Sorority House Massacre (1986) Poster

User Reviews

Review this title
84 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
5/10
Not bad
Tikkin12 July 2006
Sorority House Massacre isn't too bad at all, but there is nothing original or fresh about it either. The basic plot is the same as Halloween (killer from an asylum escapes in search of his sister) and borrows a little from Nightmare On Elm Street (lots of weird nightmares about the killer). The nightmares don't really add much to the film, so I think it would have been better if they had been left out. The build up to the climax is a little slow, but once the action kicks in there are surprisingly a few tense moments, such as when the killer tries to climb in through the window.

Overall, Sorority House Massacre is just an average slasher flick. Watchable, but not very original. Also not very gory, so gore-hounds should look elsewhere.
11 out of 14 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
4/10
Generic Slasher: The Movie
staciewilliams-8951524 June 2019
Listen, I've suffered through a lot of bad movies in my day, but the exciting thing about them is that, sometimes, they're so awful they almost turn into bizarre comedies full of weird line readings, insane dialogue, completely inhuman responses to big twists, etc. For me, the worst thing a film can do is be boring or mundane without a single inspired moment and, honestly, most bad films are usually far from boring.

This brings me to Sorority House Massacre - a film so dull, passionless, and lacking in anything remotely resembling excitement that I'm surprised I remembered it enough to give this review.

It manages to cram the plots of Halloween and A Nightmare on Elm Street into one, but it does absolutely nothing of note. Usually, in even the worst of slasher films, there's a character or death scene or two worth remembering, but there's absolutely nothing to latch onto here. It's all just going through the motions.

If you value your time, skip it.
10 out of 13 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
Derivative, but not the worst of its type.
gridoon28 September 2002
Mad killer escapes from an insane asylum and goes after his sister (does this remind you of anything?), with whom he shares an unexplained telepathic link. This film is not too bad of its type, but it's just too derivative of both "Halloween" and "Nightmare on Elm Street" (there are many ominous dream sequences). The main heroine is fairly engaging, but the rest of the characters are almost indistinguishable from one another (and the men are badly acted, too). (**)
6 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
REALLY BAD!
dx4lifexpac16 April 2000
one night when i came across this movie in blockbuster i picked it up knowing that i would probably get a bad horror film. but i thought it would be bad in a good way. i should have known not too rent this, horror films were great from 74-84, but anything after that for the most part sucked. there are so many things that made this movie bad, too many too name, but i'll name one. this is the biggest Halloween rip off i ever saw. killer breaks out of a Psycho ward, and goes after this girl and what we find out is that her familly was killed by her brother and now he's coming for her. if that's not a Halloween rip off i don't know what is, if you wanna rip off Halloween that's fine it was a great movie, but atleast do a good job. i almost past out so many times durring the movie, it's so boring i can't think of one thing good to say about this movie at all i give it 1/10, and i give it a one only cause they riped off a classic horror film so atleast the makers of the film have taste
9 out of 13 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
4/10
Lower Level Slasher
garyrogers-6748410 September 2021
Sorority House Massacre could be forgiven for shamelessly aping other horror films such as Halloween (and it's first sequel) and The Eyes of Laura Mars, but it has the audacity to bring absolutely nothing original to the plate at all which makes the whole film feel like watching paint dry.

In the film, we have a young sorority girl plagued with visions of her insane brother who killed her family and, now, wants to come after her and her sorority friends after breaking out of an asylum. Clearly, not the most original plot in the world, but if Sorority House Massacre had at least attempted to bring in some fresh characterizations, interesting dialogue, or maybe an inspired sequence of suspense or two, it wouldn't have felt so stale.
2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
Not Bad, But Not Good Either
ryan-1007528 January 2019
An authentic whack job (John C. Russell) wants out of the mental asylum he is in. Once he escapes he goes to a sorority house where he seems to have a certain connection to a college girl named Beth (Angela O'Neill).

In the end this movie is better than it should have really been. Does have some good imagery during the dream sequences, but takes too much from A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET and way too much from HALLOWEEN. I thought a big thing that would have worked for the movie was adding some back story to the characters. We do get Beth's, but none of the other characters seem to have much of a back story. None of the male college students have any. Because of this the only characters I really cared about were Beth and John (Vinnie Bilancio). John just seemed to be a nice guy, but man I wanted to get deeper into his character than what I got. You may say that's what you get for watching a slasher. Maybe, but I am not going to lower my bar just because I am watching a slasher flick. They too can have well-developed characters. I also think by doing this it may have extended the running time a little as it comes in at only 74 minutes.

Anyways, on a side note they end up watching SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE, which I do recommend watching and writer/director Carol Frank worked as assistant to the director in that film. As well when some of the college girls decide to go through Cindy's clothes who has gone away for the weekend you are welcomed to Shoulder Pad City. Ahhh the 80s.
2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
Grade B version of "Halloween" with the setting of "The House on Sorority Row"
Wuchakk28 July 2019
"Sorority House Massacre" (1986) combines the plot of "Halloween" (psycho killer escapes asylum and goes after his little sister) with the sorority house setting of "The House on Sorority Row" (1983) and "Black Christmas" (1974). But the production values are subpar by comparison, sparking some to call it the worst 80's slasher film.

It's true that the movie starts shaky with filmmaking akin to an old soap opera, but it builds some suspense in the second half. And there are a few gems, like when Beth's sorta-date (the short, dark-haired guy) says, "I just like being with you." This shows that the writer actually put in some effort despite the Grade B (or Grade C) production values. The fact that there's no camp and everything plays out deadly seriously is a plus.

The film is short and sweet at 1 hour, 14 minutes; it was shot in Los Angeles.

GRADE: C
3 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
3/10
So clichéd, so 80s, so awesome
mullermike11 November 2005
My friend and I got together and we were looking for a movie on satellite. Return of the Sith? Nah, too long. Sideways? Nope, too heady. Sorority House Massacre? Charge my card immediately!! Throw this movie in with cheesy, 80s horror flicks. Other films like "Slumber Party" Massacre come to mind. All are pretty much knockoffs of Halloween, the godfather of modern slasher flicks (I don't think Psycho was, for it was of an earlier generation). But it's all there, the bad 80s hair and outfits, actors that can't annunciate, and a killer that doesn't die, even after repeatedly being stabbed, punched, and hit with a shovel. This guy must be made of steel.

If the girl having visions about murders in her dream isn't a complete ripoff from Nightmare on Elm Street, nothing is. True, this freakish girl doesn't die in her dreams but everyone around her goes by the wayside. I'm surprised she wasn't subjected to more abuse, as she really was weird and had an eerie resemblance to Kyle McLaughlin.

Not to say I expected Shakespeare when I watched this rubbish. Bad acting was expected, some mindless T&A to go with several dead bodies, and that's what I received. The money shot occurs when the murderer is coming after the sorority girls, falls two stories off a ladder, then is able to spontaneously crash through the window minutes later. Even Altman couldn't pull that one off.

So ya, this is your basic 80s slasher flick. Not necessarily funny but mildly amusing. Make sure you watch it with a friend and crack jokes through it's entirety. And if somehow this movie scares you, get a cigarette and a shrink.
4 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
3/10
I remember lime Jell-O
FilmFatale28 October 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Beth spends the weekend at a sorority house with some of her girlfriends. Unfortunately, she has no memory that this was her house when she was little and not only that - her brother slaughtered their entire family there! Of course, this is the weekend that bro decides to escape from the looney bin, steal a station wagon, and enjoy some sister bonding time (sound familiar?). Beth is having some pretty serious freakouts, too. The lime Jell-o line in the summary is from a hypnosis scene, BTW. Anyhoo - the girls' equally dumb boyfriends show up and they get in a series of ridiculous situations so that they can be killed. And since it's an 80s slasher, we need boobs, so there's a "trying on clothes while bad sax music plays" scene.

I love 80s slashers. I really do. So I'm probably being a bit too lenient with Sorority House Massacre, even though it's a blatant ripoff of dozens of Greek house massacre movies and Halloween. It's not good, but it has a certain dumb charm to it in a way. Still, I'll probably never voluntarily watch it again and I can only recommend it to 80s slasher completists like myself.
2 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Contrived Roger Corman-produced slasher is better than it should be
drownsoda9025 May 2015
"Sorority House Massacre" follows Beth, a college coed who is spending Memorial Day Weekend at a sorority house with several sisters who want her to join. The house seems strangely familiar to Beth, and a series of dreams and bizarre visions link her to a madman who is dead set on nabbing her in the house.

In some ways a "Halloween" ripoff of the highest order, "Sorority House Massacre" takes the blueprint of Carpenter's classic and bases itself on the precise premise without an ounce of shame. Madman breaking out of a psych ward, shots of a group of girls walking through the tree-lined suburbs to class (except here the location is unabashedly California, and the girls college students). While some people have ripped this film for its shameless imitation, genre fans are more likely to appreciate the funky weirdness the film has to offer.

There are tinges of a psychic thriller set inside the slasher framework here that are handled surprisingly decently; lots of talk of ghosts, dreams and psychology, and brainwave connections make for some inventive plot fixings. The flashbacks and Beth's bizarre visions of the villain are edited and presented in a startling fashion, and somehow manage to be mildly creepy. The film is much less gory than the title would suggest, which is another reason the film falls in line with a psychic thriller perhaps more than a straightforward slasher. The performances are ho-hum at best, but for a low-budget late eighties horror flick, they are completely respectable.

Overall, "Sorority House Massacre" is a heck of a lot better than it should be. It is contrived and at times silly, but there are some genuinely startling on screen encounters with the villain, and the film is engaging in all of its hokey eighties corniness. The obnoxious late- eighties "Saved By the Bell" wardrobe and California atmosphere is also another amusing point of interest. 6/10.
9 out of 14 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
4/10
Pure Schlock
tgoldberg631 July 2018
When people think of trashy 80s slasher films, this is the kind of movie that comes to mind. A bunch of sorority girls have a slumber party with their boyfriends and only one will survive unslashed - but not before a good serving of boobies, some tasteful man butt (which is either clothed or exposed depending on the camera angle), and a clothes changing montage with music that seems ripe for a vaporwave remix. The script is barely even TV quality, the acting is too restrained to convey any real tension, and the villain basically has no motivation. He's just a scary guy who waves a knife around and occasionally connects it with a screaming bimbo. If you're in the mood for junk food then this is worth an impulse watch (it's only 70 minutes, after all), but if you're actually looking to be scared or thrilled, don't bother.
2 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Enjoyable 80's slasher fare
Woodyanders19 December 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Troubled young college student Beth (a solid and sympathetic performance by Angela O'Neill) has a strange feeling about the sorority house that her friends reside in. Her pals dismiss her warning about a knife-wielding killer. However, Beth proves to be right after psycho Bobby (a creepily intense portrayal by John C. Russell) escapes from a mental hospital and heads straight to the sorority house so he can embark on a murderous spree. Writer/director Carol Frank maintains a swift pace throughout, draws the characters with more depth than usual, generates a reasonable amount of tension, and delivers a satisfying smattering of tasty gratuitous female nudity as well as a sufficient helping of bloody violence. Moreover, Beth's various dreams and visions provide a sizable jot of eerie and unsettling surrealistic oomph. The actresses are quite pretty and personable: Wendy Martel as sweet psychology major Linda, Pamela Ross as perky ditz Sara, and Nicole Rio as bitchy party gal Tracy. Michael Wetherwax's spirited hum'n'shiver synthesizer score hits the shuddery spot. Marc Reshovsky's slick cinematography makes good use of a prowling hand-held camera and offers plenty of strikingly offbeat visuals. Recommended viewing for slice'n'dice fans.
4 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
A Forgotten 80s Slasher... A Gem? You Decide!
gavin69422 October 2012
A little girl's brother kills the whole family, but she escapes by hiding in the basement. He is committed, and she grows up with a new family, eventually going to college and joining a sorority. Due to memory loss, she does not remember that the sorority house was her childhood home.

Thank you, Roger Corman, for producing this cheap attempt at a slasher, cashing in on a craze at the time. You are a producing genius.

I am more than a little confused by the "trying on the wardrobe" scene. Did it help the plot? No. This seemed like an excuse to play bad music for a minute and show three girls in various stages of undress. While (for good or bad) nudity is a crucial part of the slasher, this pushed the concept of "gratuitous" to new levels.

The film was written and directed Carol Frank, assistant to the director of "Slumber Party Massacre". Clearly that film's influence on this one is obvious, if for n other reason than the title. And Frank has done little else in the world of movies... very mysterious. (For what it is worth, this film is more than good for a first time director... the potential for a career was certainly there.)

The lead actress, Angela O'Neill, is unknown to most people, but she is actually now a success in Hollywood -- in the arts and props department. She has worked on such films as "American Beauty" and "Apollo 13". If this film did nothing else for the world of cinema, it launched O'Neill's career, and has benefited us all.
4 out of 9 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
2/10
Despite being mildly entertaining, this slasher has no edge
LoneWolfAndCub11 June 2011
By 1986, the slasher craze was basically at a point where originality was out of the door, and rehashing old plots was the way to go. Four years after Slumber Party Massacre, and three after The House on Sorority Row, Sorority House Massacre is another college-girls and boyfriends being stalked by a maniacal killer with a sharp object. Carol Frank, writer/director, tries to add a semblance of authenticity to the table by introducing psychic connections, but that plot ultimately ends up being a direct Halloween rip-off so unfortunately, the story here fails.

However, we're watching an 80's slasher flick, story is not important here, we want the T&A, stalking and slashing! Alas, this is mostly missing as well. I mean, there are a couple of standard flashes skin, and splashes of blood here and there but overall the movie lacks any interesting kills or suspense.

There is plenty of fun to be had though, with a hilariously out of place montage where the girls try on a bunch of clothes, and some fantastically bad acting sure to delight lovers of bad cinema. Sorority House Massacre is very short, barely clocking in over 70 minutes, so at least Frank understands the intended audience. And really, you can tell the movie is striving to be good and looking for love, unfortunately it will be loved for the wrong reasons. It is hard to glance over the horrid dialogue, and the ease at which someone can escape a psychiatric institution.

Would I recommend this movie? Absolutely! It's short and for the most part bad enough to be very entertaining, and if you are a slasher enthusiast, you could do worse than Sorority House Massacre.

1/5
2 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Low Budget, Low Quality Horror Flick
Cyber25670200013 August 2004
Beth moves into a sorority house where a family was once killed. Soon the killer returns to continue his bloody rampage and murder a bunch of screaming sorority girls and their boyfriends.

The killer is a lot like Micheal Myers without the mask. He has a big knife, he is a heavy breather who doesn't say much, and he likes to stand in shadows a lot. He does, however, have a much faster pace. Extremely low budget, acting is nothing special, cinematography looks like something a kid could do, but with a running time of 1 hour and 15 minutes not a total waste of time for slasher fans.

* out of ****
2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
For Slasher film fans only features Style over Gore
loomis78-815-9890343 August 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Beth (O'Neill) visits her new sorority house and gets a familiar and scary vibe from it. When she was very young it was her family's house. Her older brother Bobby (Russell) murdered her entire family and was put away in a mental home leaving her as the only survivor. No, it's not Halloween time, but the maniac escapes and goes back home to kill his remaining sister and any nubile Sorority girl who gets in his way. Borrowing heavily from John Carpenter's "Halloween", delivers mostly what you expect a slasher movie with some Elm St. dream sequences for good measure. To be fair, the movie is at least competently made and first time Director Carol Frank manages some decent moments of suspense and some old fashioned stalk and slash. The movie is ripping off everything it can but manages to be entertaining in a cheap way. Relatively bloodless, this movie delivers a few nasty knifing s but no new ground is broken. Slasher fans might enjoy a cheap thrill from this one.
2 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
At 74 minutes, its... fine. Not memorable but not horrible
Quinoa19849 March 2022
I should be kinder to a movie that gets in and out so quickly, and it doesn't lack for a bit of fun sexual frolicking (not so much sex so much as a gratuitous changing clothes montage where the lead actress doesn't change, in part because the character is traumatized sure but also the actress didn't want to go nude), or an admirable PB&J smashed-together homage at one point where our lead heroine is in a classroom and thinks she sees the killer outside the window only to have a freak-out over really being asleep (so Halloween and Elm Street together are last I guess). And Angela O'Neill is fine as the lead Final Gal.

But it's all mostly generic-sauce when it comes to the kills and set up, and so many of these premises of a mad dog of a man escaping from a Mad-House to, uh, psychically track his prey, and the acting is just OK (the big hair is the stand out) and the kills when they come have a little blood but not a lot of creativity beside Stab-Stab-Stab. It does move quickly and I'm sure for an agrual sleepover if any of you silly high school people decide to throw on this at random from Shudder you may get enough Prime Cheese out of it to suffice.

It doesn't help though that the director here (one time only as it seems, Carol Frank) was a hired gun off of her AD-ing on Slumber Party Massacre, which managed to have a lot more ingenuity and a sharper sense of dark humor than this Woman Has Scary F-ed up Dreams Oh My thing here. I actually found a few of these Nightmare set pieces early on fairly creative as far as the camerawork and surreality of it all, but it gers repeated too much and without much of an explanation (I assume she knew the killer as a child, but since the child actor on hand was probably only available for like an afternoon they didn't get more than they probably needed for that thread).

This is all to say Sorority House Massacre certainly exists and is nowhere near the worst Slasher out there; it may even be a little better than it's closest antecedent, House on Sorority Row, and I'd certainly take competent over boring-mediocre. If only it did... more than it had.
2 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
3/10
Lame-o!
Tina_jeppesen11 December 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Boring characters, boring plot, lame, lame, money grab cashing in on slasher craze, so boring. Had to watch House on Sorority Row afterwards to watch something that actually took a little effort with mood, score, atmosphere, better cast, story & acting....again this one was SO lame I always knew instinctively to avoid it, as I've seen most of the good well known classic slashers & horror & some fun not as well known ones too, so I finally gave it a shot. So dumb. It's actually the SAME story as Halloween lol!! Except not done even close to John Carpenter style!! And they tried to put this "telepathic" twist on it to make it slightly *different*?! Idk...didn't work it was as generic as it gets! And not even eye candy male or female. Uncharismatic people who can't act, especially to save a crap storyline wearing horrible fashions.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
3/10
A predictable, tedious and unsatisfying slasher pic.
BA_Harrison6 October 2008
Not to be confused with the earlier and slightly better The Slumber Party Massacre, with which it shares several similarities (a house full of teenage girls, a psycho killer, a virginal heroine, the word 'Massacre' in its title), Sorority House Massacre is yet another routine 80s stalk 'n' slash thriller, with a little Nightmare on Elm Street dream nonsense thrown in to try and spice things up a little.

It doesn't work!.

When the most horrific thing in a scary movie is the awful fashion sense of its characters, then you know you've picked a real turkey; admittedly, the extra large shoulder pads, baggy checked trousers with extremely high waist, and nasty perms are all fairly amusing, but they do not make up for this film's inability to scare, its lack of gore, or the complete absence of a decent plot.

The derivative story sees Angela O'Neill as Beth, the new member of a sorority house where it is rumoured that a lunatic once murdered his entire family. This being a cheesy 80s slasher flick, those rumours eventually prove to be true—well... almost: Beth turns out to be the only survivor of the massacre, now all grown up and lacking any memory of her childhood trauma. Worse still, her brother—the killer—now seems to have a psychic connection with Beth, knows that his lil' sis is back 'home', and wants to finish the job he started 14 years ago. Escaping from his asylum with ease, he makes a quick stop at a store to pick up a hunting knife, and then hot foots it to the sorority house, where he begins to hack up the girls (and their boyfriends, who, this being a cheesy 80s slasher flick, drop by to party).

Taking an absolute age to get going, with far too much time spent on mundane chit-chat between the girls, and on Beth's dreary nightmares (caused by her psychic 'link' with her brother), this film has a real problem with its pacing. A little welcome nudity helps a tad to keep viewers from nodding off completely (although none of the girls could really be classed as total babes, they do have nice jugs), but it's left way too late before big bro' finally gets into full-on killing mode. The deaths, when they do arrive, are uninspired, consisting of one tedious, unconvincing stabbing after another, leaving one longing for something a little more creative (is it too much to ask for our killer to make an effort?).

By 1986, absolutely tons of slasher movies had already been and gone; this one added nothing new to the genre, whilst making a complete hash out of the stale elements it borrowed from its predecessors.
5 out of 12 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
Surprisingly good of its kind
duce12230 August 2004
Sorority House Massacre (1987) C-74 min. D: Carol Frank. Angela O'Neill, Wendy Martel, Pamela Ross, Nicole Rio, John C. Russell, Marcus Vaughter, Vinnie Bilancio, Joe Nassi, Mary Anne, Gillian Frank, Joseph Mansier. Surprisingly good of its kind, this slasher flick, one of many MASSACRE films of the 80s, has more character development, symbolism, and backstory than it has any business having. A college student pledging for a sorority spends the weekend in the sorority house with her future sisters, sensing that her psychotic brother is coming after her. Guess what happens next. Lines like `Hold on, where's my brain?' make this film an Oscar contender (*sarcasm alert*). For slasher fans and horny guys looking for lots of big breasts and erotic butt shots. RATING: 5 out of 10. RATED R for graphic violence, grisly images, profanity, sexuality, nudity, adult themes.
2 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Not too shabby....there are worse ones than this.
AineOHara30 September 2013
Warning: Spoilers
This is a Roger Corman film so I was expecting some awfulness to it (ie: Planet 9 from outer space). However, it was a surprisingly good slasher film.

Yes, there are a lot of Halloween (the brother/sister), Friday the 13th (couple making out outside) and Nightmare on Elm Street (dreams ) references,but it had its own take and story to tell.

It would have been better if they were twins and had a connection that way...Maybe, not. The acting was better if not the same than one would see in any other slasher film. The hospital staff was portrayed as decent and real unlike the portrayal in Friday the 13th: Final Chapter. The dining room and nightmare sequences are probably the best.
2 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
2/10
Massacred with laughter
Krip2 January 1999
Sorority House Massacre just has to be the most hysterical slasher movie of the mid to late 80's even though it was never intended to be this way! I watched this with some friends and we cried our eyes out laughing. It failed to be scary on every level, in fact the only scary thing about this movie was the girls hairstyles and the conversations about their clothes, boys and food that was supposed to carry the film along. If a guy had made this movie he would have been shot by feminists for stereotyping teenage girls. As it stands, the woman who directed this and the producers who handed over the money for such tripe should be executed for squandering!! Still, I'd watch this movie again and again, it's as good as any horror spoof even though we're not supposed to snigger when one of the girls gets butchered and her stud boyfriend runs into the house naked except for some sneakers and cheesy white socks, sprouting, in a deep jock voice with twitching eyebrows "Some guy just killed Tracy"...Classic!!!!
2 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
sit back and enjoy
Earlameyer23 February 2002
I found this to be a pretty good movie. The scene with the dolls at the kitchen tables is one of the more memorable horror scenes for me. It gets to be a bit campy, but it is a generally good movie. There is horror, laughter, and as with any good teen horror...naked women. While it is taking a lot from Halloween I still find it to be a good watch and would recommend it to anyone.
4 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Who needs a plot when you already have an appealing title?
Coventry29 January 2005
Warning: Spoilers
"Sorority House Massacre" is a teen-slasher as eighties as they come! Academy girls with humongous hairdos and bad dress codes, accompanied by dorky-looking boys trying to get into their panties! All brought together in a sorority house during a lonely Fourth of July weekend while an escaped lunatic is trying to break in to settle an old score. It nearly is the same storyline than a thousand other horror films but this particular movie is even shameless enough to borrow elements from the two most eminent slashers in cinema. The killer is hunting down his youngest sister who was the sole survivor of his initial rampage. Mute and seemly emotionless he goes straight to her…Did I hear someone saying Michael Myers?? If that isn't enough, our heroine also suffers from terrifying nightmares which makes her somewhat look like a lost cast-member of "Nightmare on Elm Street". Okay, I can't be too harsh on fun thingies like this and it's generally known that 80's horror rarely is top notch cinema. Still, I'm disappointed that the makers of this didn't pay a little more attention to the actual murders. This kind of films can only distinguish themselves from the rest by showing creative bloodshed and flamboyant butchering, but Sorority House Massacre only features tame and uninspired killings. We need more blood! Despite the promising sounding title, you shouldn't count too much on gratuitous nudity, neither, as the rancidness is limited to one unnecessary dress up party (by the way, why are all the popular and sexy coeds named Cindy?) Come to think of it…there actually isn't one good reason why you should see this film. Except maybe that I have to admit it has a good tempo and reasonably good acting by the lead girl. Even though every situation was déjà vu and every plot twist was repetitive, Sorority House Massacre certainly isn't the worst film in its kind.
3 out of 10 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
2/10
Might be one of the worst B-slashers ever made
mattymatt4ever19 February 2003
And I don't mean that in a good way. 100 % Dullsville all the way through. The film doesn't contain anything worthy of my interest. Even the chicks aren't good-looking! So when they get naked, it's like, "Who cares?" Plus, I assumed since the film is titled "Sorority House Massacre," it would be about a bunch of GIRLS being stalked by a psychotic killer, and not a bunch of girls AND THEIR BOYFRIENDS! That totally destroys all the homo-erotic undertones. There's no moments of humor. The acting is mediocre, which is worse than bad in the case of a film like this, because I can't be impressed by the acting, nor can I laugh at it. There's a nifty scene involving the girls trying to escape from the bedroom window with a ladder, and the killer is waiting on the other end. Not exactly a Hitchcock moment, but it was pretty exciting and that's the only reason I'm giving the movie a score of "2." This is definitely not the trashiest B-slasher ever made, but it's definitely one of the most boring! And in a genre like this, being trashy is not a sin. Being boring--major sin!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE AVOID THIS MOVIE AT ALL COSTS!!!!

My score: 2 (out of 10)
3 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
An error has occured. Please try again.

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed