Slumber Party Massacre 3 (1990) New Concorde/Horror RT: 87 minutes Rated R (violence, gore, nudity, sexual references, language, teen drinking) Director: Sally Mattison Screenplay: Catherine Cyran Music: Jamie Sheriff Cinematography: Jurgen Baum Release date: September 7, 1990 (US) Cast: Keely Christian, Brandi Burkett, Hope Marie Carlton, Maria Claire, Maria Ford, Lulu Wilson, David Kriegel, David Lawrence, Garon Grigsby, David Greenlee, Brittain Frye, M.K. Harris, Devon Jenkin, Yan Birch, Marta Kober. Box Office: $1.2M (US) Body Count: 12
Rating: ** ½
Another slumber party, another driller killer, another massacre.
The above statement is a brief but sufficient sum-up of Slumber Party Massacre 3. In just eight words, it tells you all you need to know about the third and final entry in the series in which power drill-wielding maniacs terrorize nubile teen girls at slumber parties. The previous installment is notable for its Driller Killer who sings and dances like John Travolta from Grease. If this one is notable for anything, it’s the “death by dildo” scene. Before you start having visions of Anthony Perkins’ sharpened, stainless steel sex tool from Crimes of Passion, it’s not like that. A girl is taking a shower. The killer throws in a vibrator. ZAP! She’s dead. I feel like I should make a safe sex joke here, but nothing comes to mind.
While it seems pointless and unnecessary to recount the plot of Slumber Party Massacre 3, it wouldn’t be much of a review if I didn’t. Okay, here goes. With her family about to move away, high school senior Jackie (Christian) decides to throw a slumber party for her friends- Diane (Burkett), Janine (Carlton), Susie (Claire), Maria (Ford) and Juliette (Wilson) – while her parents are out of town. Sarah (Jenkin) doesn’t make it; the driller killer gets her first. Too bad for the other girls, she was supposed to bring the burgers.
ANYWAY, the boys show up a little later. Boneheaded bohunks Frank (Lawrence), Tom (Kriegel) and Michael (Grigsby) play a dumb prank involving scary masks. Goofy Duncan (Greenlee) disguises himself as a pizza delivery boy. Juliette’s crush Ken (Frye) shows up too. Guess what they end up doing? I’ll give you a hint; you do it naked in the bedroom. No, the answer isn’t sleep.
It appears to me that Slumber Party Massacre 3 goes out of its way to be predictable. It shows in the way the driller killer’s identity is handled. Ordinarily, I’d give a spoiler alert before I proceed but I don’t think it’s necessary in this case. There are three viable suspects, two weirdos and a seemingly normal guy. If you understand how movies like this generally work, you won’t have any problem identifying the killer. It’s obvious from the start. I realize that Slumber Party Massacre 3 is a low budget, no frills production but the makers could have at least tried to generate a little suspense.
It should go without saying that the acting and dialogue in Slumber Party Massacre 3 are bad. In defense of Sally Mattison (her sole directing credit), it’s no worse than most DTV horror sequels. Okay, maybe slightly worse. Actually, this movie is pretty laughable. Produced by schlockmeister Roger Corman, it’s a cheap non-effort designed to capitalize on the success of the previous Slumber Party Massacre flicks. The screenplay by Catherine Cyran is one of those by-the-numbers jobs. It’s your basic slasher story with barely a trace of the feminism that defined the first movie.
By most standards, Slumber Party Massacre 3 is a bad movie. HOWEVER, you happen to be dealing with a guy that digs the slasher genre. All I really need is a cool killer, a high body count and lots of blood. Well, two out of three isn’t bad. In total, 12 people meet their demise. The killings are fairly bloody. One guy gets impaled by a FOR SALE sign post. Another has his feet cut off with a chainsaw. This is on top of the various drillings and “death by dildo”. It’s the massacre that saves Slumber Party Massacre 3 from being a total bust.
Let’s go over a few other details. Pizza delivery people have a poor track record in this series. Shortly after selling her shirt and pizzas to Duncan, the real delivery girl buys the farm at the business end of the killer’s big drill. This series also has a thing for peeping toms. This time, it’s an oddball neighbor (Harris) with a telescope. Hints of Body Double perhaps? Once again, the girls engage in topless dancing in the living room in full view of anybody who might be looking through the window. Everybody in Slumber Party Massacre 3 is a complete idiot, the boys slightly more so than the girls. I think that about covers all of it.
Although it landed in video stores 30 years ago, I didn’t see Slumber Party Massacre 3 until a few days ago. I just never felt compelled to watch it. Am I sorry I watched it? No, I’m not. Okay, it’s not as gloriously whacked out as the second movie. It doesn’t possess the same purity in form as the first movie. It’s inferior in pretty much every way. Yet I can’t bring myself to dismiss it as crap. It’s weak but not without its strengths- i.e. body count, blood, boobs and babes. If taken on those terms, it’s not the worst way to kill 87 minutes.
