After Midnight – 1989, US, 93m. Director: Jim Wheat, Ken Wheat.
Deadly Friend – 1986, US, 90m. Director: Wes Craven.
The Slumber Party Massacre – 1982, US, 77m. Director: Amy Holden Jones.
AFTER MIDNIGHT (1989) Three campfire stories told by a psychology professor and his students are the basis of this polished horror omnibus. Even before he spins his tales, the professor (Ramy Zada) points a gun at an entitled student, causing the guy to wet his pants and proving a theory that death is the greatest of all fears. In the first story, a stranded couple seek shelter in an abandoned house with a history of murder. The second pits a quartet of teenagers against a pack of killer dogs—and is the most suspenseful of the chapters. The third tale is a take on When a Stranger Calls (1979) as a phone operator (Marg Helgenberger) is terrorized by a psychopath while working the graveyard shift. Aside from Zada’s ham-fisted performance, the majority of cast members are good and help give the film a boost in the production department. The same cannot be said for the contrived ending that spirals into yet another Nightmare on Elm Street clone. But that doesn’t keep After Midnight from being moderately enjoyable nonsense. B–
DEADLY FRIEND (1986) Boy genius Matthew Laborteaux’s new girlfriend (Kristy Swanson) is rendered brain-dead after being thrown down a staircase by her psychopathic father. So, naturally, Laborteaux implants an experimental microchip into Swanson’s head and turns her into an emotionless killing machine. Swanson breaks her dad’s neck, smashes a shotgun-toting old biddy’s head to pieces, and throws a dirty bike-riding cretin into a car windshield. Like Dr. Frankenstein, Laborteaux loses control of his creation and ends up getting Swanson shot down by cops in the overblown climax. Add to the mix some cruddy makeup effects, cartoonish characters, and a twist ending that makes the one in A Nightmare on Elm Street subtle by comparison, and you have one of Wes Craven’s worst films of the eighties. C–
THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE (1982) A maniac who went on a killing spree in 1969 escapes from the psych ward and stalks a group of friends. If you’re thinking the plot sounds an awful lot like Halloween, you’d be correct because Slumber Party Massacre was written (by feminist writer Rita Mae Brown) as a parody of not only Carpenter’s film but the slasher subgenre in general. It’s since been documented that director Amy Holden Jones removed most of the satirical elements to deliver more of a straightforward horror film, although much of Brown’s humor is still evident and gives Slumber Party a nicer edge over many of the slashers its imitating. The story is boilerplate stuff but Jones infuses the movie with likable characters and some genuine suspense—not to mention several holes poked into victims via the killer’s electric drill. There’s also a stabbing, a beheading, a body strung up in the rafters, and a very unlucky pizza delivery man who’s eyes are gouged out. All of this makes Slumber Party Massacre a bloody good time. B+