The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)

[N Boros]

Too bad that this is OOP. I'm not willing to pay $30 and up for a used copy of this just to check it out.

[Frankie T.]

Originally Posted by N Boros

Too bad that this is OOP. I'm not willing to pay $30 and up for a used copy of this just to check it out.

Man, you missed out.

Late last year on Amazon, I believe it was possibly New Concorde (under seller "New Horizons Pictures" on Amazon) was selling off most of their overstock OOP stuff on the site for $19 or less (with free shipping through Amazon).

I was able to get New/Sealed/Legit copies of Sorority House Massacre 1/2 shipped through Amazon (not Marketplace) for under $39 shipped.

[Ryan Clark]

Originally Posted by N Boros

Too bad that this is OOP. I'm not willing to pay $30 and up for a used copy of this just to check it out.

It's been announced that Shout Factory is re-releasing the entire series as Special Edition DVDs.

[Ryan B]

Originally Posted by Ryan Clark

It's been announced that Shout Factory is re-releasing the entire series as Special Edition DVDs.

Very awesome. Hopefully they'll through Sorority House Massacre up there too!

[N Boros]

Originally Posted by Ryan Clark

It's been announced that Shout Factory is re-releasing the entire series as Special Edition DVDs.

I'll be sure not to miss out this time.

[Ryan Clark]

Originally Posted by Ryan B

Very awesome. Hopefully they'll through Sorority House Massacre up there too!

God no! That series sucks so bad.

[Marshall Crist]

Originally Posted by Ryan Clark

God no! That series sucks so bad.

Part 2 is one of the greatest films in the history of history.

[Ryan B]

Originally Posted by Marshall Crist

Part 2 is one of the greatest films in the history of history.

I second that.

[Jeremy Slate]

I watched Slumber Party Massacre for the first time the other day and loved it. I just watched Part II and all I can say is WTF? That film starts off well, but it just never pays off. Very odd film. Weak concept, several annoying characters, well at least the very hot Juliette Cummins takes her top off. I'm still going to check out Part 3, but my expectations are much lower.

[John K]

Yeah, I'm interested in seeing 3 too, though I don't really have much access to it. I'll have to wait on this rerelease, I guess. I think it's at least more of a straightforward slasher again.

Anyone seen SOME NUDITY REQUIRED? It's by a girl who worked as a composer for Roger Corman and scored some of these films. I think Part 3 is discussed here. Might have to watch this again...

[Chris Garofalo]

This movie is an underrated gem in my book. Its a perfect mix of campy coed fun and absolute power drill brutality...the end scene is delightfully violent, two thumbs up here.

[Bill S]

Originally Posted by John K

Anyone seen SOME NUDITY REQUIRED? It's by a girl who worked as a composer for Roger Corman and scored some of these films. I think Part 3 is discussed here. Might have to watch this again...

I loved that documentary. I rented it a long time ago and I don't remember a lot of the details. But I remember Jim Wynorski saying "This interview is over!" or something. I also remember Fred Olen Ray, Lisa Boyle, and Julie Strain being in it. I'd love to pick that up on dvd if it's available.

[John K]

Originally Posted by Bill S

I loved that documentary. I rented it a long time ago and I don't remember a lot of the details. But I remember Jim Wynorski saying "This interview is over!" or something. I also remember Fred Olen Ray, Lisa Boyle, and Julie Strain being in it. I'd love to pick that up on dvd if it's available.

It only came out on tape, unfortunately - thankfully, I still had it around from my B-horror collecting days. Probably first saw this in my early teens (which should date me pretty well...), and it hasn't aged well with me. The thing I most remember is Dr. Cyclops complaining in Fangoria that it focused too much on the director, which, even in my youth, I kind of considered a stupid thing to say. I mean, she's making a film about herself, eventually, not a doc about B movie or Roger Corman. It's the nature of an essay film. Nevertheless, watching it now, I can say that I found it a sort of disingenuous portrait at times, and, ironically, it emerges as most interesting with respect to the object it (sort of) condemns. It really succeeds (possibly somewhat inadvertently) in providing an excellent portrait of early/mid-90s B-movie filmmaking, which is increasingly becoming a bygone era in itself. There are some very interesting interviews with a lot of interesting characters here, and some neat peeks behind the scenes on a number of low-budget epics. The interviews with characters like Wynorski and Ray are memorable and entertaining.

What's not so entertaining is director Springer's inability to develop a particularly nuanced argument. For that matter, she doesn't seem to be terribly sure how she feels or what she wants. She seems to cast Julie Strain as a kind of model - she represents a woman empowered by and possessive of her sexuality and sexual allure. Maria Ford, however (whose interview segments are some of the film's most powerful) is cast in Springer's mold - as a doubting, self-abusive character who's not quite sure of herself or what she wants. Nevertheless, she emerges as quite a sympathetic character, which is more than I can say for the director. Springer, as the film's subject, is definitely compelling in theory - she clearly has a lot of deep-rooted issues with body, image, and self-confidence, and the film illustrates her interesting vascillation between fascination with characters like Strain and, by contrast, with the uncertainty and victimization exemplified by Ford. By Springer never really articulates her problem - she says she's fascinated by the violence in B-movies and yet repelled by it, but never really goes anywhere with it - just keeps repeating that. That's supposed to be the "mystery" central to the story, I guess - but it's really a manufactured one. Most galling, however, is the film's ending, wherein [SPOILER] Springer suddenly remembers that she was molested as a child, and that basically explains away all of her deep-seated image issues. Um, no. That's where your movie begins. Writing off a serious issue with this kind of pop-psych recovered-memory clap-trap does everything and everyone in this film a disservice, and really sours the whole thing for me. Nevertheless, if you ignore the narrative Springer imposes on the whole thing, it still emerges as a fascinating portrait of an increasingly bygone era.

[END SPOILERS]

To bring this closer to topic, the SPM film discussed in this turns out to be #3. Like all the rest, it's directed by a woman, Catherine Cyran (if I'm remembering correctly), yet all the fun seems to have been sapped out of it. Cyran seems blithly unaware of the significance and fun embodied in the previous entries (particularly #1). Gone is the joyous, playful parody of SPM, replaced by a callow, by-the-numbers view of the genre and topped off with a dollop of the most noxiously self-abusive elements of second-wave feminist theory. Blah, blah, women in terror, boobs and blood. It's all so horrible, and yet I did it because I was desperate to get ahead. How shameful! It's depressing that Cyran was incapable of looking at the smart, playful elements of the films by her predecessors, which are a lot more creative than she seems willing to give them credit for. Oh well. We still get what's what, right?

[Marshall Crist]

How big a snatch do you have to be for soft-hearted Jim Wynorski to bail on your interview?

[Ehren H.]

The Slumber Party Massacre films are great, and I really enjoy the Sorority House Massacre films too. The first one is a decent serious slasher (cheesy, but played straight), Part 2 is absolutely ridiculous but lots of fun, and Hard To Die (which yes, I consider part of the series) is Part 2 meets Die Hard. It's awesome.

Both series are total blasts for me, and I eagerly await the special editions of the SPM films. Any word on Blu releases?