The Hazing

With all the inane, witless garbage being released to theaters, it is always a shock to find a gem like this that for some ridiculous reason went straight to video. This film has style, originality, humor, imagination and intelligence. Not to mention decent direction, editing and acting. The characters appear at first to be your average stereotypical horror grouping of who-will-die-first-and-how?, and then the film throws all that away to keep you not only guessing but thinking. What more could one ask from a movie one has to pay to see in a theater? Except that you won't find this anyplace but the local video store. Forget big screen releases with super-serious A-list stars and nonsensical, hole-ridden plot lines, just go to the video store and rent this movie. The Hazing is for those who can appreciate clever, imaginative horror like Hostel or The Evil Dead series, and it is a shame this was never brought to box office.

During a hazing on Halloween, seven college students get trapped in a Fraternity house with an unholy book that attracts the spirit of a crazy professor who threatens to possess them. Can any of them make it out alive?

"The Hazing" (2004), retitled "Dead Scared," is a low-budget slasher with an amusing edge. It borrows from the first two "Evil Dead" flicks and is just as good or better. One of the highlights is brunette Tiffany Shepis as Marsha and blonde Nectar Rose as Delia, the former in a shining bodysuit and the latter in a bunny costume.

The movie runs 1 hour, 27 minutes and was shot in Los Angeles.

GRADE: B-

This surprisingly good low-budget Rolfe Kanefsky horror film is generally predictable but still manages 87 minutes of great fun and entertainment. I don't understand any of the negative comments as "The Hazing" would serve nicely as a "good" example for film students looking to get the maximum effect out of a tiny budget while avoiding the pitfalls of similar examples of the horror genre.

Taking much of its premise from "The Evil Dead" (including some actual references to Bruce Campbell), "The Hazing" slightly amps up "Evil Deads" subtle self-parodying style. Which means a slight increase in fun/humor and a slight decrease in suspense/horror. Not that there is anything wrong with that as Kanefsky manages this trade-off to the advantage of his more relaxed film. It should also appeal to fans of "Night of the Demons" and both versions of "The House on Haunted Hill".

The story involves the standard overage group of fraternity and sorority pledges forced to spend the night in a haunted house. Fortunately the atmospheric low lighting serves to generally hide the physical casting age issue.

A hint to the many clueless directors and cinematographers out there: note how Kanefsky recognized the damage that low lighting can do to his sexploitation elements. He has the female leads dress in a tight silver super-heroine costume and a white Playboy bunny outfit, which are thankfully visible even when the characters are standing in the shadows.

Brad Dourif (Billy from "One Flew Over the Cockoo's Nest") does a convincing job as one of their professors, a nut case who seeks to open the gates of hell. Nector Rose (Delia) gives a nice performance as a not-quite-the airhead-she-seems blonde sorority chick. Tiffany Shepis (Marsha) fills out the super-heroine costume quite nicely and appears to be having a lot of fun as a character who must alternate between being normal and being possessed by the professor. The rest of the cast is serviceable in undemanding roles.

Make-up and effects are not elaborate but are quite effective. Technical elements (production design, cinematography, and editing) are all first rate.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Have always been a fan of Brad Dourif. He's used well here, even though he's not in much of the film. tiffany shepis puts in a good performance, adding to her rep as a nouveau scream queen. the director made a nice entry into the horror canon, even with the demonic mumbo-jumbo. shepis and nectar rose are well used and an fine form. The combination of space suite and bunny outfit stole every scene they were in. The cunnilingus scene was handled fairly well, too. Some of the effects were hit and miss- the cheap effects looked like cheap FX. However, the acting, shot selection, and lighting were really well done- helped elevate the film to the level of a decent horror film. A nice effort all around. This is nothing we haven't seen before- but was very well done and not a total waste of time, which says a lot. Good job to everyone involved.

I saw this not too long ago.. It's just your average typical comedy horror which mostly takes place inside the house, where weird things can happen.. With Brad Dourif playing the Mad Professor Kapps.. I'm sure mostly a lot of viewers will notice this guy is either a genius at his work, or he's totally insane! Well, hats down to the actors Nectar Rose, Tiffany Shepis and Parry Chen who kept me viewing this thing until the end..

But to sum it up.. It was worth a watch. I suppose anyone can watch this on a rainy day..

But for director Rolfe Kanefsky, he did his bit by making the film enjoyable as possible.. If he didn't, I would've stopped the film halfway and call it a day.. Nice try, Rolfe! Keep up the good work! An average 7 out of 10!