I've seen this one three different times - once in childhood, once in my teen years and finally again now as an adult as part of IFC's month-long "80s Slashback" series (August 2005). I watched every single retro slasher film they played and this one was by far one of the most enjoyable. Sure it is just a simple low-budget horror outing rife with chances to criticize it (as Siskel and Ebert, Leonard Maltin and many others did upon release),but what is maybe not-so-simple and not-so-typical in this critically disreputed genre is that it is put together with enthusiasm, a good sense of humor and surprising attention to detail. And while it provides the requisite nude scenes and gory murders, it does not put viewers to sleep in between the exploitation.

In other words, compared to the absolute crap we horror fans are subjected to nowadays, this movie is funny, clever, entertaining and fast-paced. SPM possesses a genuine sense of fun that is just about extinct in today's slasher movies. The principle cast (Michele Michaels, Debra DeLiso, Robin Stille...) is comprised of mostly unknown young actors and actresses, but they are fun, natural and appealing and none of them walk through their roles acting disinterested in the material. Brinke Stevens, one of the most ubiquitous Scream Queens of the past twenty years, has an early role here, as does Aaron Lipstadt, the director of the sci-fi sleeper Android (1982) with Klaus Kinski. Humorously scripted by feminist author Rita Mae Brown (of 'Rubyfruit Jungle' fame).

Score: 7 out of 10

Setting: A sorority house and a private home staffed and inhabited by super slim eye candy sexpots. There is the blondie with the cute bangs, the read head with a delicate face, the black girl with the cleave and a couple of friendly doable chicks next door.

The guys who come to visit are losers and easily dismissable.

What should happen next? Don't waste these chicks. They ahve slender legs, feminine hair, luscious lips and no cellulite/tattoo/piercings among them. They are clean and beautiful... and show some skin.

Capture them, enchain them, make them yours, make love! Not waste them!!

Aaaaaaarrrrggggghhh.

SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE is one of the less well-known slashers of the 1980s and, having just seen it, I can guess why: it's simply not very good. The story is about a bunch of nubile young women stalked by a murderous killer with a massive drill, but if that sounds frightening at all then I can assure you that this is pure cheese instead. Everything is very '80s, and the emphasis is very much on nudity, with long shower-room scenes and girls gratuitously stripping off in their bedrooms while jocks peep on them from outside. The death scenes are quite brief with only acceptable effects. Sadly, the quality of the script is pretty bad, the acting is negligible, and it's all too cheesy to make much impact on the slash-happy viewer.