After the atrocious second part the only way the Slumber Party Massacre franchise could go is to go back to the more serious tone of the original film and while this third (and currently final) entry in the series isn't that great a movie, at least it doesn't have a greased-up wannabe Elvis impersonator with a guitar drill cracking wisecracks every five minutes.

Slumber Party Massacre III starts off like your usual "fun in the sun" movie as a group of college kids are having fun playing volleyball on the beach and talking about the party they're planning on having at one girl's house because he parents are out of town. Nevermind that there's a longhaired weirdo all clad in black staring at them from the distance. And also don't pay any attention to the odd manned neighbour who has an unhealthy obsession with his barely legal neighbour's daughter.

From there we get your usual slasher moments as one girl is killed off early (she's drilled to death through a car seat and it's staged to be very sexual as director Sally Mattison has her killer thrusting the weapon back 'n' forth in a suggestive manner), the rest of the girls do the usual "slumber party" type things including getting naked and dancing around, and the guys decide to not only crash the party, but also to scare the girls while they're at it. But soon people start to be killed by an all-new "driller killer" as people are slashed with a drill bit, staked with a "For Sale" sign from the lawn (this gave me a brief chuckle), and generally eliminated. This leads to a revealing of the killer that's never quite explained - it's something to do with childhood sexual abuse - and screenwriter Catherine Cyran's bad attempt at a "psychological" ending.

If you're looking for some cheap nudity (mostly supplied by B-movie regular Maria Ford and her milk dud like nipples), a handful of weak deaths, and rampant stupidity then you might just get a kick out of Slumber Party Massacre III. But if you're already tired of all the formulaic slasher movies out there and aren't prepared to groan at plenty of dumb actions by the cast (like a scene where they've blinded the killer and STILL don't flee out the front door...), then you're better off rewatching the first, and only good, film in the series.

Continuing the series trend of hiring on females to take on the writing and directing chores, this manages to be one of the more exploitive slasher flicks of the 90's as the female cast is constantly being slapped around, thrown down, and (in one instance) becoming victim of a submissive almost rape. What's on display here is more misogynistic than not only the original film, but also more so than similar films being made by male directors/writers. It's almost like Cyran and Mattison were saying to each other, "Hey, us girls can set back Women's Lib by ten years too!". (Chris Hartley, 11/25/05)

Directed By: Sally Mattison.
Written By: Catherine Cyran.

Starring: Kelly Christian, Brittain Frye, M.K. Harris, David Greenlee.

Picture Ratio: Full Frame.

Picture Quality: The picture here is pretty crappy. It's completely soft, has some scattered grain, and really doesn't look a heck of a lot better than the VHS tape I watched of this years back.

Extras: We get a trailer (plus trailers for the first 2 Slumber Party Massacre movies and Emmanuelle: First Contact) and some really weak cast bios and the usual Roger Corman biography that graces most New Concorde DVD's.