Slumber Party Massacre II

Last updated
Slumber Party Massacre II
Slumberpartymassacre2.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDeborah Brock
Written byDeborah Brock
Produced by Roger Corman
Deborah Brock
Don Daniel
Starring Crystal Bernard
CinematographyThomas L. Callaway
Edited byWilliam Flicker
Music byRichard Cox
Distributed by New Concorde
Release date
  • October 16, 1987 (1987-10-16) [1]
Running time
75 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$500,000 [1]
Box office$1.3 million

Slumber Party Massacre II is a 1987 American black comedy slasher film written and directed by Deborah Brock, and produced by Roger Corman. It is the second installment in the original Slumber Party Massacre trilogy, and stars Crystal Bernard. The film follows Courtney, a character introduced in the previous film, as she and her friends are attacked by a supernatural killer with a power-drill guitar.

Contents

Slumber Party Massacre II grossed $1.3 million at the box office on a budget of $500,000. Despite largely negative reception, the film has attracted a small cult following among fans of the slasher genre.

A sequel, Slumber Party Massacre III , was released in 1990.

Plot

Courtney Bates, who survived the events of the first film, is now a senior in high school. She invites her crush, Matt, to stay at a condominium for her birthday weekend with her and her friends, Amy, Sheila, and Sally. Upon arriving, two of the girls' boyfriends, Jeff and T.J., show up at the house. That night, Courtney has a dream of the killer from the first film, who is now reincarnated as a greaser and armed with a drill bit guitar, and awakens on the kitchen floor. That day, her visions grow violent but she is comforted when Matt arrives. Sally disappears and the group is unable to find her, but she later returns to the house, having left to go to the store.

Courtney and Matt are left alone. Matt surprises Courtney with a birthday cake and the two begin to have sex. The killer suddenly appears and impales Matt through the chest before chasing Courtney downstairs, where he confronts the group, who have just returned. As the others escape, the killer impales Sally with the drill. Sheila and T.J. flee, while Courtney, Amy, and Jeff leave in Jeff's car. Jeff is impaled by the killer, and Courtney and Amy flee back to the house. Sheila and T.J. run to a nearby house for help, but the killer catches up to them and T.J. is killed. Sheila manages to return to the condominium before the killer murders her as well. Courtney and Amy escape but the killer pursues them through a construction site, where Amy falls to her death. Courtney uses an oxyacetylene torch to light the killer on fire, finally killing him.

Sometime later, Courtney wakes up next to Matt, but he morphs into the killer. She then awakens inside a psychiatric ward and screams frantically as a drill bursts through the floor and the credits roll.

Cast

Production

Filming of Slumber Party Massacre II took place in Los Angeles, California in June 1987 under the working title Don't Let Go. The budget was approximately $500,000. [1]

Release

Box office

The film was given a limited release theatrically in the United States by New Concorde on October 16, 1987, and grossed $1.3 million at the box office on a budget of $500,000.

Home media

It was subsequently released on VHS by Nelson Entertainment. The film has been released on DVD three times. The first release came from New Concorde Home Entertainment in September 2000. Extras included actor bios along with trailers for Slumber Party Massacre, Slumber Party Massacre II and Sorority House Massacre II. [2] The company re-released the film on a double feature DVD alongside the original The Slumber Party Massacre in July 2003. [3] These versions are both currently out of print. Shout! Factory released Slumber Party Massacre, Slumber Party Massacre II and Slumber Party Massacre III on a two-disc special edition DVD set in October 2010. A full-length documentary, Sleepless Nights: Revisiting the Slumber Party Massacres (2010), directed by Jason Paul Collum, accompanied the set. [4] It has since been released on Blu-ray in a double feature with Slumber Party Massacre III.

The Shout! Factory release includes an extended, unrated version of the film, never before seen on home video. It was pieced together using three different sources by editor/director Dustin Ferguson.

Reception

Leonard Klady of the Los Angeles Times compared the film's supernatural elements to A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), adding: "Writer-director Deborah Brock simply fails to give her film style or wit. The grisly shenanigans are as inane and illogical as the rationale behind making this effort". [5] TV Guide awarded the film two out of four stars, noting that it follows in the "vaguely feminist tradition" of the first film, adding: "The rockabilly killer is probably the most entertaining slasher ever to grace the screen—sort of like Elvis Presley playing Norman Bates, complete with musical numbers". [6]

In The Gorehound's Guide to Splatter Films of the 1980s, Scott Aaron Stine writes: "You can't get much more of an insufferable viewing experience than this slasher flick-cum-musical". [7]

Related Research Articles

A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic term for any horror film involving murder, film analysts cite an established set of characteristics which set slasher films apart from other horror subgenres, such as monster movies, splatter films, supernatural and psychological horror films.

<i>My Bloody Valentine</i> (film) 1981 Canadian slasher film by George Mihalka

My Bloody Valentine is a 1981 Canadian slasher film directed by George Mihalka and written by John Beaird. It stars Paul Kelman, Lori Hallier, and Neil Affleck. The plot tells about a group of young adults who decide to throw a Valentine's Day party, only to incur the vengeful wrath of a maniac in mining gear who begins a killing spree.

<i>Hell Night</i> 1981 American slasher film by Tom DeSimone

Hell Night is a 1981 American supernatural slasher film directed by Tom DeSimone, and starring Linda Blair, Vincent Van Patten, Kevin Brophy, and Peter Barton. The film depicts a night of fraternity hazing set in an old manor—the site of a familial mass murder—during which a deformed killer terrorizes and murders many of the college students. The plot blends elements of slasher films and Gothic haunted house films. Filmmaker Chuck Russell served as an executive producer, while his long-time collaborator Frank Darabont served as a production assistant.

<i>The Slumber Party Massacre</i> 1982 film by Amy Jones

The Slumber Party Massacre is a 1982 American slasher film produced and directed by Amy Jones and written by Rita Mae Brown. It is the first installment in the Slumber Party Massacre series, and stars Michelle Michaels, Robin Stille, and Michael Villella. The film follows a high school senior who gathers her friends for a slumber party, unaware that an escaped power drill-wielding killer is loose in the neighborhood.

<i>Sorority House Massacre II</i> 1990 film by Jim Wynorski

Sorority House Massacre II is a 1990 American slasher film directed by Jim Wynorski, featuring scream queens Melissa Ann Moore and Gail Harris. It follows five sorority sisters who are stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant after purchasing a large house. Much like its predecessors, Sorority House Massacre II has received a cult following over the years.

<i>Sorority House Massacre</i> 1986 film

Sorority House Massacre is a 1986 American slasher film written and directed by Carol Frank, and starring Angela O'Neill, Wendy Martel, Pamela Ross, and Nicole Rio. It follows a sorority pledge who experiences déjà vu in the sorority house when a murderer begins killing the residents over Memorial Day weekend. It is the second film in the Massacre franchise and a spin-off set in the same realm as The Slumber Party Massacre trilogy; like its predecessor, it was entirely written and directed by a woman.

<i>Slumber Party Massacre III</i> 1990 film

Slumber Party Massacre III is a 1990 American slasher film directed by Sally Mattison and written by Catherine Cyran. It is the third and final installment in the original Slumber Party Massacre trilogy, and stars Keely Christian, Brittain Frye, M.K. Harris, David Greenlee, Hope Marie Carlton and Maria Ford. The film follows a group of teenage girls in California, whose slumber party is crashed by a masked killer.

<i>Cheerleader Massacre</i> 2003 American film

Cheerleader Massacre is a 2003 American B-movie slasher film directed by Jim Wynorski and written by Lenny Juliano. It is the seventh installment in the Massacre franchise and was originally meant to be a direct sequel to The Slumber Party Massacre (1982).

<i>Nail Gun Massacre</i> 1980s American rape-and-revenge slasher film

Nail Gun Massacre is a 1987 American slasher film written by Terry Lofton and directed by Lofton and Bill Leslie. It follows a young doctor and a sheriff seeking a killer in a motorcycle helmet who is murdering locals with a nail gun.

<i>Boardinghouse</i> (film) 1983 American film

Boardinghouse is a 1982 American supernatural slasher film directed, written by, and starring musician John Wintergate. Its plot follows a group of aspiring actresses and models who begin to die mysteriously in a Los Angeles boarding house, which was once the site of a series of bizarre deaths. It carries the distinction of being the first horror film to be shot-on-video.

<i>Terror at Tenkiller</i> 1986 American slasher film

Terror at Tenkiller is a 1986 American slasher film directed and produced by Ken Meyer, and starring Stacey Logan, Michelle Merchant, Michael Shamus Wiles, and Kevin Meyer. Its plot follows two female college students spending their summer vacation at Lake Tenkiller in rural Oklahoma where a rash of grisly murders are occurring.

<i>The Remake</i> 2006 American film

The Remake is a 2006 American slasher film directed by Tommy Brunswick, and written by Todd Brunswick and Dwayne Roszkowski.

<i>The Sleeper</i> (2012 film) 2012 American film

The Sleeper is a 2012 American slasher film written and directed by Justin Russell.

<i>Mountaintop Motel Massacre</i> 1983 American film

Mountaintop Motel Massacre is a 1983 American psychological slasher film written and directed by Jim McCullough Sr. and starring Anna Chappell, Bill Thurman, and Amy Hill. The plot concerns a psychotic elderly woman who, after being freed from incarceration, returns to the motel she ran and begins murdering the guests.

<i>Killer Nerd</i> 1991 American film

Killer Nerd is a 1991 comedy horror film. It was directed by Mark Steven Bosko and Wayne Alan Harold and stars Toby Radloff in his first film.

<i>Easter Bunny, Kill! Kill!</i> 2006 film by Chad Ferrin

Easter Bunny, Kill! Kill! is a 2006 American slasher film directed and written by Chad Ferrin. It stars Timothy Muskatell, Charlotte Marie, Ricardo Gray, David Z. Stamp, and Trent Haaga, who also produced the film.

<i>After School Massacre</i> 2014 film

After School Massacre is a 2014 American slasher film written and directed by Jared Masters. The film stars Nikole Howell, Lindsay Lamb, Andrew Phillips, Courtney Rood, Danika Galindo, Yasmine Soofi, and Savannah Matlow. After School Massacre follows the story of a high school teacher who goes on a killing spree after being fired, stalking his former female students at their slumber party for revenge against all those who wronged him.

The Massacre films are three interconnected series of slasher films executive-produced by Roger Corman: the Slumber Party Massacre series (1982–1990), the Sorority House Massacre series (1986–1990) and the Cheerleader Massacre series (2003–2011), distributed by New World Pictures and New Concorde. The series also features the standalone film Sharkansas Women's Prison Massacre (2015), and the reboot film Slumber Party Massacre (2021).

<i>Slumber Party Massacre</i> (2021 film) 2021 film by Danishka Esterhazy

Slumber Party Massacre is a 2021 slasher film directed by Danishka Esterhazy and written by Suzanne Keilly. It is described as a "modern reimagining" of and stand-alone sequel to the original 1982 film The Slumber Party Massacre, and the fourth film released in the overall Massacre franchise. It stars Hannah Gonera, Frances Sholto-Douglas, Alex McGregor, Mila Rayne, Reze-Tiana Wessels with Schelaine Bennett, Rob van Vuuren and Jennifer Steyn. It follows a girls' slumber party which becomes a bloodbath when an escaped mental patient arrives with a power drill.

<i>The Last Slumber Party</i> American film

The Last Slumber Party is a 1988 American slasher film directed by Stephen Tyler and starring Jan Jensen, Nancy Meyer, and Joann Whitley.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Slumber Party Massacre II". American Film Institute Catalog. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Slumber Party Massacre II (DVD)". DVD Empire. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Slumber Party Massacre/Slumber Party Massacre II (DVD)". DVD Empire. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Shout! Factory Bringing Home the Slumber Party Massacre Collection!". Dread Central. July 13, 2010. Archived from the original on July 27, 2010.
  5. ↑ Klady, Leonard (October 16, 1987). "Movie Reviews : 'Slumber Party Massacre II'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  6. ↑ TV Guide Staff. "Slumber Party Massacre II". TV Guide . Retrieved April 3, 2018.Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg
  7. ↑ Stine, Scott Aaron (2003). The Gorehound's Guide to Splatter Films of the 1980s. McFarland. p. 278. ISBN   978-0-786-41532-8.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.