Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
Trish invites her high school basketball teammates over for a night they'll never forget when an unexpected guest crashes the party: an escaped psychopath with a portable power drill.
The Slumber Party Massacre is a notable entry in the slasher genre primarily because it was written and directed by women (Rita Mae Brown and Amy Holden Jones), giving it a subtly satirical feminist edge that distinguishes it from most of its contemporaries. The plot is bare-bones slasher formula — escaped killer targets teenagers — with minimal character development. Acting is serviceable but unremarkable, typical of low-budget early-80s horror. Cinematography is competent and occasionally effective in building tension, above the norm for its budget level. Novelty is earned through its self-aware feminist subtext and the phallic symbolism of the drill, which sets it apart from generic slashers of the era. The ending is abrupt and conventional, offering little resolution beyond the expected final-girl survival beat.