Review of The House on Sorority Row (1982) by Jeff B — 18 Jul 2009

This slasher pic from the 80's is fondly remembered by fans of the genre - but not by many others. Which is a shame - this film is on a level with the original Friday the 13th, way behind Halloween and probably a bit better than Prom Night.

Anna Friel-lookalike Kate McNeil (who she?) is terrific in the role of helpless sorority girl regretting her past and looking to be a lone survivor amongst all the slashings going on around her. Yep - Jennifer Love Hewitt's role from I Know What You Did Last Summer. But McNeil was there first. She went on to appear in a Walton family TV movie and crap film extroadinaire Glitter. But she's picked a good one here, so all is forgiven for future cinematic or televisual manure.

So what will your date or your mother or whoever you choose to show it to, get out of this one?

Well - the acting from virtually all concerned is pretty much OK, and sometimes even convincing.

The plot can be dealt with in a sentence of course. I'll do that now, but won't give anything away - honest. This is the basics. But if you don't want to hear anything at all, then look away now as it's a.

***POSSIBLE SPOILER SCENARIO*****.

Sorority girls in baby doll outfits (OK then - often in baby doll outfits, but not always)kill old owner of the house they live in and the stalker that comes back could or could not be this old owner back from the dead. She was also a mad old owner with a viscous-looking walking stick -so it could well be a possibility worth considering. The mad old owner also once had a difficult labour (of the baby kind - not political party or hard kind)and the doctor who was present at the time still hangs around. Bizarre huh? Take your pick as to who's killing the semi-dressed girls. Or go for another option. The choice is yours!

***POSSIBLE SPOILER ENDS*****.

There - told you. One sentence. Well, nearly. And only a bit longer than the word count needed to describe the plot of Prom Night or Friday the 13th part so and so (all of which I love by the way - don't get me wrong!).

What else do you get to see? Oh yes - sex on a water bed that gets very wet. Some pretty unexplicit killings, of the family-orientated kind. Well, maybe not family - but of the drunk teen kind for sure. And a nice music score with rubbish 80's pop band in the middle.

The bit where our heroine waits in a darkened room, doped up, for the killer to arrive is also very effective. Worth watching for this almost surreal sequence alone.

Good acting, bad killings, damp sex. Nothing new here for an 80's slasher movie. Oh - apart from the good acting bit of course.

Your date will LOVE this movie - or hate it. But hey - if he/she hates it and you love it then what are you doing sharing a sofa together in the first place?