Michael Villella, the actor best known for his iconic debut role in The Slumber Party Massacre, passed away on November 23 following health complications, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He was 84 years old.
The Slumber Party Massacre was developed as a spoof of the slasher genre with a feminist commentary, and many of the movie's humorous moments come from writer Rita Mae Brown's wry observations of the genre and how women characters are often treated.
Villella, whose power drill is undoubtedly the star of the show, slices and dices his way through everyone in his path. His portrayal of Russ Thorn is a sight to behold. While the killer hardly speaks at all until a scene towards the end, this does nothing to lessen his menace. If anything, it only heightens it. His mannerisms and eyes are extremely expressive. He radiates an aura of darkness from a single stance, the consummate boogeyman crawling through a window on a dark night, immortalized in that infamous screenshot of him wielding his drill, hands bloody, with a fluffy pink bedroom as his backdrop.
His appearance, too, is memorable because of how normal-looking he is. In a sea of masked madmen, like Leatherface, Freddy, and Jason, Russ Thorn stands out in how ordinarily he is dressed. No mask adorns his features. He looks like the guy who lives next door. He literally could be. He could be anybody. And therein lies the beauty and terror of the character.
In an interview with Racks and Razors, Villella himself explained that he believed the very appeal of his character as a villain among the fans was attributed directly to that, stating, "I think one of the things that turned people on was that I wore no mask or make up I was a regular guy... who wandered too far into the other side."
As a horror fan with Russ Thorn in my list of favorite slasher villains, I have to agree with him on that.
In the same interview, he ironically revealed that he was afraid of horror movies and that the one he starred in was the only one he'd ever watched.
"Matter a fact horror films scare the s**t out of me. The scariest film I ever saw was Abbot and Costello Meets Frankenstein. Never saw a horror film... besides SP," Villella said.
Regardless, he will remain a memorable icon among horror fans, gone but never forgotten.
While he was most widely known for this portrayal of the escaped serial killer, Villella also appeared in Love Letters (1984), Gotham (1988), Wild Orchid (1989), and more.