Slumber Party Massacre II 1987 — Review

One of the strangest slashers I’ve ever come across! And as bizarre a film as it is, I did really enjoy it! It’s really quite a lot of fun to watch. Of course, this is a sequel, the first is pretty much your run-of-the-mill 80s slasher, scantily clad girls, changing, showering, jumping around, then getting drilled to death… But! There’s nothing “run-of-the-mill” about Slumber Party Massacre TWO.
This sequel does feature one of the survivors of the original, little Courtney Bates is turning 17 and desperately wants to go away with her friends for her birthday weekend, and though she is originally reluctant to let her go, understandably so, given her eldest daughter has resided in a mental institution after her experience during the first Slumber Party Massacre, her mother relents. Courtney is far from unaffected by the events of the first film, she suffers constantly recurring nightmares that become waking dreams, which make her appear crazy to all her friends…and then…somehow her dreams become reality! The weirdest thing about this film, is that the killer in Courtney’s dreams is not the man who attacked her and her sister/sister’s friends.. it’s some bizarre rock star with an insane drill-guitar hybrid. Once he is released from her mind, he goes on a rock-and-roll rampage of music and murder!
In most other slashers of the 80s, there’s the underlying theme that sex, drugs/drinking, and rock-and-roll music, is the real reason why the teens end up dead. Slumber Party Massacre II takes this theme extremely literally, and thus our killer is a rock-star who strikes after the girls and boys have been “bad”, this also explains why he is released when he is. However, of course, this movie is also purposely over the top, possibly even mocking the run-of-the-mill original. As I said, I really did enjoy this one, it’s silly and makes no sense at all, but it’s surprisingly entertaining and I know when I watch a cheesy 80s slasher, that’s all I’m ever really looking for :).