The House on Sorority Row

Back in junior high , we love sneaking in to R movies especially slasher films. I remember this one because my older sister and her friends were hooked on the Young and the Restless, me and my annoying little friends couldn't give a sht about the drama, but being 12 & 13yrs olds we sure did love the women in that show, particularly "ASHLEY" in YR. Well to make a long story short, we(my friends & I) heard Ashley from the YR (Eileen Davidson) was starring in this movie and get this y'all was naked that's right Naked in a love scene. No big deal right, WRONG to 5 boys going thru this stage in life was about as good as it gets!! Since then I've become a horror/slasher movie junkie and I've seen them all and this movie was pretty good, there have been many since that have stole the plot, better production but this one can stand on its own and is a lost gem, besides it didn't disappoint us (5 young boys) to witness what at the time was one of the "finest" LOL girls in the world in her birthday suit. Now that I'm older and feel even older I've seen this movie many times and even added it to my collection, but this movie still takes me to a special place in my life and though it's not a well known slasher film it's one I remember fondly and takes me back to the good ole days.

Do pranks every go right in slasher movies? They always seem to leave someone injured, traumatized enough to turn into a murderer, or stone cold dead. In that grand tradition, The House on Sorority Row presents this well worn chestnut, but it's served up with a reasonable amount of style and even class.

The graduating class of a college sorority has had it up to here with their bossy and moody housemother, Mrs. Slater, after she says that they will not be throwing a graduation party at the sorority house. To get back at her, they devise a prank to scare her into letting them go ahead with the party, but it backfires when the blanks they loaded the gun with turn out to be real and, now, they have a dead housemother in their muddy, unused swimming pool. They go ahead with the party and keep trying to keep people away from the pool as someone starts killing them off one by one.

The House on Sorority Row feels more polished both in terms of script and production values than just about any other slasher film of its time. There's some gore, but it's a mostly restrained affair with only a few notable blood-soaked set pieces. Each of the sorority girls has their own personality, which makes it easy to tell them apart and most of the performances are better than what you'd usually find in a film of this type. Eileen Davidson really shines as the queen bee and Richard Band's lush, orchestral score sets a nice mood.

You have to respect The House on Sorority Row. It's trying that whole "when you go low, we go high" thing, but it'd be so much more fun if it just let its hair down and kicked someone into the mud every now and then. It's way better shot and acted than just about any other slasher movie from this time and it's not like it's super chaste and gore-free, but you just get the feeling that it's a little too scared to really dip into the sleaze pond.

Living in a new house, a group of sorority sisters ordered out of the building by the house mother decide to partake in a prank only for her to be killed, and while trying to hide the accident find themselves stalked and killed by a strange being forcing them to find a way of stopping it.

This wound up being quite the fun and entertaining slasher. One of the film's strongest points is the slasher-potential of the main setup that gets everything involved in the main storyline. The idea of the house being used to throw a party against the wishes of the arrogant, spiteful house-mother who's preventing their planned fun generates a kind of overall familiarity to the type of traditional slasher fun that comes about in the later half. As the party rages on and they get more and more panicked about the discovery of the body, there's a rather enjoyable atmosphere created here that's paid off nicely by the strong stalking featured throughout mixed with their desire to keep the crime hidden the entire time. That interplay is rather important as the film goes on with so many near-misses and interactions with others as they're trying to keep their activities hidden that the killer bumping them off intrudes on things rather nicely in order to punch up the suspense of their encounters. From the initial encounter in the backyard that results in the scene with the killer appearing behind the boyfriend to the ambush outside the mechanics of the pool room and the scene in the bathroom where they see the killer arrive in the house before and begins chasing them leading into the quest to get to safety in the stalls which gives this one some great moments. The finale as well, with the chase around the house featuring the killer and the doctor both trying to capture the last survivor for their own plans as she has to get away while being drugged the entire time offers up some solid and highly chilling elements as this one builds to a nicely creepy and fun finish as they try to get the upper hand for their own methods. The entire film is based on the idea of mostly stumbling upon the killer accidentally which leads to some nice suspense as the tactic proves the killer really could be anywhere at any time. Coupled with a stellar-looking clown disguise and some brutal, lively kills that are somewhat restricted by the rating, these here are what hold it up over it's few minor flaws. Among the main problems with the film is that the central prank they're trying to set up is moronic and makes no sense at all. Firing a blank-loaded gun at the woman as she attempts to retrieve a walking cane from a floatation device in the pool against her knowledge is simply stupid as that doesn't strike any kind of accord to what she put them through which is the entire purpose of the stunt. Here, this entire prank just seems foolish and destined to turn out the way it does so the entire purpose of this just feels underdeveloped and rather lame. Likewise, the fact that the majority of the stalking scenes emerge as just simply having the killer stumble upon them in the way he does offers a lot to like but it also means the film doesn't have the same type of suspense present by never making us be aware of the killer's presence. This turns some of the scenes into somewhat bland sequences as the idea of the killer being around has a very prominent feel yet somewhat fails to utilize that properly with the way this plays out their encounters as merely shock encounters. As well as the censored gore in the kills, there's not much else really wrong here.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Brief Nudity and violence-against-animals.

Better than average slasher flick about a group of sorority babes who accidentally kill someone during a prank and try to cover it up. Later they're murdered one by one by until the inevitable 'final girl vs the killer' showdown all these things seem to have. It's a good movie of its type with some humor and gore (although probably not enough to appeal to gore hounds). Starts out with some Miss Marple-type music that, back in the day, had me double-checking the VHS label to make sure I had the right movie. The cast is pretty good, with early roles for Eileen Davidson and Harley Jane Kozak, and a nice leading role for Kate McNeil. My favorite scenes are Eileen Davidson showing off her breasts and the Sea Pig scene. Given her age you would assume Lois Kelso Hunt (playing the sorority's house mother) was a seasoned pro, but her acting is so bad that she's outshined by everyone in the cast. Even the Sea Pig. There's also a corny band that screams 1980s. It's a fun movie, if you like '80s slashers (which, I assume you do or else why would you be watching this). Might lose a little punch if you've seen a lot of similar movies that came after. Oh, and avoid the 2009 sort-of remake at all costs. It's garbage.