Reviews & Ratings for
Sorority Row More at IMDbPro »

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Page 1 of 11:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Index

104 reviews in total

---

46 out of 74 people found the following review useful:
Scream meets I know what you did last summer meets Urban Legends, 10 September 2009

Author: Filmaholic78 from United Kingdom

This film is nothing original.

But then what teenage slasher film is. And for that reason only I give this film 7 out of 10. I feel giving a movie of this style a poor review is cutting it short for the credit it should get. It is well shot, the death sequences are well put together and inventive, there are the comical moments, characters you hate and can't wait to meet there makers and the who is the murderer guessing game.

Don't get me wrong the film is not special, it's no Oscar nominee and has so many plot holes it is swiss cheese but what you do get is a fun slasher flick that won't let you down as long as you don't expect too much from it.

---

14 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
Less like a remake, more like another slasher, 3 August 2010
Author: Justin Stokes from Cleburne, TX

A group of sorority girls pull a cruel prank on the brother of one of their brethren. They wind up taking the prank too far, and it goes terribly awry when one of them is killed. Fearful for their futures, they decide to dump the body down an old shaft and keep what happened a secret. Time passes and it seems that they've gotten away with it, but a hooded killer shows up on the night of their graduation party to pick off those involved.

I am not the biggest remake fan. I outright skip many of them, though I'm not as vehement in my stance as I once was. In fact, a few have actually been catching my interest more and more as of late, the other most recent example being The Uninvited, a surprisingly well-done adaptation of a somewhat overrated Asian title. Then there is Sorority Row, which garnered my attention for two key reasons; A) I am an unapologetic slasher fan and B) Margo Harshman has a role in the film.

With that said, I really enjoyed Sorority Row. I did a double-bill with Whiteout, and thankfully I decided to watch this one second, as it washed away the foul taste of that nonsensical mess. For slasher fans like myself, Sorority Row had a feeling of "old school" to it. The storyline setup, the atmosphere, the wild sorority parties... it felt like old times. Old times that were witnessed via 80's slashers, of course. Some pretty inventive kills in here too, just like in the glory days of the slasher film. No repetitive Scream or IKWYDLS type kills. And really, if you're a slasher fan, the kills are half of the fun. I also have to say that I enjoyed the dialogue in this film. It was always spot-on with the wit, always funny in a dark humor sorta' way. I actually had the opposite reaction to the characters, as the girl playing Cassidy annoyed me. Her voice just grated on my nerves for some reason. The queen bitch was a joy to watch. I thought she was thoroughly amusing. As for Margo, she was stuck with the thankless role of the group slut, but she brought her own brand of deadpan humor to the part. Her lacking amount of screen time was my biggest disappointment with this movie.

All of that aside, the killer's reveal was also disappointing. The motivation just wasn't resonating with me, and some of the theatrics seemed too in line with the lame Scream brand of villains. Still, the rest of the film was so much fun, I can't help but recommend this to other slasher fans. If you like this kind of film, give it a chance. If you don't, well, I doubt you'd be reading this far anyway. It's a slasher film, plain and simple, and one I'd give the ol' slash of approval.

---

25 out of 43 people found the following review useful:
Surprisingly fun slasher flick and a decent remake., 12 September 2009

Author: AngryChair from Brentwood, USA

When a prank goes awry, a group of sorority sisters are left with a dead body on their hands. They cover up the accidental murder, but on graduation night someone begins to brutally kill everyone involved in the deadly prank.

Admittedly I went into Sorority Row with low expectations because I've always had a soft spot for the original House on Sorority Row (1983) and I feared that this would be another weak insulting remake, i.e. Black Christmas 2006 or Prom Night 2008. However I found myself rather entertained by this polished and energetic remake, it was an engaging ride all the way. Sorority Row has a typical slasher film setup, some hokey dialog, and the usual MTV-style direction, but it manages to build some good suspense and action throughout its interesting plot. Also it has some effectively funny moments of dark humor. In addition there's some flashes of nudity thrown in along with some inventive and bloody murder scenes.

Cast-wise the actors are adequate enough though their characters are typically paper-thin. The biggest standout is definitely Carrie Fisher as the amusingly tough housemother Mrs. Crenshaw. She deserved more screen time.

Over all Sorority Row is a fun slasher guilty pleasure that thankfully doesn't tarnish the memory of a horror classic. It's a worth-wild watch for horror fans, especially if you don't take it too seriously.

** 1/2 out of ****

---

19 out of 32 people found the following review useful:
A surprisingly fun guilty pleasure, 13 September 2009

Author: lovecraft231 from United States

Oh no, a guy is cheating on one of the Theta Pi sisters! Good for them they have a prank lined up for some prime revenge. Too bad said prank ends with one of them dead. To make things worse, a hooded slasher is after them after graduation.

Last year, we got a remake of "Prom Night" that ended up being one of the worst horror remakes of the decade, and committed a cardinal sin-a PG-13 slasher movie. Well, look at "Sorority Row" (a remake of the 1983 slasher flick "The House on Sorority Row") as the movie the "Prom Night" remake should have been-the anti-"Prom Night" remake if you will. It's not a classic, but nobodies expecting that now, are they?

So, what works?

For one thing, while not a splatter flick, there are some impressive kills available, as well as a sweet murder weapon that has potential to become iconic. Also, the performances are fun. Carrie Fisher is a hoot to watch (her role is a bit too minuscule though) and unlike say "I Know What You Did Last Summer", this movie makes no bones about the fact that most of these characters are unlikable and deserve their fates. The best surprise as far as acting is concerned is Leah Pipes as the bitchy leader of the sorority sisters Jessica. She's a blast to watch, and plays the part without overacting or overdoing her character. In short, she steals the show as far as I'm concerned. The movie does have it's flaws-it's a bit too flashy at moments, at times could have done a little more with it's R-rating (there's nudity, but none of the lead girls gets naked? For shame!) and the final ten minutes could have definitely used some work.

Nags aside, "Sorority Row" is a fun guilty pleasure. Sure, it's more catered towards a teen audience than hardcore horror fans, but come on, most slasher flicks have been catered to a teen audience. Besides, in an age of pointless PG-13 horror, 3D gimmicks, unnecessary sequels like "Halloween II" and "The Final Destination", horror flicks that try to hard to be hardcore, and horror flicks that try too hard to cater to horror fans (I'm a hardcore horror fan, but occasionally that can get annoying), a piece of unapologetic slasher fluff goes down easy.

Plus, any movie that opens with girls in PJ's with their asses exposed jumping up and down can't be all bad.

---

10 out of 15 people found the following review useful:
Looks very nice, otherwise adequate slasher, 9 September 2009

Author: Neil Welch from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

When Garrett cheats on girlfriend Megan, her sorority sisters decide to pay him back by pretending that she is dead, to the extent that they take the "body" off to a remote site to dispose of it. When Megan accidentally moves, the spooked Garrett reacts by driving a tire iron into her chest, leaving the sisters with the problem of what to do with the body. Cassidy wants to report it to the authorities, but alpha uber-bitch Jessica browbeats the others into dumping Megan's body (and the tire iron) down a mineshaft. At the graduation party eight months later, the girls are texted a photo of a hand grasping a tire iron. As they begin to die one by one, the question is whether Megan has come back from the dead, or is there another explanation? Sorority Row is a perfectly serviceable slasher movie, fuelled by a) who gets it next (and how), and b) who is doing it. If this is the sort of movie you enjoy, then you'll enjoy this one.

There was an aspect I particularly liked, and that was the look of the movie - it is beautifully photographed - points awarded for cinematography, because it is filmed with much greater care than is usually the case for this sort of movie.

Two elements which pleased me less, though. One is the answer to who is doing it. This struck me as the least probable possibility, with a motive which is less than credible.

The other - and please read no further if you don't like spoilers, because this is a biggie - is the last five minutes. The climax is proceeding very nicely, and all looks lost, when help comes from an unexpected quarter. This turns out to be Ellie, played by Rumer Willis. Now Ellie has spent pretty much the entire movie as a snivelling, whimpering, hysterical mess yet, in this final few minutes, she becomes a Rambo-lite lean, mean killing machine (because she'd do anything for her sisters, you understand), in one of the biggest and least believable character switches in the memory of this particular moviegoer.

---

17 out of 30 people found the following review useful:
Slasher remake that beats all of the lifeless remakes/sequels of late, 15 January 2010

Author: juan casado y barton from United Kingdom

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)

---

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Guilty Pleasure, 28 November 2011

Author: Girish Winchester (girish20789@gmail.com) from Bangalore, India

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Few years back we had the remakes of "Prom Night" and "Black Christmas" which were pretty awful. Nowadays teen slasher flicks have become redundant with their predictable twists and turns. The only reason I saw this movie was Jamie Chung who I find very hot and also because a friend recommended it. So, of course, I saw this remake of the 1983 movie, "Sorority Row", with low expectations last night. Despite its shortcomings and some weak links, I was surprised by how much I was actually enjoying it.

During a party in the Theta-Pi sorority house, the sister Megan plays a prank with her unstable boyfriend Garrett (Matt O'Leary) simulating an OD after using pills. Her sisters Jessica (Leah Pipes), Claire (Jamie Chung), Ellie (Rumer Willis), Cassidy (Briana Evigan) and Garrett's sister, Chugs (Margo Harshman) suggest to dump her "dead body" in a lake and the stressed Garrett sticks the tire iron through the Megan's chest, inadvertently which ends up killing her. Cassidy decides to call the police, but the sisters are convinced to dispose the body in a shaft and keep it in secret under the leadership of Jessica that blackmails Cassidy. Eight months later, in their graduation party, the sisters receive a creepy message with the picture of the tire iron in the beginning of a nightmarish night. One by one, the sisters and their unsuspecting boyfriends are stalked and killed by an unseen nemesis. Has Megan returned from the dead to exact her revenge? Or was their secret discovered by someone else someone now determined to make them pay?

The movie has a dark sense of humor, the deaths are effectively gross and the characters have some semblance of actual depth to them. The best acting in the movie has to be Jessica's character who completely convinced us she was a real b....(the 'b' word that I cannot use on IMDb) and a leader figure. Surprisingly, she also successfully carries off the inner turmoil in her life which the others don't have a clue about. Ellie's character came off as nauseating to me. All the other girls were much more entertaining than her. What was the point in keeping her alive again? The tension and suspense was built throughout the movie with some good action along its interesting plot. The only negative aspect was the revelation of the true killer which is quite contrived and made me groan. In trying to keep us guessing who the killer is, the writers have made the only guy who could not be the killer to become a psychopath and hunt all those who knew the truth about Megan's death. Trust me, that was really lame! But other than that, the movie is well worth a watch, even though it has some cliché stuff that every young girl in a slasher movie has to make.

6/10

---

4 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
A Great Slasher Movie, 21 February 2010

Author: Hunters_Souffle from New Jersey

A group of tight knit sorority sisters decide to play a prank, and as things usually go in these movies, everything goes horribly wrong when one of the sisters is killed. The sisters decide to cover up the killing and never speak of it again.

Cut to a few months later, and the girls start getting mysterious text messages and warnings. Someone knows what they did. During the big end of the year graduation party, a cloaked killer starts offing the sisters, and their boyfriends, one by one.

Unlike 2005's dreadful 'Black Christmas,' another sorority set slasher, this is a fun, fast paced, gory whodunit filled with well rounded (for a horror film) characters and some actual scares. 'Sorority Row' is one of the best slasher movies in over a decade.

---

10 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
Swift and oddly likable slasher, 29 September 2009

Author: Stampsfightclub from United Kingdom

8 months after the accidental death of their sorority sister, a group of sorority sisters are targeted by a serial killer.

Stewart Hendler's picture is a blend of the hormonal versus the slasher. The sex versus the violence. And whilst recent pictures have blended similar ideologies together (Donkey Punch etc) this is still a highly likable picture.

Beginning with your conventional teenage college party we see the camera flowing around in a big one cut opening sequence (impressive one to) as we see students demolishing their surroundings, couples getting frisky and even the odd brawl breaking out. Like the first series of Skins everything is spicy and elegant with colourful unknown protagonists.

From Bruce Willis' daughter to Step Up 2 star Briana Evigan we see a collection of attractive personalities engage in a sorority gathering and when a sexual prank goes from bad to worse in the middle of nowhere we dive right into gritty drama.

The dialogue in this sequence feels quite ordinary, as if plugged straight from any other horror. From the "What's happened" to "What are we going to do?" everything is samey but thankfully this particular sequence is saved through some wonderfully shot hand held camera motives. Flashes of panicked faces flash by in a whirlwind of emotional drama and incomprehensible circumstance and from there we have our horror.

8 months pass by with no incident and as the biggest party of the year arrives, so does a masked guest who targets the sorority girls. Scream was and perhaps still is the first and best original slasher movie thanks to its creepy flinching motive and dark intertextuality to other horrors. This 2009 picture follows similar traits with its unidentifiable villain and modern comedy style. From Facebook jokes to appearance jibes, this stereotypes itself into the trend of modern cinema. If you're looking for a refreshing bite of horror with raw humour like Scream, look elsewhere.

Not being too big on horror myself I ashamedly admit to flinching a few times but any big horror guru will not be unfazed by its frankly predictable justification of attacks. The humour is not on the scale of Scream or Scary Movie but modern culture gets a slap in the face with this collection of appearance, sex and party flicks.

Acting wise Evigan steps up from her blank portrayal in her last outing and the leader of the girls Leah Pipes is cruel and as suave enough to manage the others, easily generating the most humour. And whilst Rumer Willis cries all the way through and Julian Morris fits the stereotype of aloof boyfriend, they all fit easily to the narrative.

By far the best horror in the world, Sorority rows makes for a fun viewing with modern and current vibes of teenage angst and oppression.

---

14 out of 27 people found the following review useful:
One of the best slashers of 2009., 9 September 2009

Author: Slasher_Guy

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

'Sorority Row' is the best teen slasher flick since 90's hits 'Scream' and 'I Know What You Did Last Summer'. As a fan of the original 80's slasher (yes, this isn't a remake of I Know What You Did Last Summer!), I'm glad to say that this is one of the recent remakes that doesn't suck.

The film tells the story about a group of Sorority girls, including Briana 'Step Up 2' Evigan, who accidentally kill one of their sisters in a prank gone awry. The girls ultimately decide the only way out of the situation is to dump the body. Bad idea? Yes, because the girls are stalked by a culprit in a graduation gown and killed one-by-one. Fans of slashers, such as myself, should get a kick out of this one. It's just a fun movie that ticks all the right boxes.

The film was described as 'Mean Girls' meets 'Scream', and the description couldn't be any more spot on. Being a 90's kid, I was raised on 90's teen slashers, so it was great to take a blast to the past with Sorority Row. If like me you also enjoyed films such as 'Valentine' (2001) and other all-female slashers, then you should check this one out.

The film is full of funny one-liners (*cough* Leah Pipes) and violent, bloody death sequences. I loved the actors, and the screenplay was funny, sexy and scary. The killers' outfit was also cool and the 'modified tire-iron' was a great weapon of choice. Throw in some nudity, great tunes, cattiness and Carrie Fisher wielding a shotgun (yes, you read that correctly).

So, should you see Sorority Row or not? Well, if you are a horror fan who loathes most remakes and writes Sorority Row off as garbage before you see it - skip it. If you are a film snob - skip it. However, if you are a horror fan like me who can simply sit down for 100 minutes and watch a sexy cast be stalked and slaughtered by a menacing killer, then you should enjoy it!

'Sorority Row' is definitely one of the best remakes and horrors of 2009, and the surprisingly good reviews are spot on. It aimed to be a fun slasher and it succeeded. It's, in my opinion, the best teen slasher since 'Scream' and 'IKYWLDS' and I loved every minute of it. Full marks for being one of the most fun slashers I've seen in years!

10/10.

---

---

Page 1 of 11:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Add another review

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Plot synopsis	Ratings
Awards	External reviews	Parents Guide
Official site	Plot keywords	Main details
Your user reviews	Your vote history