Plot Synopsis
The Wildcat Cheerleaders are on their way to a school game when their equipment van, substituted for a bus at the last minute, breaks down in the middle of the mountains. As they walk through the snow-covered woods, they find refuge in a small cabin where nobody seems to be home...but somebody is lurking outside! With crazed lunatic Jeremiah MacPherson on the loose, the girls are already on their last nerves. But...what if it's somebody else who's methodically doing away with the luscious ladies and their pom-poms?
Review
First off, this is not Slumber Party Massacre 4. If you approach this movie with high hopes of a driller killer thriller sequel, you'll be sorely disappointed. On the other hand, if you want a fun little slasher that you need barely any brains at all to watch...this is your movie! I'm one of those people that had high expectations of another SPM film, what with my long following of the possibility and hearing that Brinke Stevens would reprise her role as Linda from SPM 1. Well, that was kind of right... You see, Cheerleader Massacre is generally an homage to the SPM and Sorority House Massacre films and director Jim Wynorski's tribute to '80s slasher flicks. So, when it came time to filming Brinke's part, they changed things around to where she was attacked by psycho Jeremiah MacPherson twenty years ago and left for dead (an idea partly influenced by Jason Paul Collum), instead of Russ Thorn, allowing them to recycle footage from the first SPM and make it look as if it really did occur. The same thing was done with Wynorski's two other films, Sorority House Massacre 2 and Hard to Die, remember? Nonetheless, it's a pleasant tribute to the first SPM. They even kept her character's name as well. That's the only connection, if any, that this film has with the SPM series.
Anyways, on to how the movie is... I'm going to be honest and say that a lot of the characters, especially the whiny cheerleaders, got on my nerves! Some that broke all the horror movie rules and just plain-out deserved to die ended up surviving the final frame, so that burnt my toast to say the least. Although, some of the characters are likeable, especially Erin Byron's portrayal of cheerleader Angela. She came off as caring and not so conceited and shallow as the other girls. There's one hilarious part that was in serious need of some more dialogue adjusting where the girls just mutter such phrases as "As if" and "Whatever" And then I was all like, "Yah, totally..." *rolls eyes* Needless to say, this scene and a few others were in dire need of some script revising...like fer shure.
Good 'ole Jim Wynorski never skimps on the gratuitous nudity and shower scenes, and that gives it somewhat of a SPM/SHM feeling which I was accustomed to. Although, why did the characters have to be as dumb as bricks? I know this is pretty much just a film to have fun with, but c'mon! They fall for every horror movie cliche in the book (i.e. power outtage, person that's really dead who's thought to be somewhere else and then altogether forgotten, taking drugs, splitting up to look for other people, numerous reportings of a lunatic on the loose, skimpy clothing, etc., etc., etc.!)...
I've already watched the movie more than once, and I'd like to thank Jim himself for sending me an advance DVD copy so I could finally see the long-awaited movie, whether it is or isn't a SPM flick, and according to Jim, it's not. Jim worded it the best--"...if you don't set your sights too high---you can have a good time with this one." Now, I have to wait for Jim's Sorority House Massacre 3. And to all those who wanted a fourth SPM as badly or worse than I did...don't fret--it'll happen someday!
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