{"id":236169,"date":"2021-04-27T02:32:25","date_gmt":"2021-04-26T23:32:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/20-things-we-learned-from-the-slumber-party-massacre-commentary\/"},"modified":"2021-04-27T02:32:25","modified_gmt":"2021-04-26T23:32:25","slug":"20-things-we-learned-from-the-slumber-party-massacre-commentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/20-things-we-learned-from-the-slumber-party-massacre-commentary\/","title":{"rendered":"#20 Things We Learned from &#8216;The Slumber Party Massacre&#8217; Commentary"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2a89131d063\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2a89131d063\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/20-things-we-learned-from-the-slumber-party-massacre-commentary\/#The_Slumber_Party_Massacre_1982\" >The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/20-things-we-learned-from-the-slumber-party-massacre-commentary\/#Best_in_Context-Free_Commentary\" >Best in Context-Free Commentary<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/20-things-we-learned-from-the-slumber-party-massacre-commentary\/#Final_Thoughts\" >Final Thoughts<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#20 Things We Learned from &#8216;The Slumber Party Massacre&#8217; Commentary<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\">\n                <\/aside>\n<p><!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 3.7.9--><i data-stringify-type=\"italic\">Welcome to\u00a0<\/i><b data-stringify-type=\"bold\"><i data-stringify-type=\"italic\">Commentary Commentary,<\/i><\/b><i data-stringify-type=\"italic\"> where we sit and listen to filmmakers talk about their work, then share the most interesting parts. In this edition, Rob Hunter celebrates Chloe Zhao\u2019s historic Best Director win at the Oscars by revisiting another classic directed by a woman, The Slumber Party Massacre<\/i>.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>This might surprise you \u2014 and it should anger you \u2014 but Chloe Zhao\u2019s recent Academy Award for directing <em>Nomadland<\/em> marks only the second win for a female director. That\u2019s bonkers, so in the spirit of highlighting more female filmmakers we\u2019re taking a look at another rarity, a slasher movie directed by a woman. <strong><em>The Slumber Party Massacre<\/em><\/strong> (1982) was directed by Amy Holden Jones, and the two sequels were directed by two other women.<\/p>\n<p>It remains a big deal, and while Jones only directed three more features she remained busy as a writer with credits as diverse as <em>Mystic Pizza<\/em> (1988), <em>Beethoven<\/em> (1992), <em>Indecent Proposal<\/em> (1993), and <em>The Relic<\/em> (1997). Not too bad for someone whose first credit was as Assistant to the Director on a little film called <em>Taxi Driver<\/em> (1976). Keep reading to see what I heard on her commentary track for <em>The Slumber Party Massacre<\/em>!<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"graf graf--h3\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Slumber_Party_Massacre_1982\"><\/span>The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\">Commentator: Amy Holden Jones (director), Debra De Liso (actor), Michael Villela (actor)<\/p>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\"><strong>1.<\/strong> The houses are located on Mountain View Ave. in the Mar Vista neighborhood of Los Angeles, and Jones scouted them while living nearby in Venice. It was also pretty close to New World Pictures and producer Roger Corman.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2.<\/strong> Corman insisted they use <em>Sleepless Night<\/em> as the title while trying to convince homeowners to let their properties be used \u201cso that people would think it was a classy thriller.\u201d He\u2019s always been a smart man.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3.<\/strong> Composer Ralph Jones is the director\u2019s brother. \u201cHe recorded the entire score on a small Casio synthesizer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>4.<\/strong> Jones was hired as director having only read the prologue to Rita Mae Brown\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">script<\/a> and having never seen popular slashers of the time like <em>Friday the 13th<\/em> (1980). She discovered its degree of violence and sex later, but she worked to add scares and humor herself as \u201cI don\u2019t think her script was funny at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>5.<\/strong> As with an early topless scene, Jones points out that the shower sequence was a requirement from Corman. She shot it very by the numbers just to tick the boxes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>6.<\/strong> Jones had worked in editing and as a documentary filmmaker, but this was her first feature.<\/p>\n<p><strong>7.<\/strong> She suggests horror <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">movies<\/a> were looked down upon back then but that they\u2019re now much more respected. \u201cI was pilloried at the time for doing this, but now if you go and you do <em>Turistas<\/em> you\u2019re an artiste.\u201d This will be <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> to John Stockwell.<\/p>\n<p><strong>8.<\/strong> Villela recalls that he shaped his character\u2019s look and movement after a peacock. \u201cIt was all peacock.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>9.<\/strong> Brinke Stevens pops into the commentary recording just as her character is about to bite it. \u201cThis was my very first death scene in a movie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>10.<\/strong> A guy is seen riding up on a motorcycle at 16:25, and while they can\u2019t quite agree as to who it is \u2014 a production manager, a member of the electrical crew \u2014 Jones admits she at first thought it was Joe Dante. It is very clearly not Joe Dante.<\/p>\n<p><strong>11.<\/strong> Villela created a whole backstory for his killer character well beyond what\u2019s mentioned in the film. He also stayed somewhat in character during filming which helped creep out the young women. \u201cIt was my first acting job.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>12.<\/strong> De Liso is a teacher, and she mentions that once in a while students will approach her mentioning that they\u2019ve recently watched the film. \u201cYour students must go \u2018woo hoo!&#8217;\u201d adds Jones as Kim (De Liso) does a topless scene. \u201cThey do kind of look downward now when they talk to me,\u201d adds De Liso.<\/p>\n<p><strong>13.<\/strong> They filmed for three weeks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>14.<\/strong> Jones recalls how Corman would occasionally deny their daily request for a generator, adding \u201cYou can make do, Amy, I remember that I had a scene once and we just circled the cars and turned on the headlights.\u201d She needed them for interior shots though, so happily the electricians would scale the utility poles and tap into the public power. \u201cWhen we ran enough lights you could see the street lights in Mar Vista dim,\u201d says Jones.<\/p>\n<p><strong>15.<\/strong> Jones directed three more features after this, and unlike this experience, she says each of them featured a \u201cdifficult\u201d actor or two. Her biggest success remains 1987\u2019s <em>Maid to Order<\/em>, a romantic comedy, and she mentions that had she wanted to continue making rom-coms she\u2019d probably \u201cstill have a directing career.\u201d All four of her films made a profit including her final movie, a thriller called <em>The Rich Man\u2019s Wife<\/em> (1996) with Halle Berry.<\/p>\n<p><strong>16.<\/strong> The glass lamp at 47:10 belongs to Jones, and she also included it in her follow up film, <em>Love Letters<\/em> (1983). She still has it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>17.<\/strong> Jones points out that despite the film being slammed for its \u201cviolence against women,\u201d most of the women here are killed off-screen while the guys get some bloody onscreen demises.<\/p>\n<p><strong>18.<\/strong> Jim Wynorski\u2019s <em>Cheerleader Massacre<\/em> (2003) was originally planned as a fourth film in the <em>Slumber Party<\/em> franchise. A fan remix exists adding Ralph Jones\u2019 score from this film and a connective prologue, and it can supposedly be <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hockstatter.com\/\">found online<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>19.<\/strong> The original ending had the killer killed in the living room, but Corman dug the film and gave Jones a little extra cash to write and reshoot a bigger ending. It was the right call as this end not only castrates the killer (by snapping off his drill bit) but also allowed Jones to emulate something she learned on <em>Taxi Driver<\/em>. She rewatched Martin Scorsese\u2019s classic while rewriting this ending, and the constant yelling in pain in that film\u2019s finale struck a chord with her. \u201cIt\u2019s very unnerving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>20.<\/strong> Villela recalls uttering \u201cmama\u201d during his final death scene, but Jones nixed it for fear of it garnering the killer some sympathy.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"graf graf--h3\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Best_in_Context-Free_Commentary\"><\/span>Best in Context-Free Commentary<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote\">\u201cThis is classic Roger Corman, you have to get nudity within the first two or three minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe certainly ran with Rita\u2019s drill metaphor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what it is, it\u2019s a great title.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe sure had a lot of girls in hot pants.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere we have the insert boob.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not like we were trying to do <em>Barry Lyndon<\/em> here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you don\u2019t get the humor of this, you\u2019re dead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI lost my penis.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"graf graf--h3\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Final_Thoughts\"><\/span>Final Thoughts<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\">The participants here all remain proud of the film and what they accomplished, but they do mention how more than a few of the cast members went on to distance themselves from <em>The Slumber Party Massacre<\/em>. The commentary features some anecdotes and <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a> thoughts, but it does dip into silence and\/or pointing out what\u2019s happening on screen on occasion. Still, while occasionally rough it\u2019s a fun listen for fans of the film and filmmakers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\">Read more Commentary Commentary from the archives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social Media category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/the-slumber-party-massacre-commentary\/#utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-slumber-party-massacre-commentary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#20 Things We Learned from &#8216;The Slumber Party Massacre&#8217; Commentary&#8221; Welcome to\u00a0Commentary Commentary, where we sit and listen to filmmakers talk about their work, then share the most interesting parts. In this edition, Rob Hunter celebrates Chloe Zhao\u2019s historic Best Director win at the Oscars by revisiting another classic directed by a woman, The Slumber&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":236170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/the-slumber-party-massacre.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[103570,22447,1551,103571],"class_list":["post-236169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-amy-holden-jones","tag-commentary-commentary","tag-home-video","tag-the-slumber-party-massacre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}