The Slumber Party Massacre (Jones 1982)

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of The Slumber Party Massacre from 1982. Written and directed by women in response to the sexism of the first wave slashers, this is quite a time capsule. It definitely only partially succeeds in being progressive but we do appreciate the effort especially relative to other films of the era.

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The Slumber Party Massacre (Jones 1982)

This film is a cult classic. Written by Rita Mae Brown who also penned Rubyfruit Jungle and was an avowed feminist and civil rights advocate it was supposedly written as a feminist response to the first wave slasher films of the late 1970s and early 1980s. However, Amy Holden Jones who directed the film may have been more interested in producing something successfully commercial and possibly deliberately within the exploitation genre. We think we see both of these strains competing in the film. And as you might imagine, that makes for a unique film!

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SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE

The Slumber Party Massacre (Jones 1982)

TOPIC INDEX – The Slumber Party Massacre  (Jones 1982) (times are approximate) 

0:30 – Introductions

3:15 – Discussion begins

3:15 – Marshall’s history with the film

8:30 – the film’s messaging as relatively progressive (for 1982)

15:00 – satire and filmmaker intent

24:00 – nudity in comparison

25:00 – phallic symbols

29:00 – male gaze

30:00 – kills

40:00 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility

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I Spit on Your Grave (Zarchi 1978)

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Carrie (DePalma 1976)

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“Horror films are our collective nightmares.”

Episode 112

Keywords

horror, podcast, sociology, gender, sisters, feminist, slasher, phallic symbols, queer, satire, parody, male gaze, exploitation, nudity, killer,

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