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(More customer reviews)The box says "2 classic slasher flicks." If by "classic" they mean "made in the 1980's" then this would be a true statement. By my estimation, the two movies featured here are two of the worst slasher movies ever made, and that's saying a lot about a genre that seemed to produce as many crappy films as it did good ones. Even at the low price, even the most dedicated horror fan will find these two difficult to sit through.
First up, we've got Terror at Tenkiller, released in 1986. A slasher movie that takes place in a lake/camping location.....hmmm how very original. It's shot on video, produced/directed/cowritten by Ken Meyer. The credits are filled with people with the last name Meyer, so this looks like a family affair. The two main characters are Leslie and her friend Jana: Leslie has a borderline-abusive boyfriend Josh who likes to push her around. At one point, Jana asks, "Do your parents know about the caveman stuff?" It's possible the film makers were trying to insert some kind of girl-power statements about leaving an abusive boyfriend, possibly because of the feminist backlash against slasher movies...it's pretty lamely done in any case. To unwind, the two girls take a vacation to an idyllic resort called Lake Tenkiller. "What a strange name for a lake!" remarks Leslie. Turns out the lake was named after an Indian princess who killed 10 members of a rival tribe, but of course it's also a sign of things to come.
This movie has the terrible acting that you'd expect from any of these ultra low-budget slashers, but what isn't expected is how boring the whole thing is. Once they get up to the lake, the story really drags, and it seems like half the time is spent with the girls on phone calls. It's revealed early on who the killer is, so that robs the story of any kind of suspense or surprises. There's two so-so gore scenes, a smattering of nudity, and at one point we see Leslie reading the Stephen King book "The Stand."
Next up, we have The Last Slumber Party, from 1988. This one is so unbelievably bad that it actually makes Terror at Tenkiller look decent; the picture quality alone gives it a shot-on-a-home video camera look. Obviously this was an attempt to cash in on the success of Slumber Party Massacre and its sequels. The story concerns a group of high school girls who decide to have a slumber party with all the expected ingredients: cheesy music, underage drinking, and sneaking in the boys who play practical jokes on them. Trouble is, there's an escaped mental patient on the loose with a scalpel, dressed in scrubs and a surgeon's mask. Linda, whose house is the location for the slumber party, just happens to be the daughter of the doctor who ordered the maniac's lobotomy, and he's a little ticked off about that.
There's some real hilarious moments here. The bad music, first of all, which ranges from shrieking cheese-metal (performed by Firstryke) to corny synth-funk, to exaggeratedly "scary" electronic themes. The acting is extremely deadpan, nearly porno-quality: a nurse character stutters one of her lines and it's left in the movie. There's cornball stereotypes like the jocks and a nerd character nicknamed "Science." There's moronic girl characters who say things like "munch out" when they want to eat snacks. All the ingredients for a 1980's funfest are here, but when you put them all together they add up to a boring film. There's no nudity, and no gore: just some fake blood that you can see squirting out of the scalpel when the maniac slashes throats. Considering the whole thing's only about 72 minutes long, it seems like a lot longer. People who like films that are painfully bad, below Mystery Science Theatre quality, may like it. I found it entertaining for a while but then it just became mind-numbing. Stephen Tyler is the writer and director, and also plays the maniac.
I would only recommend this DVD to diehard completists who want to own every slasher film ever made. With no special features, at least you can say you got two movies for a cheap price. Everyone else steer clear. If it's cheesy 80's slasher fun that you're craving, I'd say go with the far superior Slumber Party Massacre or Pieces. Other fun 80's horror films I would recommend would include Chopping Mall, Troll, The Gate, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, and the so-bad-it's good Night Train to Terror.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Scream Theater Double Feature, Vol. 2: The Last Slumber Party/Terror at Tenkiller (1988)
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