The House on Sorority Row

The House on Sorority Row is formulaic, but I'm sure it only feels that way because so many slashers have taken its template and mined it for their own use. We follow the good girl, the girl who is sure to be our final girl, and we're introduced to the other characters who all reveal flaws that will surely lead to their deaths at the hands of our killer.

In this movie, the first act introduces a motive for our killer, and we spend the rest of the movie trying to guess who it might be, while also wondering when and where our next victim will be offed. Some kills are better than others, but that can be said for all slashers.

Unlike the best the genre has to offer, the movie never makes you truly care for any of the victims, they all played a part in a crime early in the movie, and that hinders the movie's ability to get you invested in their fates, but it's still a fun time. I enjoyed the scenes at the party, particularly one scene where the camera in one smooth shot follows each of our sorority sisters as they try to act naturally as they keep a terrible secret.

For any slasher fan this is a can't miss. For anyone looking for something more, you can probably do better elsewhere.

You have to respect The House on Sorority Row. It's trying that whole "when you go low, we go high" thing, but it'd be so much more fun if it just let its hair down and kicked someone into the mud every now and then. It's way better shot and acted than just about any other slasher movie from this time and it's not like it's super chaste and gore-free, but you just get the feeling that it's a little too scared to really dip into the sleaze pond.

Back in junior high , we love sneaking in to R movies especially slasher films. I remember this one because my older sister and her friends were hooked on the Young and the Restless, me and my annoying little friends couldn't give a sht about the drama, but being 12 & 13yrs olds we sure did love the women in that show, particularly "ASHLEY" in YR. Well to make a long story short, we(my friends & I) heard Ashley from the YR (Eileen Davidson) was starring in this movie and get this y'all was naked that's right Naked in a love scene. No big deal right, WRONG to 5 boys going thru this stage in life was about as good as it gets!! Since then I've become a horror/slasher movie junkie and I've seen them all and this movie was pretty good, there have been many since that have stole the plot, better production but this one can stand on its own and is a lost gem, besides it didn't disappoint us (5 young boys) to witness what at the time was one of the "finest" LOL girls in the world in her birthday suit. Now that I'm older and feel even older I've seen this movie many times and even added it to my collection, but this movie still takes me to a special place in my life and though it's not a well known slasher film it's one I remember fondly and takes me back to the good ole days.

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 really wrong here.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Brief Nudity and violence-against-animals.

Great little slasher flick! The soundtrack stands out. Very memorable. The characters and actresses are much better than many other 80s horror movies. Good amount of suspense.

The main drawback is the ending. It's abrupt and less satisfying than everything that came before. It feels like they just ran out of money and threw together something quickly. I wanted something more from the ending.