Cheerleader Massacre (2003) (V)

User Rating:

2.9/10   

Director:

Jim Wynorski

Writer:

Lenny Juliano (writer)

Release Date:

25 March 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

This is one game you don't want to miss.

Plot:

Five high school cheerleaders, their coach and a couple of adolescent sex-crazed guys travel to a cabin in the woods for a weekend getaway only to be killed off one by one by an unseen maniac. |

Plot Keywords:

Cheerleaders | Police Officer Killed | Telling Story | Female Nudity | Humor

Cast

Tamie Sheffield	...	Ms. Hendricks
Charity Rahmer	...	Parker Jameson
Erin Byron	...	Angela Caruso
Lenny Juliano	...	Buzzy (also as Lunk Johnson) (as Leonard Johnson)
Bill Langlois Monroe	...	Sherrif Murdock (as E. Eddie Edwards)
Samantha Phillips	...	Officer Phillips
GiGi Erneta	...	Deputy Adams
April Flowers	...	Tammy Rae (as Diana Espin) (as Elizabeth Short)
Nikki Fritz	...	Debbie
Tylo Tyler	...	Ryan
Brad Beck	...	Mark
Summer Williams	...	Shelley
Brinke Stevens	...	Linda
Melissa Brasselle	...	Det. DeMarco
Julie Corgill	...	Dina

Also Known As:

Slumber Party Massacre IV (USA) (working title)
The Cheerleader Massacre (USA) (DVD title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, sexuality/nudity, language and some drug material.

Runtime:

85 min | USA:81 min | UK:92 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:R | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Anchorage, Alaska, USA

Company:

Tessa Trust

Trivia:

Brinke Stevens plays Linda, a role she originated in The Slumber Party Massacre (1982) 21 years earlier.

Goofs:

Factual errors: One girl refers to the character Buzzy, but she calls him by the actor's real name, Lenny.

Quotes:

Officer Phillips: [after being told a killer is on the loose] I knew today was gonna suck when we got those stale doughnuts.

Movie Connections:

Edited from Humanoids from the Deep (1980)

Big chests in small vests, chocolate sauce, and moviedom's crappiest rickety bridge.

I've never expected too much from a film by trashy B-movie director Jim Wynorski: a silly premise, some cheapo effects and a bit of nudity from some busty babes, and I'm usually fairly happy.

Well, Cheerleader Massacre delivers on the former and definitely the latter, but unfortunately is a tad light when it comes to the splatter. And when a film has the word 'massacre' in the title, and scrimps on the gore, then Houston, we have a problem.

Wynorski's movie centres on a group of cheerleaders who, along with their teacher, mini-bus driver and a couple of guys, become stranded in the mountains during a snowstorm. They make their way on foot to a deserted mountain retreat, where they find food and shelter. And a crazy killer who wants them all dead! From the outset, good old Jim ensures that his film features plenty of scenes loaded with T&A, and includes the obligatory shower scene, along with numerous other moments in which tasty women get nekkid (including a spot of raunchy softcore sex and a very gratuitous three-babes-in-a-hot-tub scene). None of the women look young enough to be cheerleaders (and are never even seen in their outfits), but who cares about such details when they're all too willing to strip off in the name of art?

I do care, however, about the movie's numerous lacklustre deaths. With such an extremely lurid title, I had been hoping for some inventive bloodletting to go with all of the bums, bush, and boobs; instead, practically all of the killings occur off-screen or feature next to no gore. Only a silly post-decapitation scene (achieved with cheap-as-chips CGI) comes anywhere near to delivering the goods.

Still, if you're feeling in the mood for some titillation, or a bit of slasher silliness minus the grue, then, at 82 minutes, at least Cheerleader Massacre won't be too much of a waste of your time.