Scream Queen Hot Tub Party

Scream Queen Hot Tub Party (1991) was conceived, written, directed and produced by Fred Olin Ray and Jim Wynorski. It was shot on Hi 8mm in one day at Jim Wynorski's home. The women were given a piece of the profit, and Wynorski and Ray did their own distribution. Since it never found its way into the rental market, legitimate copies of this have been rather rare.

The plot is a throw-away. Five scream queens are invited to a mansion for a seminar on scream queens. The host isn't around, so they change into negligees, then use an Ouija board to figure out what to do. The answer? Get into the hot tub. Each of the women in turn describe some aspect of scream queen technique, such as the shower scene, chain saw play, firearms, the importance of exercise, etc. The entire thing was padded with clips from other films owned by Ray or Wynorski in which one or more of the girls appeared. These include footage from "Slumber Party Massacre," "Sorority House Massacre II," "Tower of Terror," "Emmanuelle V," "Evil Toons," "Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers."

"Why did we have to change into nighties to reach the spirit world? DO spirits prefer nighties?"

"No, I think the producer just wanted an excuse to get us to undress."

"I was just thinking ..."

"A scream queen never thinks."

DVD info from Amazon

The DVD includes a still gallery, a commentary with Ray and Wynorski, and the movie One Million Heels B.C. .

I can't possibly give this less than a C. It is easily the best of all scream queen hot tub party films. The idea was so unique that all five girls had to agree not to make another film like it for any other director for at least a year. When others saw how much money it was making, all five girls were approached to make a clone for someone else. The video quality is not great, as the source material was 8 mm, but it is watchable, and the commentary is sometimes interesting.

The Critics Vote

Joe Bob Reviewed it. Nobody else matters. Joe Bob's review is a must reads if you have any interest in scream queens.

The People Vote ...

IMDB summary. IMDb voters score it 1.3/10, placing it in the running for the worst use of celluloid ever.

The meaning of the IMDb score: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence equivalent to about three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, comparable to approximately two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, equivalent to about a two star rating from the critics, or a C- from our system. Films rated below five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film - this score is roughly equivalent to one and a half stars from the critics or a D on our scale. (Possibly even less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. (C+ means it has no crossover appeal, but will be considered excellent by genre fans, while C- indicates that it we found it to be a poor movie although genre addicts find it watchable). D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well. Any film rated C- or better is recommended for fans of that type of film. Any film rated B- or better is recommended for just about anyone. We don't score films below C- that often, because we like movies and we think that most of them have at least a solid niche audience. Now that you know that, you should have serious reservations about any movie below C-.

Based on this description, Tuna says this is a C, arguing that if you watch films to see topless semi-famous women, here is an acceptable choice. Scoop says C-, adding "IF the quality of the film were acceptable and IF the women showed more flesh than just their jubblies, I'd say it was a decent nudie film, but as it stands, it's just a curiosity."