The Slumber Party Massacre remake movie will release on SyFy later in the year. Produced by the legendary Roger Corman, the original 1982 Slumber Party Massacre rode the first wave of ‘80s slasher films to become a cult classic. The movie also established director Amy Holden Jones, who went on to become a successful writer and producer.
Given that it was made under the Corman umbrella, it should come as no surprise that Slumber Party Massacre is totally shameless in how it presents its exploitative subject matter. It’s also no surprise that the film turned a tidy profit, grossing $3.6 million on a budget of just $220,000. A pair of sequels followed in 1987’s Slumber Party Massacre II and 1990’s Slumber Party Massacre III. But of course, by the ‘90s the slasher genre had lost its steam, so that was the end of the Slumber Party Massacre trilogy.
But now amid a surge of nostalgia for all things ‘80s horror, Slumber Party Massacre is getting a new reboot. As reported by Deadline, the revival film from Shout! Studios has already wrapped filming and will premiere on Syfy later in 2021. Described as a “reimagining” of the pulpy original, the film was directed by Danishka Esterhazy (The Banana Splits Movie) and written by Suzanne Keilly (Ash Vs. Evil Dead). Hannah Gonera, Frances Sholto-Douglas, Mila Rayne, Alex McGregor and Reze-Tiana Wessels lead the movie’s cast.
The original Slumber Party Massacre indeed requires little plot summary as the title pretty much says it all. The movie stars Michele Michaels as Trish, a teenage basketball player who organizes a slumber party while her parents are out of town. Unfortunately, an escaped killer armed with a power drill also happens to be prowling around, leading to the mayhem indicated by the movie’s title. It’s no surprise that the film received bad reviews when it came out, as the critical establishment tended to bash everything in the slasher genre.
It remains to be seen what Shout! Studios’ reimagining of the controversial original Slumber Party Massacre entails. Director Esterhazy is certainly a good choice to helm the film, as she’s clearly a huge fan of slasher movies, having drawn on films like Chopping Mall and Child’s Play when making her bizarre and gory film version of the old children’s show The Banana Splits. The twisted imagination Esterhazy put on display with The Banana Splits Movie will surely serve her well in bringing The Slumber Party Massacre out of the 1980s and into the 2020s. The original movie of course was slammed for being misogynistic, despite being written and directed by women. Certainly the remake will have a perspective on the whole notion of slasher movie misogyny and many other problematic tropes popularized by the genre during its run of dominance.
Source: Deadline