The Haunting of Sorority Row

Wow I think 4 is way harsh for this film. Yes, it is a made for TV film so it is going to have certain flaws that a big budgeted movie wouldn't have, but I have to say that this film really surprised me. I was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. The storyline was original; I have never seen a story like this in another film and in my opinion, the plot deserves a 9 out of 10. However, I need to deduct a point for some of the actors, deduct a point for production, half a point for pace and half a point for the quickie climax at the end. So my overall mark is seven, but if they had changed the ending slightly, made the duration of the film more intense, had more money to cast better actors and incorporate better effects, then this would have been a nine, maybe ten.

When I stumbled upon this 2007 horror mystery titled "The Haunting of Sorority Row", of course I opted to sit down and watch it, as I never had heard about it. And given my fascination and love of the horror genre, of course I needed no persuasion to sit down and watch the movie.

Now, I had no idea what I was in for, as I had never heard about the movie. So I only knew whatever little I could discern from the movie's synopsis, and the fact that it was a horror mystery of sorts.

The script in the movie was straightforward, but at the same time also very simplistic, almost to the point where it was dumb. Writers Jed Seidel and Michael Vickerman didn't exactly concoct a particularly terrifying or innovating haunted mystery narrative here. It made for semi-adequate entertainment, sure, but you're not in for anything thrilling, new or particularly scary.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, but I will say that the actresses and actors actually put on good enough performances, despite of the limitations imposed upon them by an inferior script and storyline.

Visually then "The Haunting of Sorority Row" certainly looked and felt like a TV movie, for better or worse.

All in all, not a particularly outstanding or memorable horror mystery. It came and went without leaving any lasting impression. And I will not return to watch the movie a second time, simply as there isn't enough contents to the narrative.

My rating of director Bert Kish's 2007 horror mystery "The Haunting of Sorority Row" lands on a generous four out of ten stars.

Leighton and her director prove that you do not need tons of blood and gore to come up with a good scare. I won't give away any details on the plot, but I am a great fan of the genuine thriller genre, and this movie struck just the right tone with surprises, characters that you care about, and a few great effects. I think this would be appropriate for tweens and teens and they will enjoy it---finally a new scary movie that doesn't use chain saws. The plot and characters keep you guessing and move this story, and it is actually shot very beautifully. The acting is solid, especially Leighton is excellent, and nothing about this is overdone. Fun to watch! I will definitely keep this on my Halloween rotation.

This is another of those teen-age sorority flicks where the girls are so stupid you wonder how they ever got to college in the first place. It starts out looking as though it might be a good thriller, but the events involving the revenge of a dead spirit are so mindlessly foolish that you wonder how the script managed to find someone willing to produce it.

The acting is better than the story deserves but that's no compensation for a Halloween type of thriller that lacks common sense in the telling. Production is well mounted with slick camera work and an appropriately tingling background score, but the story seems padded to fit a two-hour TV schedule and it becomes a by-the-numbers sort of thing where you just have to wait patiently for something to happen. They do happen on cue and that's the whole trouble with the silly story. Nothing seems real and none of the explanations ring true.

My advice: skip it.

I feel that the current rating of 4.x is not really indicative of how good this film is. Sure, it is not a masterpiece or anything and the CG is cringe-worthy in places, but overall it is an entertaining addition to the College Horror Sub-Genre. Especially for a Telefilm.

It is competently done and well presented, but it's not gonna win any Oscars (I don't think it did : ) Not terribly original but well put together; so, I give it a 7 to balance out the somewhat low 4.x that it now has. It probably falls around a 6 or so. If you are not expecting too much more than the genre normally delivers, than you should have a reasonable amount of fun watching it.