"Slumber Party Massacre" a cleverly fun subversion of 1982 feminist slasher

Slumber Party Massacre (2021)

The nubile slumber partiers in “Slumber Party Massacre” haven’t learned much, until they do, since 1982’s “The Slumber Party Massacre.” In spite of its box-checking bloody kills and gratuitous nudity, that Roger Corman-produced slasher film was somehow endearing and surprisingly smart for its time, being written by a feminist and directed by a woman. Written by Suzanne Keilly (2018’s “Leprechaun Returns”) and directed by Danishka Esterhazy (2019’s “The Banana Splits Movie”), this remake retains those same qualities but flips the script even after setting up a tried-and-true scenario in a lakeside cabin in lieu of the original film’s suburban neighborhood. 

Playing to expectations with a certain self-awareness, “Slumber Party Massacre” gets right to it. A 17-year-old girl runs to her car, as if running from a killer, only to fake us out when she’s really just getting more booze. She soon joins her three friends in a cabin for the night, just them girls, in Holly Springs, 1993. It’s a slumber party with pizza, brownies, wine coolers, and dancing, until “driller killer” Russ Thorn (Rob van Vuuren) arrives with his favorite power tool. There’s a “final girl,” of course, and she survives the night, but Russ’ body is never found in the lake. What could be its own mini-movie turns out to be merely a prologue before the title card (and a cover of the original score) hits ten minutes later, much like the 2009 “Friday the 13th” reboot. 

History repeats itself with a present-day plot proper when a new batch of girls head out for a weekend to themselves in a cabin across the lake from the “murder house.” Levelheaded Dana (Hannah Gonera), ditsy Ashley (Reze-Tiana Wessels), sexpot Breanie (Alex McGregor), and responsible Maeve (Frances Sholto-Douglas) are on their way to a house they rented in the country, until they realize Maeve’s angsty younger sister Alix (Mila Rayne) stowed herself in the back seat. They can’t turn back now, and then to thwart their plans even more, Maeve’s SUV breaks down. Securing last-minute lodging in town, these friends will have to finally face Russ Thorn and his drill.

Initially, one may question what is actually being done differently 39 years later to warrant a 2021 iteration of “Slumber Party Massacre” (you know it’s modern when there’s no time for a definite article like “the”). Just wait because writer Suzanne Keilly and director Danishka Esterhazy know what they’re doing. More clever than they let on, they respect writer Rita Mae Brown and director Amy Holden Jones’ original (and there’s even a nod to the rockabilly killer in the first sequel) but are more than willing to shake up the audiences’ sleeping bags. There are just enough visual cues to the first film without being a mere distraction, and in terms of kills, the drill play is very gnarly. Russ’ drill is still a phallic symbol, ready to be emasculated, and it’s not random that the driller killer, himself, gets busted in the face with a can of clam chowder soup. 

More in step tonally with self-aware slasher comedies like “The Final Girls” and “Tragedy Girls” than the 1982 source, “Slumber Party Massacre” rides a razor’s edge into parody when characters act like walking clichés, squarely the chiseled dude characters staying across the way from the girls. There are no half-naked pillow fights among the girls this time. Instead, the guys—some of which are knowingly called “Guy One” and “Guy Two”—get to be the interchangeable ones being objectified and taking their tops off while having a homoerotic pillow fight strewn with feathers. The guys are also the ones who think it’s a smart idea to split up and later take a shower when their friends have just been drilled to death.

If ever a horror movie with feminist themes already baked into the material needed to be remade, “Slumber Party Massacre” takes the right approach: be playful and subversive rather than heavy-handed. A few one-liners strike as too on-the-nose, but the cast is charming and spirited, working hard to sell everything without a wink. Reze-Tiana Wessels and Alex McGregor are two particular standouts, having fun with their archetypal traits in a uniformly game quintet of relative newcomers. While the movie isn’t going to make many genre-savvy viewers triple-lock their doors at night, Rob van Vuuren is appropriately creepy and gets the perverted leering down, while carving out his own Russ Thorn after Michael Villela originated the role. For a movie airing on the SyFy channel, “Slumber Party Massacre” doesn't have the highest production values, but by the same token, it’s very fun and also better than expected. 

Grade: B

Shout! Studios is releasing “Slumber Party Massacre” (86 min.) on SyFy on October 16, 2021.