a time. What a great gal.
The sequels kind of rehash the same formula and although not horrible films they lack the heart that the original possessed. They are still fun rides and worth the watch just don't expect anything ground breaking.
The collection itself is dynamic. Shout Factory just seems to get better and better at putting these suckers together. The special features and attention to detail are mind numbingly complete.
The info below will outline the complete release but for my part let me state that I have found each and every one of these ROGER CORMAN CULT CLASSICS discs to be nothing short of superb and they have outdone themselves with this particular collection.
Stay up all night with the films
that put a new twist on the slasher genre. Along with Halloween (1978), Friday the 13th(1980) and Prom Night (1980), Slumber Party Massacre (1982) helped define the slasher film
ethos of the 1980s. Put together by first-time director Amy Holden from a script,
titled Don’t Open the Door, by feminist author Rita Mae
Brown (Rubyfruit Jungle), the
film was an immediate hit for Roger Corman's New World Pictures, eventually
spawning two sequels.
Here, for the first time, all three Slumber Party Massacres are brought
together in one DVD set, due to drill its way into your heart on Oct. 5, 2010
from Shout! Factory, in association with New Horizons Picture Corporation. The
2-DVD set includes The
SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE: Special Edition, SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE II,
and SLUMBER PARTY
MASSACRE III, as well as such killer all-new bonus features as a
three-part documentary, "Sleepless Nights: Revisiting The Slumber Party
Massacres," a photo and poster still gallery, and an essay on the Slumber
Party phenomenon, Close Your Eyes For A Second … And Sleep
Forever. A must have collection for all slasher fans and collectors of
Roger Corman's Cult Classics.
Thanks in part to a brilliant
marketing campaign pushing a feminist angle because the film was written,
produced and directed by women, the story of a girls’ basketball team
drilled to death at their celebratory slumber party became a staple in
mom-and-pop corner video stores of the 1980s. Bulked in with the best of the early slashers, The
Slumber Party Massacre (1982) had a secret weapon: a wicked
little brain and a dark sense of humor layered between the three nude scenes
and one very brief sex scene. The girls take on the masculine roles (playing
sports, working as telephone repair women, basketball coaches, carpenters and
always willing to fight back against the Driller Killer”, while
the somewhat effeminate boys made the stupid decisions typically played out by
women in the subgenre. Additionally, the boys died more violently on screen
than their counterparts.
In The Slumber Party Massacre, 18-year-old
high schooler Trish (Michelle Michaels) decides to invite her high school
girls''basketball teammates over for a slumber party. What she doesn't know is
that the girls will get an uninvited guest -Russ Thorn, an escaped mental
patient and murderer of five people who's weapon of choice is a portable power
drill.
The only sane survivor of the
first incident, Courtney (Crystal Bernard of Wings fame), dreams of
the driller killer returning in the first sequel, Slumber Party Massacre II
(1987). She can't help shake the feeling that she and her friends will be
viciously tormented by the killer. Her nightmare becomes reality when the
killer returns, reincarnated as an evil rocker with a deadly guitar, who goes
about slaying more teens.
The final, installment, Slumber Party Massacre III
(1990), is a reimagining of the first film, but with more gore and violence.
After a relaxing day at the beach, a group of teens decide to have a slumber
party. Their boyfriends predictably show up to scare them, but there is
something much scarier lurking in the shadows as the group starts getting
attacked by an unknown killer with a fixation on drilling.
Disc 1
The SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE: Special Edition (1982)
Disc 2
SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE II (1987) and SLUMBER PARTY
MASSACRE III (1990)
Special Features:
New anamorphic widescreen transfer (1.78:1) of The Slumber Party Massacre and Slumber Party Massacre
II
All-new three-part documentary: Sleepless
Nights: Revisiting The Slumber Party Massacres
Photo and poster still gallery
Theatrical trailers
THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE
Starring Michelle Michaels, Robin Stille, Michael
Villella, Debra Deliso, Andree Honore
Produced and directed by Amy Jones
Screenplay by Rita Mae Brown
Director of Photography: Steve Posey
Edited by Sean Foley
Music by Ralph Jones
Co-produced by Aaron Lipstadt
Rated R
SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE II
Starring Crystal Bernard, Patrick Lowe, Kimberly McArthur,
Juliette Cummins, Heidi Kozak, Joel Hoffman, Scott Westmoreland. Featuring
Atanas Ilitch as the Driller Killer.
Written and directed by Deborah Brock
Director of Photography: Thomas L. Callaway
Edited by William Flicker
Music by Richard Cox
Production design by John Eng
Special makeup effects by James Cummins
Produced by Deborah Brock and Don Daniel
Executive producer: Roger Corman
Rated R
SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE III
Starring Keely Christian, Brittain Frye, M.K. Harris,
David Greenlee, Brandi Burkett, Hope Marie Carlton, Maria Claire, Maria
Ford
Directed by Sally Mattison
Written and produced by Catherine Cyran
Director of photography: Jurgen Baum
Edited by Tim Amyx
Music by Jamie Sheriff
Produced by Roger Corman and Catherine Cyran
Rated R
Total running time: 241 minutes
Special features are not rated
