Slumber Party Massacre II

I don't get the bad reviews. Hey - it's ok for a movie to linger on a handsome heart throb over and over again, choose a pastel color palate, cast a really handsome killer whom by the end I wanted to perhaps maybe grab a bite with sometime, and it's ok for a slasher to basically be a chic flick. Imagine the deeper meanings will you? Courtney is...wrapped up, confined if you will...committed for sure, to teenage bliss. This girl dreams in Soap-Opera Scope, she wears acid washed high waisted jeans with suspenders, she rocks a scrunchy on top of a French braid (talk about secure). She is 80's America sweet heart. She has a tragic backstory and this weekend wants to spend it with her girl band (whom I kid you not, had me dream boating back to when this GI Joe wannabe used to watch Jem and The Holograms). Please, play close attention to the drummer, Sally, the fierce is strong with that one. Enter the love interest, Matt. Traditionally he would be a boy wanting to defile her and transparently so. Courtney can only dream of him and in dreamy pastel Soap - Opera Scope. I'd be remiss in mentioning, this movie is beautiful, It is shot in innocent pastel girl colors, that sharply contrast with the vivid reds, smoke, and slick blacks of some alternative nightmare world that is stalking our sweet female lead, first in flashes, then in visions that seem more tangible, literally grabbing her and finally, her two worlds collide and the killer haunting her dreams is unleashed on her actual world. Back to Matt. He's so ... dreamy in this way that really immerses you into Courtney's world view. Sure he's sexy from a general point of view, but to Courtney, a kind, gentle, personable, funny, sweet guy. At first, that may seem corny, but it will blow your mind when you realize that she sees him the way girls see guys their age, even the jerks. This strand is continued when the "killer" shows up - he's a rockabilly type with big mascara lined eyes, pursed lips, his black hair is perfectly quaffed with a cigarette enfolded over 1 ear, he's wearing the least intimidating leather outfit, complete with metal gilding, and fringe - so much fringe. He's a rock and roll singer and drops two very decent songs, one complete with dancing, lights, the whole nine. He kills with a kind of poker face that's not evil or happy, just is and he looks at Courtney with an almost sad pitying look in some frames. It's as if he's evil, but either or about it. in my opinion, he just exist because she made him, but he'd rather be on the road touring or smoking with his band, not killing. He keeps telling her not to go all the way. As I and my friend who is a man ... my man friend, watched, we took the bait and had a blast deciphering the code we thought Courtney was laying down for us. My man friend thought, clearly, the oddly attractive killer had a drill so she must be afraid of c**k, I thought she must really be afraid of being alone away from her mom and friends. If you watched it, you know which one of us was semi right. Of course, we could both be right. What fun it was to watch this candy coated slasher, this girl's trip straight to hell, this bubblegum, rock and roll fantasy. Courtney was clearly troubled by her past and wanted a weekend away, but her demons of the past and fears of the future converged to create a fun house mirror killer to come and take everything away from her; it's all so much deeper than a cheesey titty flick. The overall message seems to be DON'T BANG...and also enjoy every minute, love your friends, beware the bad boy, and calm down, collect yourself when you're scared, and vanish the boogey man that's inside your head trying to steal your bliss.

Yes. It is the greatest movie, no, not movie, it's a film, yes, This is the greatest movie ever. Ever made. While others scoff, I thought it just wonderful. The cover art is wonderful too. This movie is about Rock and Roll. Which. If you think about it. Rock and Roll doesn't make much sense either. That, if I actually have to think about what this movie is about: I might not like the answer. But that would be missing the point. This movie is about fear. And about being afraid. Down the line if you keep getting scared of stuff that's in yer head. You get scared at the end of the Line. The end of the line is always real. And so, this movie is about a break dancing rock star who wields an evil guitar that has a drill attached to it. We all watch a lot of films but ax yerself. Can it actually get any better than this? N'osh. [No]. A huge factor that made this movie so enjoyable is that I didn't watch it on Netflix, which in recent times, feels hackneyed; shallow and pedestrian. Netflix is very 2019. The real gems of cinema are here: On good ol Amazon Prizzy. Thinking more about the film, It was so good, I didn't even bother watching the second half. But. As I slept thru it. I assure myself and those that read these words, that I had wonderful dreams, ... The chick from the incomprehensible 90s sitcom 'Wings' is in this movie. She stars in it. Moving forward, there is a nugget of trivia that only I possess, that enables me to care deeply about this movie. Thirty years ago there was a concept called video stores. Something that is impossible to explain now. Anywoo, these stores contain cardboard boxes of things called VHS tapes that one could rent. The cardboard boxes had art on them, designed to show what the movie was about. I remember being a youth and holding this VHS in my hands. Wondering to myself: "Will my Mommy let me rent this?" Then and now: I watched this movie or wanted to: For all the wrong reasons. Point End CLICK Post Script Nightmare on Elm Street had to've been inspired by this, no, vice versa... That, Kruger, the name, is in the movie... It's a wonderful tribute. That, the villain's name is Driller Killer. Trying to wonder why it rhymes. No bother. Watching this movie with a very open mind, that, enjoying a film without reason: Is not a terrible thing.

1982's "Slumber Party Massacre" was a delicious piece of sexy, gory slasher trash from the tail end of the original era that would prove to become a hit on subsequent after-dark cable TV showings. It's only natural then that there would be a follow-up, and five years later there was, in the form of 1987's "Slumber Party Massacre II." During the five year interim, the traditional slasher movie template had undergone something of a facelift, with movies like "Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984), "Sorority House Massacre" (1986), along with the "Friday the 13th" sequels from this time all leaning increasingly toward the area of dreams and the supernatural for their subject matter. Deborah Brock's "Slumber Party Massacre II" follows in those movies' footsteps in that it casts the youngest survivor from the first flick Courtney (here played by Crystal Bernard), five years older and in a high school rock band, and also having weird dreams. She forgoes a weekend of visiting her older sister Valerie (also played by a different actress in this film), who is now in a mental institution from scars sustained from the events of part one, in favor of a drunk excursion in partying with her bandmates and their bonehead boyfriends. Courtney incidentally has yet to "go all the way" with anyone, but keeps being haunted by said dreams of a macabre, leather clad rock 'n' roller who makes wisecracks while killing the teens with the huge drill bit that emerges from his electric guitar. Almost like a rock 'n' roll Freddy Krueger in other words. I had a lot of fun with this one. A lot of the draw here is on the strength of main player Crystal Bernard, not only her acting ability, but also her irresistible good looks. There's not one scene here where she doesn't don the most adorable, sweet innocent smile. Very easy on the eyes indeed. She doesn't bare any actual skin in this film, but one of her bandmates does, in a sexy pillowfight the girls have after drinking champagne straight out of the bottle and in general letting loose and going crazy. I'm not saying "Slumber Party Massacre II" can be considered a serious piece of film making, but any movie that depicts cute, half-undressed girls having a pillowfight is most likely worth seeing if you ask me. And just like in the first installment, the gore does not disappoint, and in particular the grinding drill bursting forth through the chests of two (male) victims. As far as killings, this one does take awhile to get going but once it does, there is a fair amount of carnage to be had. In all, this succeeds on the fun factor alone, and brings you back to an affluent, pre-recession Reagan era American setting of the late '80s, quite vintage. Girls gone wild in other worlds with a killer on the loose. Recommended for fans of the series who will enjoy a different take on it.

I double whammied myself last night with this film, Slumber Party Massacre II (1987), and the sequel titled Slumber Party Massacre III (1990). Why would I subject myself to so much bad cinema in one heaping, steaming, oozing dose? Because I'm a glutton for punishment, I suppose...now I've seen the first film, and it actually wasn't too bad (it wasn't all that great, either), but the sequels, this one in particular, were pretty crummy, which is annoying to me because the bar really wasn't set that high. Written and directed by Deborah Brock (Rock 'n' Roll High School Forever), the film stars Crystal Bernard (Young Doctors in Love), whom many may remember from the television series "Wings", along with a slew of TV movies. Also appearing is playmate Kimberly McArthur (Young Doctors in Love), Juliette Cummins (Friday the 13th: A New Beginning), Heidi Kozak (Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood), and Joel Hoffman (Pumpkinhead). In this second installment in the series, sprite-like Bernard plays the role of Courtney, the annoying younger sister (now all grown up) to the character of Valerie, both of whom managed to survive the first film (Bernard did not appear in the first film...the role of Courtney was played by another `actress'). Apparently Val hasn't done so well, and now resides in on a koo koo farm (she's koo koo for Cocoa Puffs, among other things), while Courtney, who lives with their mother, got off a little better, suffering the occasional nightmare tied to her ordeal. As the film begins we see her in bed, having a dreamy fantasy about a shirtless, hunky dingus (we later learn his name is Matt), which is then interrupted by visions of the driller killer (scenes from the previous movie are shown, basically as filler to pad out the film). Anyway, when Courtney and her friends are perpetrating their act as the world's oldest high school students (Bernard was about 26 at the time she appeared in this film), they're part of some lame, Bangles-esque rock band with champagne dreams of hit albums and music videos (keep dreaming girls, cause your faux musicianship suck-diddly-ucks). Around this time we find out Shelia (Cummins), whose the lead singer, has access to a condo, one her father recently purchased, and the girls are planning to go up for the weekend to practice, and perhaps party (I'm using party as a verb here, a usage which I normally loathe, but I'm trying to stick to the mentality of the characters). Some lame and forgettable sequences follow, followed by an all too brief topless scene, right about the time two boyfriends show up, allowing for them to peep through the window for a view of some pitiful skin...lovely...do all the guys in these films have to be portrayed as creepy, voyeuristic perverts? Seems the gang's all here, and things are going well, except for the fact Courtney's a real poison pill as her nightmarish visions are becoming more and more realistic, to her at least (severed hand in her burger, blood pouring from the bathtub faucet, violent poultry products) often featuring a greasy 50s style rock and roller, clad in leather, sporting a vicious looking geetar complete with giant, spinning drill bit...bruther...not content to exist in Courtney's dreams, evil Fonzie comes to life and begins thin out the cast (thankfully)... Probably the one thing that will annoy many fans of the genre is actually having to wait a full 51 minutes before the first kill...which, by the way, was actually a pretty decent one, if you dig on that kind of thing. Why do we have to wait so long? I haven't the slightest idea...it's not like anyone watches a film like this for character development or intricate storylines. The rest of the kills are middling to poor, but do involve a decent amount of hemoglobin spillage. And in case you're wondering, Bernard does not bare any skin (I didn't think she would). There was only one instance of skinnage (from Cummins), and it was pretty unspectacular. You know, one of the draws to a movie like this is the scantily clad/soon to be nekkid females, of which the film was sorely lacking. Surprisingly, the one person I expected to get nekkid, that of former playmate Kimberly McArthur, didn't, which was a real shame as I `googled' images of her (try it, it's fun!) revealing she had a most spectacular body at the time (check her character out by the pool...she's practically busting out of that bikini top). Perhaps she was trying to move away from shedding her clothes and into a serious film career, one that never really materialized...big surprise there. The characters in this film were actually distinctive, almost interesting...I'm not saying I developed fondness for any of them or cared whether or not they got nasty holes bore into them, but they exhibited a bit more individuality than I would have expected. One of my biggest hang ups with this film was with the killer himself, who came off as a cross between Robbie Benson and Andrew `Dice' Clay, with, sadly, Robbie Benson being the more dominant personality. He had the ability to pop in and out whenever and wherever he wanted and change certain aspects of reality, characteristics apparently borrowed from the Freddie Krueger character of Wes Craven's Nightmare on Elm Street films. At least there we had a memorable villain...here, the guy is just a greasy dink, one who performs the absolute worst dance number near the end of the film...no foolin'...another aspect that really ticked me off was the ambiguity in terms of the ending. I won't reveal the `surprise', but it's nothing new, and I absolutely abhor when filmmakers take the route they did here, as it's often a pathetic attempt to cover up poorly written material, shoddy directing and laziness in general (note the ridiculously obvious product placement for Pepsi, Oxy-10, and Perrier, among others), which is pretty sad considering no one's expectations for a film like this would have been very high to begin with, but then that's just my opinion. The fullscreen picture quality on this DVD is decent, but I did notice some dust on the print. The DVD case claims some sort of re-mastering took place, but I think when they say `re-mastered', I think it means `transferred to DVD' and that's about it...the audio is about as good as the picture, meaning it's good enough to get by. There are some biographies, and a theatrical trailer, but I'm unsure if this film ever made it to the theaters, or if it was a direct to video production. Also included are trailers for some other films including Slumber Party Massacre (1982), Slumber Party Massacre III (1990), and Sorority House Massacre II (1990). By the way, when I was talking earlier about lazy and sloppy filmmaking, it extends to the whoever released this DVD as two of the three pictures on the back of the DVD case are either from other films, or possible from scenes no longer included in this 75 minute version (word is there may be a 90 minute version out there, but I sincerely doubt lengthening the film by 15 minutes would have increased my enjoyment). Cookieman108 By the way, Sally, the drummer of the group, shouldn't be allowed to write material for the band...ever...

The only thing that carried over from the first is the drill. And the slumber party.

It's got it all, even a music video. Sure, it's a little slow, but there's nothing else like it, and it's not comparable to the first. I don't know what these other reviewers expected. You can't bash a classic campy horror. There's legitimately great horror films like Halloween, and then there's the best of the rest: this. I've seen so much worse for early 80s horror. These other guys just don't know. If you like slashers, you gotta see it.

This is the worst horror film I have ever watched. The first one was bad too, but this one is on a whole other level. I like all kinds of horror movies including the cheesy/funny type. This movie was not scary, cheesy, or funny - just all around terrible. I feel dumber for having watched it. No kills until 50+ minutes in when the killer literally just appears out of thin air. He kills a few and then stops, mugs to the camera, and performs a freaking musical number. Yeah, you read that right. The dude stops for a smoke and song one-liner after every kill for the 20 minutes he's in the movie. Appears it was all the dream of a psych patient. Skip this and go watch the Sleepaway Camp series if you're looking for some 80's horror fun.

I finally have the driller killer in my hot little hands! I'd been looking for this on dvd of some time now and am so glad to have it. Sure, it not really scary, to me it's more satire of slasher films but, the bonus is that sexy hunk of man meat the driller killer (Atanas ilitch) He makes this film IMHO.