Slumber Party Massacre III (1990)


The Slumber Party Massacre is held in some regard as the first feminist slasher film.  I would hazard that a good number of them, through copying a formula rather than intentionally trying to make a statement, would quality.  Often it is a "final girl" that puts paid to the killer in the end.  There is usually a bunch of gratuitous nudity on the way to that, save for the virtuous female that survives, but there was in Amy Holden Jones's film as well.  It was written as a joke by Rita Mae Brown but, since these movies were selling, Roger Corman went ahead and produced it.  The only difference is that the exploitation and nudity in the film was from the female gaze rather than the male, and I couldn't really tell the difference, other than the killer used a drill as a blunt allegory for a penis. 

Since the first film received praise and made a good amount of money, despite being as generic a slasher as possible, Corman decided to continue the series by making sure another woman directed.  In this case it was Deborah Brock who, instead of going over the same territory again, made Slumber Party Massacre II a strange film that was parts The Rocky Horror Picture Show and A Nightmare on Elm Street.  Unfortunately, this mashup didn't make for as interesting a movie as it sounds, although it gained its own cult notoriety and made enough money that a third movie was made, this time directed by Sally Mattison.

Jackie Cassidy (Keely Christian) is throwing a slumber party while her parents are away looking at houses in another state.  Upset that she is going to have to move soon she decides to have one last night with her friends Janine (Hope Marie Carlton), Maria (Maria Ford), Susie (Marie Clare), Diane (Brandi Burkett) and Juliette (Lulu Wilson).  Their boyfriends, of course, decide to show up as well, and the usual hijinks ensue.  

Also coming to the party are a weirdo (Yan Birch) that was watching the girls on the beach and a creepy neighbor (Michael Harris) watching through a telescope, as well as a handsome boy named Ken (Brittain Frye) who has his eye on Juliette.  While things don't go as expected in the bedroom Juliette still comes away happy.  That is, until she is murdered and stuffed in a bag.  Ken and Duncan (David Greenlee) go to get help, but unfortunately the killer is closer to them than they expect. 

There is no connecting lore between these films other than the killer uses a drill to penetrate young women.  This time around it has something to do with family trauma, although it doesn't go in too deep.  That's probably a good thing because screenwriter Catherine Cyran could barely piece together the movie as it was.  There is an overlong intro with a volleyball game setting up the creepy guy as the possible killer, as well as a lot of time setting up the neighbor Morgan.  It is so much time that it is quite obvious they are not the killer.  It's pretty much the only surprise, and it comes about halfway through the film.

That is this movie's only saving grace, as once the killer is revealed he gets to overact and chase everyone around, causing bloody mischief until inevitably meeting his own demise.  Since this doesn't require a whole lot of deep thought or writing it mostly works except for the attempted rape of Maria.  Rather than her just being killed Corman insisted that the scene be reshot to include some nudity as Hope Marie Carlton, a Playboy playmate that was cast to provide such scenes, decided she didn't want to.  Unfortunately, once again, the extra nudity comes in the form of sexual assault rather than an extra shower scene or skinny dipping or any other number of ways that a pair of breasts can come bouncing out on the screen. Also, because it was a reshoot, it makes it seem like her friends just stand around and do nothing but watch. 

As for Sally Mattison, she is not a horror fan and was not happy about being given this film to direct.  So far it has been her only movie.  The lack of passion is evident throughout as several actors sound like they didn't even rehearse their lines, and it doesn't appear that Mattison really bothered to do extra takes to get things right.  The result is a lifeless, dull-looking film.  It was made for a theatrical release and had a limited one so it doesn't look as cheap as a direct-to-video film, but there is nothing here that shows any real style or engagement. 

Slumber Party Massacre III (1990)
Time: 87 minutes
Starring: Keely Christian, Hope Marie Carlton, Maria Ford, Brittain Fye
Director: Sally Mattison

 

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