Pool Party Massacre is a 2017 slasher film. Directed by Drew Marvick and starring Alexis Adams, Dora Deceuninck and Mark Justice. This is Marvick's directorial debut and he also wrote and appeared in the film.
The film centres around Tiffany (Adams), a spoiled suburbanite who throws an impromptu pool party while her parents are away on vacation. Among her friends is Dora (Deceuninck), who has long since outgrown their shallow high school friendship and is starting to pull away from Tiffany. After a boyfriend and his half wit brother crash the party, things start to go wrong and people start to dissapear as a mysterious handyman dispatches the attendees of the pool party massacre. It's down to the final girl to avoid being dispatched and escape the deadly LA suburbs.
Pool Party Massacre is an overt homage to the cheesy teen slashers of the 80s, such as Slumber Party Massacre (1982), Sleepaway Camp (1983) and The Mutilator (1984). In this it is very successful, complete with splatter kills and porno dialogue, and wisely walks more on the side of parody so you can laugh with it, rather than at it. A lot of attention is paid to the gruesome murders and, although initially they involve basic stabby techniques, they do advance to various gardening tools and there's a nice bit of dramatic irony as we get to see the unknown killer pick his weapon from a wall rack.
The movie comes with a great electro/metal soundtrack and always feels like the cast and crew are having a great time making the film. The authentic cheesy dialogue does tend to grate after a while and not all the jokes land in the way I believe they were intended to, but there's a decent central performance from Deceuninck and Marvick's own character is delightfully over the top. The film rattles on at an advisable pace, not leaving you time to get bored of the brainless plot, but I have to say I guessed the identity of the killer about halfway through, leaving the resolution somewhat lacking.
A great film for a friday night with a few friends and a few beers, Pool Party Massacre is exactly the kind of enjoyably dumb trash that was churned out at an alarming rate in the 80s. As long as you don't take the film any more seriously than any of the cast and crew, you'll be on the right side of the joke and have a lot of fun.
*** 3 Stars
What did you think of Pool Party Massacre? Are you a fan of 80s slashers?
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