House on Sorority Row - 1983

Reviewed by Sammi



Year: 1983

Director: Mark Rosman

Starring: Kathryn McNeil, Eileen Davidson, Janis Ward

Synopsis: Katie and her sorority sisters simply want to have their graduation party at the sorority house. The problem is, their housemother has different plans, and wants them out of the house. So, they do the only thing they know how...they pull a prank on her.
When the prank backfires, and their housemother dies, they have to hide the body before the party starts. While the party rolls along, the body count starts to rise!
Did the housemother really die, or is she still alive and stalking the guests?

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Review: The reason I started working on this page is because I had become weary of looking up films online. There's a ton of "critics" out there who reduce the films I love to pointless drivel. This film is a prime example of this.
Allow me to quote the main user comment from the IMDb. "O.k., lot of alot of elements here! (scream, i know what you did last summer) but in early 80's fashion." Really? Could it have something to do with "Scream" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" being films that were based on films like "House on Sorority Row"? How the hell does this film have elements of films that were made over 10 years later?! This film was part of the original line of slashers. Scream is tweenie schlock which attempts to satire the genre.
Whew...anyway...back to the film. I love this movie!! I've probably watched this film well over ten times and it never gets old. "House on Sorority Row" isn't original, whatsoever, and I'll admit that. But, how many slashers, post 1982, were? What this film is, though, is an absolute blast!! The plot's simple, and really easy to keep up with. The effects are decent, the killer's final outfit is mind-blowingly goofy, and there's a head in a toilet! What more could you ask for?!
If you want an intelligent film, don't look here (Hell, you probably shouldn't even look at this page!). If you're looking for a basic 80's slasher with an odd little hallucinatory ending, then you're in the right place. This film delivers basic slasherness in all of it's bloodstained glory!
Do yourself a favor, find a copy of this film, and expect to be entertained.

Score: 8.0/11

Trivia: Ummm...the director later did a number of episodes of "Lizzie McGuire", and this movie is being remade for 2009?! Will it ever end? Seriously?

Availability: Elite released a DVD of this, awhile back, and it's readily available. I've seen it new for as low as $9.99. Amazon has new and used copies starting at $15.88.

One Dark Night - 1983

Reviewed by Sammi



Year: 1983

Director: Tom McLoughlin

Starring: Meg Tilly, Elizabeth Daily, Adam West

Synopsis: I'll try to be as concise as I can. A famed occultist dies mysteriously and his corpse is laid to rest in the local mausoleum. His daughter finds out he was a psychic vampire and was draining energy from teenage girls that he was abducting.
Meanwhile, Julie is trying to become a "Sister" (a trio of popular girls in school who all wear matching purple jackets). Carol, leader of the sisters, wants Julie to fail because Julie is dating her ex, Steve. So, she decides that Julie's final test is to spend a night in, of all places, the mausoleum!!
So, Julie gets locked in the mausoleum and takes what she thinks is sleeping pills, but is actually Demerol. Carol and Kitty sneak into the mausoleum to scare her. What none of them realize is that the occultist isn't quite ready to lay down yet...

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Review: This was a fun little film. I didn't notice 98 minutes pass, which is always a plus. There were definitely some drawbacks, though. The animated dead looked like dolls being pushed around, there was practically no gore, except for a neat effect at the climax, and it almost seemed like too much plot. Fortunately, McLoughlin is a solid writer/director and he's able to hold it all together.
The acting is some of the best you can get in a low budget film from the 80's. Seriously...Adam West, Meg Tilly, and Elizabeth Daily? I have nothing more to say about that.
This is basically a ghost story. McLoughlin loves gothic horror, this much is obvious. Between this and "Jason Lives", he's gone out of his way to show the world this very fact. The downside is, the corpses...did they all have to look like they were just being hung from wires or stuck on poles? The end was pretty ridiculous, as well, but that's fine. I didn't realize it until later. At the time it made sense, I guess.
You do get to see a girl get killed by being smothered with corpses, though. That scene, alone, is worth watching the film. How many times do you get to see a girl die because corpses keep falling on her? Not often enough.
I'm going to say, if you can find a copy used, or for rent somewhere, pick it up. I don't think it's worth paying full price for new, though. This feels like a "watch once every year or two" type of film. You may want to see it more than once, but it's too story driven to be just thrown in whenever you need something on screen.

Score: 5.0/11

Trivia: Tom McLoughlin's first film, he later wrote and directed "Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives" as well as a number of episodes of both "Freddy's Nightmares" and "Friday the 13th: The Series".
Elizabeth Daily went on to play Dottie in "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" and was the voice of Mrs. Incredible in "The Incredibles". Horror fans may also remember her as Lana from "Bad Dreams".
Meg Tilly's following role was Mary Loomis in "Psycho 2".

Availability: Amazon has used and new copies starting at $10.