The House on Sorority Row

Director - Mark Rosman (Mutant, The Magical World of Disney)

Starring - Kate McNeil (Monkey Shines, Sudden Death), Eileen Davidson (The Phoenix, Easy Wheels), Janis Ward (Remington Steele, T.J. Hooker)

Release Date - 1982

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "Sisters in life, sisters in death"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     When I started collecting movies I wanted to snag as many zombie flicks as I could but it quickly spiraled into slashers.  I absolutely loved nothing more than snagging slashers I had never seen before and marathoning them all night.  Many years ago I snagged the 1982 slasher The House on Sorority Row on DVD and watched it with a few other early 80s slashers.  I remember enjoying it for the most part but didn't remember a lot about it.  When MVD announced the film as part of their MVD Rewind Collection I was all about it.  I quickly hit them up for a review copy which they were kind enough to send over.  Thanks guys.  

     The film follows a group of sorority sisters who play a horrible prank on the den mother with a gun.  The prank goes sideway and they accidentally shoot her.  They suspect she is dead and leave her in a pool until they dispose of body.  They try to go on with their lives but one by one they begin to be picked off by an unknown killer leaving the survivors to search for the real killer.  

     It was an enjoyable experience revisiting this one.  It's not the most compelling slasher that I've ever seen but it was enjoyable in it's generic story and kills.  It is especially fun if you pair it was other slashers from the same time.  The acting in this one is surprisingly well done.  The characters are exactly the type of characters you would expect from the sorority based slashers.  We have the sexually promiscuous character, the character that is morally questioning the prank, the one that blends into the background and is just their for the bodycount, and the final girl.  The characters are very cliched and generic but the cast gives the role their all.  A lot of the scenes are really fun and it's because of the cast that makes this one so enjoyable.  Especially the death scenes.  Sometimes they are a little humorous but overall I enjoyed the characters and their death scenes.  The story for this one is the standard slasher formula set against a college backdrop.  We have someone that was wronged and we follow people in the way or associated with as they are slaughtered.  This was the early years of the slasher when they left the woods and landed on college campuses.  I love these type of slashers and the only thing that makes this one stand out was the lack of a masked maniac.  It almost, in the most faintest of styles, feels like a giallo.  It's a slasher on the outside but plays a little like a pulp murder mystery.  It's fun but it doesn't have that iconic killer that many of the others gave viewers.  Finally, this one has some pretty fun kills.  We get some cheesy performances from the cast mixed with effective practical effects and plenty of blood.  The kills are not that iconic but they do fit that classic slasher mold.  Overall, The House on Sorority Hill may be underrated in some aspects but it is a well rounded slasher.  It does have an unusual score that breaks up a lot of the tension but I thoroughly enjoy it and I'm glad it found a new home in the MVD Rewind Collection.