Scream Queen Hot Tub Party

[StevePulaski]

Scream Queen Hot Tub Party (2015)
Directed by: Fred Olen Ray and Jim Wynorski

The five gorgeous, buxom scream queens in Scream Queen Hot Tub Party.

Rating: ★★½

Scream Queen Hot Tub Party is about the most literal title that could be attached to this particular film; a shot-on-video film that plays more like a compilation of seventies and eighties b-movies narrated and discussed by the buxom actresses who starred in them, the film is a video diary that effectively praises all things horror and breast.

Starring five actresses famous for their work in scuzzy b-movies, Brinke Stevens, Monique Gabrielle, Kelli Maroney, Michelle Bauer, and Roxanne Kernohan all arrive at a home one day expecting to be a part of a seminar on how to properly create a horror film. When they enter the home, they realize the house is totally empty, but are troubled when they hear the house making eerie and unsettling noises. They order an Ouija board from a delivery service that delivers quicker than a contemporary Jimmy John's and also includes five skimpy nighties, which the girls embrace accordingly. The gaggle of queens proceed to enter a hot tub and reminisce on the conventions of the horror films they have acted in, as well as share their insights on working in the field of b-movies.

This involves Stevens showing us how a scream queen effectively showers, breaking down the conventions step-by-step in a steamy, arousing scene and the remainder of the girls giving us a taste at other attributes to the life of being a scream queen. In the opening of the film, the girls give us unwritten rules of the queen life, with one of the main rules being "no scenery unless they see 'greenery'" and the fact that scream queen girls are not allowed to think in any particular way. It's safe to say these women know their roles in their films, and the eye candy they provide is only elevated to the fact that they are an entertaining bunch to watch, energetic and unpredictable in the way they try to merit some kind of reaction out of the audience, be it a scare or an arousal.

Scream Queen Hot Tub Party's third act (in an affair that's only forty-six minutes long) mainly deals with clips from films of the scream queen era that effectively show what it means to be a queen in action. The clips are pleasant enough, but take away from the true appeal of the film, which is seeing five beauties sharing a hot tub and talking about their experiences on set and in film in general. The film would've benefited the most if it had kept the focus purely on the women at hand rather than serving as a greatest hits compilation for other, unseen queens like Linnea Quigley.

The film was directed by Fred Olen Ray and Jim Wynorski, who has made a long, prosperous career out of showing off the assets of beautiful women and surrounding them with ridiculous, b-movie elements. Scream Queen Hot Tub Party is a delightful ode to those principles, and at least profiles a collection of actresses who have long since go unnoticed and deserve their dues in some respect. At least one can say it's given by a man who knows what he's doing and is very familiar with the area.

Starring: Brinke Stevens, Monique Gabrielle, Kelli Maroney, Michelle Bauer, and Roxanne Kernohan. Directed by: Fred Olen Ray and Jim Wynorski.