Sorority Row (2009)

Director:

Stewart Hendler

Writers (WGA):

Josh Stolberg (screenplay) &
Pete Goldfinger (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

11 September 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Sisters for life... and death.

Plot:

A group of sorority sisters try to cover up the death of their house-sister after a prank gone wrong, only to be stalked by a serial killer.

Plot Keywords:

Prank | Sorority | Sorority House | Death | Prank Gone Wrong

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Teri Andrez	...	Bra-Clad Sister (as Teri Andrzejewski)
Adam Barrie	...	Danny (as Adam Berry)
Megan Wolfley	...	Trampoline Sister (as Megan Elizabeth Wolfley)
Robert Belushi	...	Amazed Senior Guy (as Rob Belushi)
Marie Blanchard	...	Over-It Sister
Briana Evigan	...	Cassidy
Zack Garrett	...	Thwarted Guy (as Zachary Garrett)
Margo Harshman	...	Chugs
Rumer Willis	...	Ellie
Jamie Chung	...	Claire
Leah Pipes	...	Jessica
Audrina Patridge	...	Megan
Matt O'Leary	...	Garret
Julian Morris	...	Andy
Debra Gordon	...	Mrs. Tappan
Matt Cannon	...	Nerdy Underclassman (as Matthew Cannon)
Carrie Fisher	...	Mrs. Crenshaw
Caroline D'Amore	...	Maggie
Matt Lanter	...	Kyle
Maxx Hennard	...	Mickey
Ken Bolden	...	Dr. Rosenberg
Ashtin Petrella	...	Already Drunk Sister
Rick Applegate	...	Senator Tyson
Deja Kreutzberg	...	Riley
Nikki Moore	...	Joanna (as Nicole Moore)
Melissa Lukon	...	Slutty Sister
Chris Conroy	...	Hot High School Guy
Justine Wachsberger	...	Sarcastic Sister
Joe Forgione	...	Sea Pig
Kelly Dessoye	...	Naïve Girl
Katie Woolridge	...	Naïve Girl
Jeff Krajci	...	Stoned Dude
Joanna Waldsmith	...	Ditzy Sister
Natalia Dove	...	Bucky
Justin Tully	...	Wasted Guy
Naila Ansari	...	Theta Dancer
Allison Becker	...	Theta Dancer
Angela Dice	...	Theta Dancer
Jessica Fertitta	...	Theta Dancer
Kimberly Jones	...	Theta Dancer
Ashley Muzek	...	Theta Dancer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kaylynn Beckham	...	Senior Sorority Sister (uncredited)
Michelle Boyer	...	Hot Tub Girl (uncredited)
Shawn Dando	...	Extra (uncredited)
Alexis Ferrante	...	Sr. Sorority Sister (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Frat Guy (uncredited)
John W. Iwanonkiw	...	Painter #1 (uncredited)
William Kania	...	Police Officer (uncredited)
David Dale McCue	...	Police Officer (uncredited)
Anna McGhee	...	Cora (uncredited)
Jeremy Moon	...	Red Haired Partier (uncredited)
Rana Morrison	...	Bree (uncredited)
Nayli Russo	...	Core Sorority Sister (uncredited)
John Seibel	...	Parent (uncredited)
Rejeana Silla	...	Senior Sorority Sister (uncredited)
Gaynelle W. Sloman	...	Graduation Mom (uncredited)
jay Thompson	...	Extra (uncredited)
Blase Ward	...	Graduate (uncredited)
James Werley	...	Gardner (uncredited)
Giovanna Yannotti	...	Core Sorority Sister (uncredited)

Directed by
Stewart Hendler

Writing credits (WGA)
Josh Stolberg		(screenplay) &
Pete Goldfinger		(screenplay) (as Peter Goldfinger)
Mark Rosman		(screenplay "Seven Sisters")

Produced by
Bill Bannerman	....	co-producer
Jay Boberg	....	executive producer
Darrin Holender	....	producer
Mike Karz	....	producer
Josie Rosen	....	executive producer
Mark Rosman	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Lucian Piane

Cinematography by
Ken Seng

Film Editing by
Elliot Greenberg

Casting by
Joanna Colbert
Richard Mento

Production Design by
Philip Toolin

Art Direction by
Elise G. Viola

Set Decoration by
Diana Stoughton

Costume Design by
Marian Toy

Makeup Department
Gino Crognale	....	makeup effects consultant
Selena Evans-Miller	....	makeup artist (as Selena Evans Miller)
RaMona Fleetwood	....	key hair stylist
Lee Grimes	....	makeup department head
Kari Hill	....	hair colorist
Nancy Keslar	....	hair stylist
Rachel Kick	....	makeup artist
Karen Lovell	....	hair stylist
Lindsay McAllister	....	assistant hair stylist
Shari Ann Riley	....	assistant makeup effects artist (as Shari Riley)
Sarah Rosato	....	hair stylist
Melissa Sandora	....	makeup artist (additional photography)
Marianne Skiba	....	makeup artist
Linda Williams	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Eric Bergman	....	post-production supervisor
David Price	....	production supervisor
Ron Cosmo Vecchiarelli	....	production supervisor: additional photography

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Greg Guzik	....	second assistant director
Hal Olofsson	....	first assistant director
Susan Ransom-Coyle	....	second second assistant director
Ron Recio	....	additional second assistant director

Art Department
Timothy Barnhill	....	set dresser
Kevin C. Brady	....	carpenter
Robert Buncher	....	carpenter
Daragh Byrne	....	carpenter
Jolene Dames	....	set painter
Josh Drylie	....	set painter
Chip Eccles	....	carpenter
Lauren Fitzsimmons	....	assistant art director
David Hassinger	....	set dresser
Jim Heastings	....	carpenter
Joshua Hogan	....	scenic artist
Smith Harper Hutchings	....	scenic foreman
Gregory Jones	....	key greens
Kenneth J. Kellers	....	carpenter
Brett Kennedy	....	painter
Lara Lampenfield	....	charge scenic painter
Jeff Lavezoli	....	storyboard artist
Daniel McGuinness	....	carpenter
Samuel Noel	....	set dresser
Cesar Orozco	....	propmaker
Buster Pile	....	construction coordinator
Laura Pliskin	....	art department production assistant
Brandon A. Plonka	....	second greensman
Gregory Puchalski	....	on-set painter
Donald Lee Rager	....	set dresser
Jocelyn Roach	....	buyer
Nicholas J. Romanac	....	property master
Jesse Ross	....	set dresser
Jason Shumaker	....	utility
Bob Smith	....	leadman
Kelley Snyder	....	buyer
Nicholas Spivak	....	carpenter
Mamie Stein	....	on-set dresser
Steve Tolin	....	special prop fabricator
Lance R. Walters	....	carpenter
Leo Welsh	....	scenic utility
Marcel Worch	....	general foreman: additional photography
Craig Gilmore	....	storyboard artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
Anke Bakker	....	sound supervisor
Romain Drouillon	....	french dubbing mixer
Jeremy Duayne Elzinga	....	sound engineer
Jim Emswiller	....	sound mixer
Marc Fishman	....	sound re-recording mixer
Adam Jenkins	....	sound re-recording mixer
Maureen Murphy	....	foley artist
Kelly Oxford	....	supervising sound editor
Kelly Roofner	....	boom operator
Kelly Roofner	....	cable person
Gordon Sproule	....	foley editor
David Stanke	....	first assistant sound editor
Greg Steele	....	adr mixer
Tim Walston	....	sound effects editor
James Wright	....	dolby sound consultant
Greg Zimmerman	....	adr recordist

Special Effects by
Kevin Carter	....	special effects contact lenses
Frank Ceglia	....	special effects coordinator: additional photography
Michael DePietro	....	special effects technician
Heath Hood	....	special effects technician (as G. Heath Hood)
David A. Poole	....	pyrotechnician
Ryan A. Riley	....	special effects technician
Steve Riley	....	special effects coordinator

Visual Effects by
Akemi Abe	....	rotoscoping artist
Kristen Branan	....	head of production: Zoic Studios
Aaron Brown	....	visual effects supervisor
Tara Conley	....	visual effects producer: Zoic Studios
Mike Diltz	....	digital compositor
Arlend Engar	....	visual effects artist
Safeer Ghaznavi	....	digital compositor
Nathaniel Holroyd	....	key visual effects assistant
Injoon Hwang	....	visual effects artist
David Langtry	....	visual effects coordinator: Zoic Studios
Patrick Mooney	....	visual effects production supervisor: Zoic Studios
Lee Pierce	....	visual effects artist
Mike Rhone	....	visual effects artist
Harrison Rutherford	....	digital compositor
Nik Slotiuk	....	visual effects artist
Ron Thornton	....	visual effects supervisor

Stunts
Casey Adams	....	stunts: reshoots
Edward Gabree	....	stunt performer
Paula Gregg	....	stunt double
Gene Harrison	....	stunt double
Asa Liebmann	....	utility stunts
Chaz Moneypenny	....	stunt double
Mick O'Rourke	....	stunt performer
Jodi Michelle Pynn	....	stunt performer
J.C. Robaina	....	stunt rigger
Jimmy N. Roberts	....	stunt double (reshoots)
Melissa Rotonto	....	stunt double
Monty L. Simons	....	stunt coordinator: LA
Brian Smyj	....	stunt coordinator
Andrea Spring	....	stunt performer
Stephanie Stokes	....	stunt performer (as Stephanie Stokes Smyj)
Stephanie Stokes	....	stunts fire safety

Camera and Electrical Department
Jarrett Buba	....	electrician
Matthew Bulleri	....	grip
Brian 'Buzz' Buzzelli	....	dolly grip: a camera
Jorgen Christenen	....	rigging electrician
Brown Cooper	....	director of photography: second unit
Rose Corr	....	camera production assistant
Alexander 'Lex' Crow	....	set lighting
Pat Dames	....	dolly grip
Ray 'Chazz' Edwards	....	grip
Andrew Fisher	....	first assistant camera: A-Camera
Chris Fisher	....	key second assistant camera
Bart Flaherty	....	key grip
Zachary Gannaway	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera
David 'Yoko' Jose	....	grip
Pete Klingenberg	....	electrician
Chuck May	....	grip: re-shoots
Parris Mayhew	....	camera operator
Jack McCollum	....	lighting balloon technician
Frank McGough	....	gaffer electric: second unit
Jon D. Morrison	....	rigging gaffer
John S. Moyer	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Jean-Pierre Nutini	....	best boy electric
Terry O'Deen	....	gaffer
Deb Peterson	....	camera loader
Michael Piekutowski	....	lighting technician
Brian Powers	....	best boy rigging grip
Eric Riedmann	....	rigging electrician
Matt Schafer	....	additional electrician
Keith Seymour	....	key rigging grip
Colin Sheehy	....	additional film loader
Terry Shirk	....	electrician
Dave Wightman	....	first assistant camera
Don Yockey	....	additional grip
Nick Yost	....	electrician
Michael Zinobile	....	best boy grip
Nick Zinobile	....	grip
Michael Desmond	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Paul Goroff	....	super technocrane operator (uncredited)

Casting Department
Laura Barone	....	casting assistant: Pittsburgh
Jan Bartholemew	....	extras casting assistant
Christine Colvin	....	casting assistant
Rachel L. Hill	....	casting assistant
John McAlary	....	casting associate
Caitlin McKenna-Wilkinson	....	adr voice casting
Nancy Mosser	....	casting director: local
Jared Pascoe	....	extras casting assistant
Katie Shenot	....	extras casting director
Jonathan Henry Way	....	extras casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Darcie Buterbaugh	....	key costumer
Dallah Charissa Cesen	....	costumer
Alison Evans	....	set costumer
Melanie Marie Evans	....	wardrobe assistant
Laura Kaminski	....	set costumer
Kate Lombardi	....	costume assistant
Alma Magaña	....	set costumer: additional photography
Asia Muka	....	costumer
Catherine Riley	....	costume designer: Pittsburgh
Nicole Schott	....	assistant costume designer: los angeles
Dalhia Schuette	....	costumer
Virginia Smith Phillips	....	costumer
Mike Strati	....	costume assistant

Editorial Department
Jill Bogdanowicz	....	digital film colorist
Steven Cuellar	....	editorial production assistant
Harry Muller	....	color timer
Scot Starbuck	....	colorist: dailies
Matt Tassone	....	first assistant editor
Everette Webber	....	digital intermediate editor
Darin Wooldridge	....	additional digital colorist: Technicolor (uncredited)

Music Department
Christine Bergren	....	music legal and clearance
Mark Curry	....	scoring mixer
Matt Franko	....	music preparation
Julianne Jordan	....	music supervisor
Paul Katz	....	music consultant
Randy Kerber	....	orchestrator
Adam Klemens	....	conductor
Jennifer Nash	....	music editor
Victor Pesavento	....	music preparation
Lauren Shotwell	....	music clearance

Transportation Department
Frank Conforti	....	production driver
Stephen Hough	....	transportation
Donald A. Kraus	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Brittany Aikey	....	assistant: Stewart Hendler
Demian Aspinwall	....	production assistant
Dawn Barkan	....	animal handler
Mitchell Barutha	....	key location scout
Alyssa Batchelor	....	set production assistant
Bryan Boardley	....	production assistant
Shawn Boyachek	....	location manager
Craig T. Brown	....	second assistant accountant
Mary Malone Browning	....	assistant to Mike Karz (as Mary Browning)
Rick Callan	....	location manager
Matthew Carraher	....	production assistant
Alex Case	....	location assistant
Ray Cervenak	....	security captain
Lela Checco	....	production assistant
Jason Cianella	....	office production assistant
Anna Dobkin	....	travel coordinator
Steven Eddy	....	physical production executive
Kathy Edwards	....	payroll accountant
Erik Feig	....	production executive
Allison Garfield	....	assistant: Bill Bannerman
Bryan Gavin	....	production assistant
Lynn Hamilton	....	production secretary: additional photography
Julie Hansen	....	post-production accountant
Chris Hartshonne	....	animal handler (as Chris 'Tucker' Hartshonne)
Virginia M. Herdman	....	key nurse
Pam Holdridge	....	production coordinator
Ashley Kravitz	....	clearance coordinator
Kiesha Lalama	....	choreographer (as Keisha Lalama White)
David Linck	....	unit publicist
Giovanni Lopez	....	insurance broker
Mike MacCuish	....	first assistant accountant
Zachary Mazefsky	....	office production assistant
Ilana McAllister	....	production accountant
Ashley Muzek	....	dancer
Greg Nye	....	assistant production coordinator
Benjamin R. Reder	....	production legal counsel
Russ Riggins	....	production financing: Comerica Entertainment Group
Thomas Rumpf II	....	accounting clerk
Michael Schaefer	....	production executive
Rich Scurry	....	title designer
Tara A. Senior	....	production legal counsel
Stephen D. Shepard	....	set production assistant
Dan Short	....	production assistant
Michelle Skaneski	....	set production assistant
Joshua Smith	....	production coordinator: reshoot
Lauren Spartano	....	stand in: Rumer Willis
Todd Steiner	....	production financing
Karla Strum	....	set production assistant: additional photography
Melinda Taksen	....	script supervisor
John E. Tremba	....	male stand-in
Don Wadsworth	....	dialect coach
Justin White	....	office production assistant
Scott Essman	....	publicist (uncredited)
Christina Hwang	....	title producer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• House Row Productions (uncredited)
• Karz Entertainment
• Summit Entertainment

Distributors

• Benelux Film Distributors (2009) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Cinestar (2009) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• Concorde Filmverleih (2010) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Hollywood Classic Entertainment (2009) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Hoyts Distribution (2009) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Shaw Organisation (2009) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Summit Distribution (2009) (USA) (theatrical)
• Summit Entertainment (2009) (USA) (theatrical)
• Alfa Films (2010) (Argentina) (all media)
• Aurum Producciones (2009) (Spain) (all media)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2010) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2010) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• EDKO Film (2010) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• Film1 (2011) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Long Shong Entertainment Multimedia Company (2009) (Taiwan) (all media)
• Nordisk Film (2010) (Finland) (DVD)
• Odeon (2009) (Greece) (all media)
• Pancinema (2010) (South Korea) (all media)
• Paris Filmes (2009) (Brazil) (all media)
• Paris Filmes (2010) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Summit Home Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• Summit Home Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2010) (Argentina) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Zoic Studios (visual effects)
• Technicolor Digital Intermediates (opticals)

Other Companies

• BT Industrial Supply  expendables
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera dollies
• Christine Bergren Music Consulting  music legal and clearance (as Christine Bergren Music)
• Cinelease  lighting equipment
• Cleared By Ashley  clearances
• DBC Sound  foley and walla recording studio
• DDA Public Relations (DDA)  international publicity consultants
• David Haddad  transportation equipment
• Direct Tools & Fasteners  expendables
• EMS Payroll  extras payroll (uncredited)
• Eye2Ear Music  music consultant
• Haddad's  transportation equipment
• Lightspeed Grip & Lighting  grip equipment (as Lightspeed)
• Panavision  camera equipment
• Picture Mill, The  main title design (as Picture Mill)
• Pivotal Post  Avid HD editing equipment provided by
• Pivotal Post  post-production services
• Reder & Feig  production counsel
• Rockbottom Rentals  cell phone rentals
• Rockbottom Rentals  walkie rentals
• Scarlet Letters  end credits
• Soundelux  post-production sound services
• Technicolor Digital Intermediates  digital intermediate and opticals
• Todd-AO Studios  post-production sound services (as Todd AO)

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for strong bloody violence, language, some sexuality/nudity and partying

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #45438) | UK:18 (original rating) | UK:15 (re-rating on appeal) | Ireland:16 | Australia:MA | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Canada:14+ (Ontario) | Singapore:NC-16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Mexico:B15 | South Korea:18 | Ireland:18 (DVD rating) | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-18 | Argentina:16 | Italy:VM14 | Netherlands:16 | France:-16 | Brazil:14 | Spain:18 | Japan:R15+ | Norway:18 | Taiwan:R-12 | Malaysia:18PL | Germany:18 | Singapore:PG13 (edited TV version)

Filming Locations:

Crafton, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

House Row Productions

Trivia:

Shipped to theaters under the code name "Solidarity".

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When the girls and Garrett are driving to the mineshaft Jessica says "Look at me" three times. The second time her mouth does not move.

Quotes:

Jessica:[Impatiently] What?
Claire:I keep thinking about that text.
Jessica:[sighs] Clair! Garrett is a little bitch. He says we made him kill Megan? As if. Seriously, Clair, grow a pair.
Claire:Jessica, I've always had your back.
Jessica:But you've never had a backbone.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Tosh.0: Look at That Horse Guy (#2.11)" (2010)

Soundtrack:

I Want Your Love

Slasher remake that beats all of the lifeless remakes/sequels of late

Sorority Row seems to be receiving a lot of bad press for the same reasons that all slasher flicks seem to garner - it's clichéd, the characters aren't likable, the plot isn't handled well, the set-up is botched, blah blah blah. OK, these ARE fair points - there exists within this movie one too many "Hello, is anybody there?" moments, too many "Don't go in there!" moments, and let's be honest, they could have quite happily pinned the entire thing on someone else and gone to police instead of covering it up.

However, to complain about those things would be to complain about the entire purpose of the slasher genre. Besides Scream, Hallowe'en and Black Christmas, there is not a single slasher that has a shred of believability (and even Hallowe'en doesn't - Michael Myers is the boogie man for goodness sake!). We go to see slasher films to watch people get killed and don't pretend otherwise. These situations do not happen in real life, why expect any level of realism in the film?!?

So why bother going to see this? Primarily, for the kills. Out of the 10 or so murders, I'd say but only 3 are gratuitous and 2 of those are badly set up. Again, it's the same old story of bimbo/drunk frat boy wandering where they should know not to. But for the 7 or so others, they rock! The manslaughter at the beginning is pretty twisted, yet I, and many others got satisfaction watching one of those twits from The Hills getting offed and thrown down a mine shaft. Following on, a "pimped up" tyre iron is implemented to cause as much gore and depravity as possible: bottles, mirror shards, cars, flare guns, axes, fire-extinguishers, shotguns and the bird cane from the original all are used at some point to bring the death count to a total Rambo would be proud of. One of my favourite set-ups in the movie comes after the party, when they are aware that somehow, someone knows about their little secret. In an intense scene involving many bubbles - because in the World of the Greek Letters, you are more likely to find a jacuzzi than a room full of mannequins - one of the 5 get caught out in it. The build up ranks with that of Annie in Halloween or CC in Scream 2 - after the girls receive another threatening text, they realise that one of their names was missing from the list and before they know it, the missing girl is running, screaming through the courtyard towards them. Although the scares are few and far between, that scene had me ducking. The murder weapon, that tyre iron, is set to become iconic if it garners any sequels (which, undoubtedly it will).

The main characters may not be the most interesting, and two of the girls really are just plain boring, but there are 3 who stand out in my mind: Jessica, Cassie and Ellie. Jessica, the bitchy queen, is played with fervour by Leah Pipes: she relishes every mean phrase, never misses a chance to put someone down, and when she stumbles across the dead body of a sorority sister, her first remark is "God, she looks terrible!" delivered with a dead pan attitude that just rocked. The fact that, unfortunately, she is governed by a bloke is a shame, but she redeems herself towards the end, staying true to her bitchy, selfish nature. Ellie, although a walking cliché in a horror movie, is played really rather well by Rumer Willis. A girl falling apart at the seams as she tries to cope with her part in the accident, she goes from slightly shaky to worried to paranoid to hysterical to catatonic. Yet she maintains some integrity and humour and has quite possibly the funniest moment during which the girls are trying to stop her from finding out that Megan just might not be dead. Finally, Briana Evigans is such fun to watch. Although her character has no right to feel better about herself over what happened and she certainly is no Sydney Prescott or Laurie Strode, Briana brings out of Cassie a feisty, tough girl who can actually be rooted for towards the end. The other 2 VERY good reasons to watch this movie are as follows: gratuitous cat fights (in a burning house with a psycho killer running around none-the-less!) and Carrie Fisher blowing her kitchen to smithereens with a shot gun, all the while taunting the masked killer with lines such as "Come to Mama."

All in all, Sorority Row is not a good film but it is sheer entertainment. What it lacks in plot and credibility it more than makes up for in style. it's also the first remake that I've had pleasure watching due to it's total carelessness of where it's origins lie. I'd give it 6 out of 10. (yes I am aware I've awarded it 10 out of 10 but that's because I feel bad that morons would mark it so harsh on its lack of plot... seriously)