Disinterring the 1982 slasher horror, director Danishka Esterhazy tweaks the genre shocks in a playful movie
The 1982 video-nasty classic The Slumber Party Massacre – a confection of polyester sleepwear, orangey fake blood and phallic construction equipment with remarkable battery longevity, directed by Amy Jones – gets a reboot for a new generation with this, along with a more euphonious title, shorn of the definitive article. This time the director is Danishka Esterhazy, whose previous feature, The Banana Splits Movie, similarly retweaked a near-forgotten property from the pop-culture landfill. After an 80s-set prologue that establishes driller killer Russ Thorn’s (Rob van Vuuren) stalk-and-skewer modus operandi, we catch up with lone survivor Trish Deveraux (Schelaine Bennett) in the present day. Trish is now a paranoid parent, worriedly sending off her only daughter Dana (Hannah Gonera, delightful) off for a rustic overnighter with her
Friends. Will history repeat itself?
Not quite. Esterhazy and co have a few clever-ish tricks up their sleeves that invert viewer expectations. First and foremost is having a second slumber party in full swing across the lake, this one featuring a house full of beefcake boys, all lovingly filmed ripped abs and tousled hair, sinking beers and wantonly conducting pillow fights. The young
Women, on the other hand, are ready for trouble and therefore much slower to be picked off by the serial killer predator.