The Daily Dig: Killer Party (1986)

This dark comedy horror flirts with being Raimi-esque, a little-known slasher that will pour you a tall glass of nostalgia.

A sorority hazing ritual unleashes a demon in an abandoned frat house. Let’s dig into 1986’s KILLER PARTY, directed by William Fruet!

As I See It

With multiple layers of trickery, we open with an eighties hair metal music video.

The drive-in theater and its concession stand will give you a retro hard-on. With a video being shot for metal band White Sister’s APRIL, we find ourselves in another holiday slasher, albeit for a completely unnecessary April Fool’s. It doesn’t seem to be needed.

White Sister is no stranger to soundtracks. They found their songs on the albums for Fright Night (“Save Me Tonight”), Thrashin’ – the Josh Brolin skateboarding movie (“Touch the Sky”), and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (Dancin’ on Midnight).

The setup is simple: a bunch of sorority girls hanging out in a hot tub talk about an abandoned frat house that they plan on using for some hazing rituals.

So, there is the promise. Tons of pranks feel proper eighties to me. I especially like the guillotine gag.

What I don’t get is the old-time Diver’s costume before flipping to straight-up demonic possession, which is way too close to an Exorcist rip-off and not even done well enough.

It was an enjoyable, little-known slasher that ended with a whimper.

Famous Faces

Ralph Seymour (Martin) played the bike thief in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, directed by Tim Burton.

Paul Bartel (Professor Zito) has a ton of genre films on his resume: Piranha, Death Race 2000, White Dog, Trick or Treats, and Chopping Mall!

Of Gratuitous Nature

A college slasher is bound to bring a bevy of breasts and hypersexualized scenes. Pranks and assertions are made that would be considered uncouth at best in current times.

Heartthrob

Martin Hewitt (Blake) is the definition of a scruffy eighties hunk. He looks like a young Mark Ruffalo. The ladies ooze over him, declaring how “gorgeous” he is, and there is no doubt why.

Ripe for a Remake

There have been plenty of college slashers that run up and down all the sub-genres of horror. This one dabbles in the supernatural, but it’s very derivative stuff.

I don’t know if there is anything to mine here, but it has its own unique charm.

Spawns

No progeny to report.

Where to Watch

There is a Blu-Ray release from 2021 put out by Scream Factory. It includes a bunch of new interviews. You can also rent it on Apple TV.