(Reviewed by Snake-666) - Standard, yet enjoyable, 80's slasher fare.  Trish (Michelle Michaels) has the house to herself, so she invites her friends Diane (Gina Smike), Kimberly (Debra Deliso) and Jackie (Andree Honore) over for a slumber party. However, recently escaped mass-murderer Russ Thorn (Michael Villella) is in the area and has plans to crash the party.

Feminist director Amy Jones (who wrote the screenplay for ‘Indecent Proposal) is probably the last person many would believe responsible for a film such as ‘Slumber Party Massacre', but strangely that is the case. The movie is obviously made to appeal to young men, with scenes of nudity that serve no purpose, as well as roaming shots of naked teenage girl's bodies as they shower yet despite the unnecessary nudity ‘Slumber Party Massacre' still works as enjoyable slasher movie. Taking probably influence from Abel Ferrara's ‘Driller Killer' (1979), ‘Slumber Party Massacre' is a bloody, absorbing and moderately entertaining horror movie featuring some inventive scenarios, numerous fake scares, sporadic attempts at black humour (such as the refrigerator scene) and some of the standard slasher movie clichés. Unlike many similar movies such as ‘Friday the 13th' and ‘Halloween' there is an attempt to actually develop the characters, though such attempts prove to be desultory in the end.

The screenplay (written by Rita Mae Brown), no matter how unrealistic, is of an average quality for this type of film as is the acting. No specific performance stands out except perhaps that of Robin Rochelle (Babs from ‘Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-A-Rama' (1987) who sadly commited suicide in 1996) in the role of the out-casted Valerie who continually fears that something is not quite right at Trish's home. Michael Villella is particularly creepy as the psychotic Russ Thorn. His relentless stalking of his `prey' is similar to that of such characters as Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees. The character of Russ Thorn benefits somewhat from something that the other aforementioned characters lacked – humanity. Thorn is a human killer and kills because of a psychological disease rather than the standard senseless stalk-n-slash characteristics of many other slasher movie villains. These attributes, in some ways, make Russ Thorn a far more intimidating and unsettling presence. Thorn is presented as a manic, yet intelligent, murderer. His presence on screen is both portentous and alarming.

Fans of slasher movies such as ‘Halloween' (1978), ‘Friday the 13th' (1980) and ‘Sorority House Massacre' (1987) will probably enjoy this fun little addition to the slasher sub-genre. Though ‘Slumber Party Massacre' offers nothing new to the horror genre it is still an entertaining movie with a number of memorable sequences. The black humour within the movie is infrequent and does not over-shadow the horror aspect. An unsettling musical score and reasonably competent direction help to ensure that ‘Slumber Party Massacre', though nothing special, does not become inherently tedious. It's far from great, but not too bad overall. My rating for ‘Slumber Party Massacre' – 6.5/10.