Director – Richard Mogg (Easter Bunny Bloodbath, Frames of Fear)
Starring – Kaitlyn Yurkiw (Massage Parlor of Death), Lauren Richardson (Bigfoot Ate My Boyfriend), and Hillary Kaplan (The Laughing Skulls)
Release Date – 2016
Rating – 3/5
I’ve found a good groove lately balancing my home life, work life, and my horror obsession. Before this last two weeks I had a hard time writing reviews and spending time with my family. I don’t put anything over my family but writing reviews is how I wind down and relax. Things have changed a little and I was able to find a good way to spend time with my family and get my reviews done.
Yesterday I was able to check out the anthology filmFrames of Fear. It was a solid anthology and one of my favorite segments was directed by Richard Mogg. Mogg is an indie director that has been at it for a few years now. Some of you may remember my review for his holiday themed slasher Easter Bunny Bloodbath. I dig his films and when I found out SRS Cinema was releasing another 80s slashers from Mogg, Teenage Slumber Party Nightmare, I had to see it. I reached out to MVD who was handling the DVD release and they hooked me up with a copy.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a group of high school girls who have the house to themselves when the parents of one of the young ladies leaves for the night. They get some stolen beer and some horror movies and plan on having a good time. What they don’t know is that there is a creepy guy who wants them to love him but is often turned down by all the girls at his school. This has triggered something deadly deep down and he starts picking the girls off one by one.**Spoiler Alert**
So far I’ve only seen two films from Richard Mogg but I can easily see that he loves the films from yesteryear. HisEaster Bunny Bloodbath was a great throwback to the golden age of slashers while Format of the Dead captured that shot on video horror vibe perfectly. I could only imagine how Mogg would approach the slumber party slashers from the mid to late 80s.
The acting in this one pretty solid. The film’s female leads do a decent job but there is a few scenes that were awkward to watch. They show a great deal of talent and beauty but there is some inexperience still showing as well. This does not make the film a bad film or meant to disrespect the cast. They were great in regards to the film but they still have a lot of room to grow. My only real complaint comes from the film’s killer. He was not menacing or even deadly. In fact, he was the exact opposite which made me laugh. I don’t know if this was intentional or not but the film would have been one hell of a slasher if the killer could have been taken seriously.
The story for this one is fun if you are looking for a no budget slasher but it does have some low points. The film flows like a traditional slasher. It follows someone that was wronged, or thought they were wronged, who takes it out on those that wronged him. This is the basis for almost every slasher and this one is no different. With that being said, there was several scenes that needed the fat trimmed. Several of the scenes involving just the female leads needed to be cut down drastically. They were full of teenage girl dialogue that left me wanting to fast forward the flick to the good parts. The dialogue is not pertinent to the story and was boring to be honest.
Finally, the film does have a few on screen kills but they were not as bloody or memorable as I would have liked. The kills we get were decent considering the film’s budget but nothing that will stand out. The effects are decent as well but they reflect the film’s budget too. Overall, Teenage Slumber Party Nightmare is a comical slasher that takes us back to a time when VHS was supreme and big hair was sexy. If you miss the days of renting horror on VHS and long for the horror of the time then look no further. This slasher is for you!
