If you snuck into this R-rated flick in the theater, or if you found it on late-night cable later to watch The Slumber Party Massacre (1982), you would have been pleased to note you were treated to your first jump scare in less than two minutes (in the form of a fraudulent scream). The ink on your slasher bingo card would have still been drying as, within two minutes, you’ve already gotten a gander of a topless final girl before she’s even heard the news that mass murderer Russ Thorn has escaped. We already know via a newspaper headline and radio announcement. The promise of a slash-tastic thriller is embedded in the title. Still, you’re ready to stop glancing down at the level of your popcorn once you realize The Slumber Party Massacre is ready to deliver before you even place your order.
This 40-year-old flick is just as perverted as any forty-year-old, but it may come as a surprise that The Slumber Party Massacre was written by a feminist, Rita Mae Brown. Amy Holden Jones sat in the director’s chair for this one, another surprise considering the constant gratuitous nudity and sexual innuendos.
Men may have a monopoly on perversion, but women, especially women in horror, know their target audience. Forty years ago, the target was skewed to male viewers. Thankfully, since then, horror creators have learned that the male gaze isn’t the only lens to film through.
Speaking of parody characters, The Slumber Party Massacre was initially intended as a parody of slasher films smack dab in the middle of the golden age of slashers. Producers preferred to film it and market it as a straight slasher. Rita Mae Brown was dismayed to learn that her intended comedy would be thrown into the same category as the movies she was commenting on. The now 78-year-old is likely at peace with it now as the entire movie, from start to finish, plays as a complete parody. She shares a birthday month with this surprising masterpiece.
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Her feminist message may have been lost early on, but there’s plenty of girl power as we end with no fewer than three final girls. The kills are divided evenly between men and women. The men are viewed as typical voyeuristic pervs and cowards. Making fun of the audience that way is a bold move that no one even noticed. Drilling out the eyes of a pizza delivery boy off-screen takes action away from the killer and puts the deed into the hands of the creators. The poor pizza boy never even gets a gander at his scantily clad customers. There’s a metaphor there that may have gone unnoticed if not for Jackie (Andree Honore) coldly eating a slice over his body while sporting a see-through teddy.
Michael Villella portrayed Russ Thorn as a silent, demented psychopath with wide eyes. The crazy eye look may seem lazy, but it’s more fun to think it was intentionally representing the untamed male gaze. While the younger men are mere peeping toms, Thorn actively seeks out women to kill. One may find humor in the fact that all the males who are killed in The Slumber Party Massacre are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. For reasons, he wants to kill women.
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Thorn doesn’t even speak until he villain-splains his motive to the authority figure in the cast, Coach Jana (Pamela Roylance). As if we didn’t already realize he’s a madman, he spells out his reasoning to match the twisted reasoning of the prototypical serial killer. But instead of explaining how he’s preserving their beauty by killing them, he uses the language of a sexist creep. Of course, that’s what he is, but saying, “You want it,” paints him as an overpowering man who is forcing himself on the women he chooses to dominate.
The ’80s host an overabundance of slashers carried by gratuitous nudity between (and sometimes during) the expected servings of gore, but The Slumber Party Massacre stands out as one with commentary on itself. Emasculating the killer by having a final girl cut down his cordless electric drill with a longer, stronger weapon (a machete) may have been Rita Mae Brown’s effort to reduce his power before eliminating him completely by impaling him with the same symbol.
Any good parody comes with hidden commentary on the subject matter, so it’s nice to see some of Brown’s intent may have leaked into her story in its final form, even if it took decades to understand The Slumber Party wasn’t just a titillating VHS box at the local video store.
