Search - Slumber Party Massacre 2 on DVD

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 stars ... What does it all mean?

Alex Lovejoy | USA | 03/18/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Where to begin ... :)

When reviewing horror flicks, it's often hard for me to know where to begin. First off, are we talking about a "serious" horror flick, that's really trying to scare the carp out of you ... or are we talking about a sillier flick, whose obvious and often addmitted main purpose was to partial undress young women and prance them around for a bit before killing them?

Well, to begin with, this is not a serious horror flick, nor was it ever intended to be, I don't imagine. For me, the entire "Slumber Party Massacre" series falls into the second category of horror flicks that ... well, let's just admit it, is a product of and panders to the sexual frustrations of men who simply can't get enough sex and find some amount of release in movies such as this.

While serious horror flicks sometimes explore the nature and origins of human fear, (a totally different topic) this sort of movie usually isn't even slightly frightening. And when you read the reviews written by people who enjoy this sort of movie, myself included, you'll quickly discover that it's all about various combinations of nubile and attractive young women, the extent to which said young women are completely or partilly undressed, their exposure to not very convincing danger and violence, their participation in not very explicitly rendered sex and the quality (and, perhaps more often, the lack thereof) with which these various goals are achieved.

In short ... these movies are all about sexual frustration. :)

Part 1 - the skin

Many people watch this sort of movie, at least in large part, and I include myself in this category, in order to watch attractive young women who aren't wearing much clothing. How did I "learn" this? Well, when I started allowing myself to watch X rated movies, my interest in such flicks dropped a bit. Why kid ourselves? These movies aren't scary or horrifying ... but they do feature cute girls wearing little or (in some cases) no clothing. And that's a big reason we watch. We're not seeing enough of this sort of thing in our day to day lives, and this is one way to see more. Seeing such things is stimulating ... (with quality levels varying wildly) why deny it?

Part 2 - "danger"

If it was just about skin, then this sort of movie wouldn't get made ... we'd all just watch bikini/beach movies, and that would be that. But, as most of us know, some level of perceived danger in the "story", even if it is pretty lame danger, can intensify the sensation of sexual tension in such flicks, and it taps into the energy of frustration we're feeling. Sex + Danger can be a more interesting feeling than just sex, because it acts as a sort of magnifier. Again, keeping in mind, the quality of both of these (sexuality and danger) in most flicks of this sort is pretty low.

Part 3 - Violence

Violence, in short, is about putting a quick and expeditious end to frustration. Got a problem? Kill it? In movies, I find that this kind of violence is an artistic (and I use the term losely) expression of wanting to put a rather selfishly quick end to frustration. I'm not getting what I want ... boom. Violence is about allowing ourselves to simply TAKE what we want in the most selfish way possible, with no regard for our victim or even our own future well being. And that's why violence can be a "desireable" element in such films ... it adds to the air of self gratification we're looking for.

Part 4 - Lameness

Believe it or not, the lameness of the sex and violence and danger in these movies is actually a part of the reason they work. If these movies were highly realistic and graphic in all three elements of danger, sex and violence, they would utterly fail in their intended "mission" which is to provide some guilt free guilty pleasure.

Now ... when you mix scantily clad / naked young lovelies with lame danger and violence, you're talking about a perfect vehicle for dealing with sexual frustration ... the guilt free (too lame to feel real guilt) guilty pleasure. Those of us who watch such movies more than once know this and some of us openly admit it. Feeling frustrated ... watch a slasher flick. It helps ...

Now ... are the Slumber Party Massacre movies "good" examples of this sort of flick? Well, personally, I found them uneven. In places they were fun, in places they were dull ... in places they delighted with lovely scenes of very attractive women shown to their cheasiest and shallowest sex appeal ... at other times they frustrated with scenes that were neither sexy nor appealing. In some places the faux violence was effective, in other places, just stupid.

If these movies are about allowing yourself to enjoy silly, stupid, sexual escape without any emotional depth or self exploration, this series of flicks will do the job if your needs aren't too demanding. If you're looking for the "state of the art" in this sort of movie ... well ... this isn't it, at least not consistently.

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