The House on Sorority Row (1983)

Unaware that the owner of their sorority house has psychological problems, a group of students inadvertently push her to her limits in this unusual slasher movie, best entered into with as little prior knowledge as possible. Suffice it to say, the plot takes some unexpected turns with twists that cause the characters to contemplate whether something supernatural is happening. There is also a lot to like in how the characters here have real personality and are not just the mindless teens of the 'Friday the 13th' series. For a slasher though, 'The House on Sorority Row' is oddly light on the violence and gore. The killings all occur extremely quickly and the death scenes are not particularly creative. There is one very unsettling image involving a toilet, but precious little beyond this. The revelation of the murderer also leaves a little to be desired and the film ends on a bit of a low note. The vast majority of the movie is surprisingly gripping though. The scenario that the sorority sisters get themselves embroiled in is pretty creepy and Lois Kelso Hunt is a good choice to place the house's unpleasant, temperamental owner. The film additionally has a pranks angle that brings to mind the latter 80s horror film 'April Fool's Day' in the best possible way as its characters pay the price for not thinking twice about whether their pranks are funny for everyone.

Fmovies: 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

One of the tamer slashers of the 1980s, "The House on Sorority Row" is a pretty fun and surprisingly effective little number. The story itself is more nuanced and layered than most of its ilk, and there's an underlying morality play at hand that's impressively handled by director Mark Rosman. Despite being made early during the slasher craze of the 1980s, it readily and consciously subverts some of the genre's tropes, like the virginal final girl and the over-emphasis on female suffering. The death scenes are a little on the underwhelming side, with Rosman taking the Alfred Hitchcock road and keeping much of the violence off-screen, but the mood and atmosphere make up for it. Fans of "Happy Birthday to Me" and "Graduation Day" should give this one a shot if they haven't already.

The House on Sorority Row fmovies. "The House on Sorority Row" an 80's slasher flick has now become somewhat of a cult classic and midnight viewing event, and it does entertain and give chills in typical 80's manner. It has all the common things from the 80's horror films sex, nudity, blood, gore, and a past secret that twist. The story is pretty simple young college sorority girls who are just days away from graduation set out to throw one last surprise party and celebration, however the old lady the matron of the old house hides a horrible secret long buried away in memory. After a freak accident one by one bodies and deaths start to happen all are on the brink of madness and decay! Overall okay 80's horror film that flew under the radar give it a watch if you like that decade and the genre of skin and gore.

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.

"The House On Sorority Row" is above your average slasher flick. It's up there with "Halloween's" followers like "Friday the 13th," "Prom Night," "My Bloody Valentine" and "Sleepaway Camp." Unlike most slice-and-dice movies, "The House On Sorority Row" actually has a plot, some good acting from the cast, a mysterious killer, and it's not that bloody.

The plot revolves around the 7 girls of Theta-Pi sorority: Katey, Vicki, Liz, Diane, Stevie, Jeanie and Morgan. At the end of their college days, the Thetas decide to have one last fling before they go. However, their evil house mother, Mrs. Slater, is willing to do anything to stop the festivities. But that doesn't mean that the Thetas don't have a plan of their own. They decide to pull a very cruel prank on Mrs. Slater, which is guaranteed to work perfectly. But the prank goes too far, and it results in Mrs. Slater's death. Afraid that the police will suspect them, the girls hide Mrs. Slater's body in the pool. They will have their party and will get rid of the corpse in the morning. Unfortunately, somebody knows what they did, and that person decides that they're going to make the girls of Theta-Pi pay for what they did.

"The House On Sorority Row" is very similar to "Prom Night" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer." However, "Prom Night" and its successor were there before the 1997 box-office smash.

The cast is well-chosen with Kate MacNeil as Katey, Eileen Davidson as Vicki, and the rest of the sorority girls are not bad.

"The House On Sorority Row" does have its flaws, but they are only minor. One of the girls has almost zero lines of dialogue, the film drags just a little bit, and it's so obvious that Lois Kelso Hunt's(who played Mrs. Slater) voice is entirely dubbed, since director Mark Rosman says that her voice was not scary enough for the role. But I did not pay attention to these issues, and I really enjoyed the movie.

The result: Sometimes, what a slasher fan needs is a little bit more than just a hack-em-up film. Some genre fanatics might look for a slasher-thriller. "The House On Sorority Row" is that movie. It offers suspense, a little bit of gore, some of the inevitable female nudity, good characters and a creepy villain. Not to be missed.

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