Eighteen years after her mother Trish (Schelaine Bennett) survived the serial killer Russ Thorne (Rob van Vuuren), Dana Devereaux (Hannah Gonera) and her friends plan a slumber party at a cabin in Holly Springs.
As night sets in, the drinks come out and so do the knives, machetes and power tools.
This party is going places none of the participants could guess - including Thorne…
A reboot of the franchise, Slumber Party Massacre ‘21 is a loving homage and continuation of the series modus operandi:
Even though it is a remake - it is based around the same killer as the original - like the previous instalments, this iteration works as its own standalone entry.
Even its production company - it is a SyFy original - feels in keeping with the franchise’s roots.
While the other films took place in suburbia, Slumber Party Massacre ‘21 shifts the action to a more slasher-friendly environment: an old house at a remote lake in the woods.
More significantly, the film inverts the classic gender dynamics in more overt ways than previously.
Instead of an actual slumber party, these friends have come to the woods to bait Thorne out of hiding so they can kill him.
And as for eye-candy/corpses, there are a group of male podcasters who stumble into the war party’s plans. Obsessed with true crime, they are on a tour of murder locations.
Once Thorne begins his rampage, these characters take charge and proceed to provide the highest proportion of the body count.
They also fulfil the function traditionally associated with women in these movies - we get multiple scenes of these men in various stages of undress. There is even an extended scene in which the camera takes in one of these himbos while he takes a soapy outdoor shower.
If this movie has a flaw it is how it completely obliterates any subtext. This movie loudly tells you its themes from beginning to end.
If the movie was paced poorly or was not as heightened in tone as it is, that would be a problem. There is something so breezy and cheerful about this movie, and the obvious love and attention to detail it has for its source material, that keeps it entertaining.
There are references to the previous films - we get a snatch of the original film’s musical theme, one character arms themselves with the iconic guitar from Part II, and one of the more farcical beats from Part I gets a goofy redo.
The acting from the cast is solid. Lead Hannah Gonera is good in the lead, and Rob van Vuuren is well-cast as Thorne.
The film was made in South Africa, but aside from some slightly stilted accents, it is not noticeable. The main location is effectively eerie.
It is no masterpiece, but Slumber Party Massacre ‘21 is a solid addition to the franchise. Definitely worth checking out.
No comments:
Post a Comment