With her parents away, Blair Winthorpe (Kristin Noel McKusick) decides to host a relaxing pool party, with an old friend Nancy (Margaux Neme) who has recently returned to town as well as some of her high maintenance socialites. Intended as a girl only the gathering is disrupted when Tiffany’s (Alexis Adams) jock boyfriend Troy (Mark Justice) and his crude brother Clay (Nick Byer) turn up uninvited, but at least bring some excitement to a rather subdued pool party.  The party, however, begins to take a sinister turn when a killer starts to murder them one by one, and what started off as a relaxing summer by the pool quickly turns into a bloody nightmare. If you thought that the scorching heat of the summer was too much too handle, think yourself lucky that you weren’t invited to the worst pool party ever!

With the films artwork and a memorable title, you instantly know what you can expect from this throwback horror from writer-director Drew Marvick. Built on nostalgia for an 80-style slasher it may not offer anything ground-breaking to the sub-genre, but with some twisted humour and inventive kills, it manages to deliver on the blood and gore which the audience was expecting.

If there are any weaknesses to the film it is the characters themselves, who as a template come across as fairly generic to the horror genre and unfortunately, they are nor characters who you really care about. Apart from Nancy who is an acceptation to the rule as the girl who doesn’t quite fit into the group, the characteristics of the girls are very much alike; high maintenance, self-absorbed, arrogant and not very bright. But I guess for the purpose of the film at least they look good in a bikini. Despite their limitations, the script creates some great exchanges throughout the film, which utilises their imperious status to deliver some crude but extremely funny advice to each other.

There are a few characters who really stand out in the film and one of the best is the killer following a reveal later in the film, although I don’t want to give away any spoilers. The other two are brilliant comical performances from Nick Byer as Clay and Crystal Stoney as Britney.

Like his presence at the pool party, Nick Byer jovial immaturity will either be a form of entertainment or someone who you just can’t stand. Personally, I thought his frat boy style antiques and perverse humour helped maintain the pace of the film. With his innuendos, indiscreet chat up lines and his bold carefree attitude he really brought some life to a party (before they started dying) and I think we all know someone who this reminds us of.

Crystal Stoney, however, was easily the most impressive in the film thanks to her comical timing, as the not so bright Britney. Quite often it is her deadpan delivery and innocence (or ignorance) which makes the comedy work so well, although she manages to pull off some great at physical comedy and some of her facial expressions were hilarious. Crystal is one of the biggest surprises in the film and as the film went on she became one of the most likeable characters and easily one of the highlights of the film.

There was always going to be one thing which attracted horror fans to the film and thankfully Drew Marvick brings the blood and gore to the screen. Using an array of gardening and DIY tools the killer is not short of options as he utilises a different weapon to execute each kill. It may not be an original concept, but with so many options he does manage to create some entertaining variations on the classics as he uses hammers, axes and drills to dismember and mutilate the victims. The prosthetic of the effects looks good for a low budget feature,  delivered with plenty of blood, over the top gore and diced with a dark twisted humour. My favourite has to be with the death by drill which references back to an earlier scene, the timing of the moment had me laughing out loud even if you knew the outcome of what was inevitably coming.

The only computer effects that I noticed being used in the film was for the opening credits, where 8-bit computer graphics were used to replicate the opening kill in an old school pixellated form. It is a great idea which is in keeping with the concept of the film and I personally would love to a mini computer game adaption of Pool Party Massacre.

Most people would see Pool Party Massacre as a fun throwback the classic slasher, but the film has also attained a sense of notoriety after being banned in the UK, or at least in ASDA. Following a complaint by a customer regarding the explicit content displayed on the DVD cover, the film was subsequently removed from the shelves of all ASDA stores. Hopefully, the said customer was unable to view the more controversial alternative artwork contained inside, as this may have promoted a new campaign to reinstate the Video Recordings Act 1984 and have it banned outright as a Video Nastie. Thankfully the DVD remains available in HMV both in store and online, although I would like to see the film re-released in the UK with a new ‘Banned in the UK (ASDA)’ tag line.

Drew Marvick knew what he was trying to achieve with Pool Party Massacre and although it delivers a nice twist towards the end, it doesn’t try to be too overly clever in its execution. Concentrating on the elements which horror fans want from a slasher film it delivers what you would expect, so if you are looking for the next horror film to reinvent the horror genre you have obviously attended the wrong pool party. Wearing its horror influences proudly on every bloody weapon in the tool shed, as with any good slasher film it is built around the three B’s with Boobs, booze and blood. Pool Party Massacre is a film which will no doubt divide fans with its rating and will either be a fun slasher which requires repeat viewing with friends, or just another a crude horror which looks to replicate the fun of an 80’s slasher. It may not be a perfect film, but it really is an entertaining horror and if they are looking to make a Pool Party Massacre 2 I am looking to jump in at the deep end.

A warning for those of a faint of heart in the UK, if you see the DVD on the shelves in HMV just remember to avoid fainting, keep repeating, “It’s only a video cover, only a video cover, only a video cover”.

Pool Party Massacre is available on DVD in the UK, DVD and Blu Ray in the US and now available digitally on iTunes, Amazon and Tubi TV.

Philip Rogers

Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!