R.I.P. Michael Villella, Slumber Party Massacre’s original driller killer

Michael Villella has died. Best known for playing Russ Thorn, the drill-wielding maniac in The Slumber Party Massacre, Villella died Saturday, November 23, of organ failure, per TMZ. His daughter Chloe confirmed his death on Facebook. Villella was 84.'

Starring as Russ Thorn in 1982's Slumber Party Massacre, Villella became an immortal part of the slasher lexicon. A trained method actor who studied under Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler, Villella brought realism to the blood bath, distinguishing himself from the other masked killers of the post-Halloween slashers. Slumber Party Massacre was somewhat of a parody of those early thrillers, indulging and exaggerating the explicitly phallic weaponry while making its teen victims actual girls who like spending time with each other. Thorn's commitment clicked with the satirical script, balancing horror and humor in a way that stuck with people. The movie spawned four sequels without Villella, but the original's cult continues to grow.

Villella didn't come to Thorn from a horror background. He was a trained actor engrossed in the method acting system, which he brought to the character. "I used a lot of my technique that I learned from Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg," Villella said in 2013, "things like animalizations and portrait exercises."

After years of denying fans access to Russ Thorn, Villella gave himself to the horror convention circuit. "I'm blown away by Slumber Party Massacre," Villella said after the 2013 cast reunion. "I couldn't understand why anybody would want my autograph. For years, they've been trying to get me into the shows, but I said, 'No.' One day, I was looking on Facebook and saw all these people talking about Slumber Party Massacre. I said, 'It's not about me. It's about the character and the film.'"

Villella also starred in Love Letters, Gotham, Wild Orchid, and an episode of Amazing Stories. He performed on stage with The Group at Strasberg in Hollywood.

He is survived by his daughter and ex-wife.