The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)
Director Amy Holden Jones’ 1982 slasher flick THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE features a screenplay by queer author and activist Rita Mae Brown. Today’s post was written by film critic and horror expert Dr. Heather O. Petrocelli (@queerforfear on Instagram). Be sure to follow their Instagram page for all things queer + horror.
THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE
1982. USA.
Director: Amy Holden Jones
Screenplay: Rita Mae Brown
Starring: Michele Michaels, Robin Stille, Debra Deliso, Andree Honore, Gina Mari, Jennifer Meyers & Pamela Roylance
D¥ke Icon (D¥kecon™) Rita Mae Brown wrote a slasher parody screenplay entitled 'Sleepless Nights,' which was then refashioned into the serious slasher 'The Slumber Party Massacre' (1982), directed by Amy Holden Jones (in her directorial debut). I would love to read Rita Mae Brown's original screenplay because I'm sure it would be a loving and lacerating feminist parody of '70s and '80s slashers.
Even though it's a departure from the original material, I find 'The Slumber Party Massacre' to be a pure delight. Just as Debra Hill wrote believable banter between the teen girls in 'Halloween' (1978), the dynamics between the young women in this film are fantastic, and I love all of them. I don't want any of them to die. I really want to be at that slumber party—minus the driller killer crashing our party, of course—in part because I have a long/longing fascination with slumber parties due to never having held or attended one. (We moved a lot. I was always the Valerie.) Anyway, Jackie is my 'Slumber Party Massacre' idol, always and forever.
Kim: He's dead, all right. So cold.
Jackie: Is the pizza?
[Jackie takes a slice of pizza out of the box, which is on the dead delivery boy's body]
Jackie: Well, life goes on after all and eating makes me feel best when I feel bad, and boy do I feel bad.
[Jackie takes a bite of the pizza]
Jackie: I feel better already. Really, I do.
THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE is streaming on Prime, Tubi & Shudder (Canada/USA), Plex & Shudder (UK) and Tubi & Plex (Mexico), available for rent/purchase with AppleTV, and also available on DVD/Blu-ray.
