Alpha Girls

Sort of a low budget Jon Waters sorority girl slasher based in Philadelphia. The movie seems to be self aware of it's campiness. That being a good or bad thing is up to the viewer. The girls are funny and the dude is a douche. The blonde is a bitch and the pledges kill her. Tie in some Evil Dead voodoo, a mind control battle and zombie sorority girls, it's pretty much what you'd expect from a movie like this. Lots of references to other horror films. The Ron Jeremy bit is definitely a highlight of the movie but it's an oddly serious scene. The boobies in the beginning of the film were awesome. Schoolly D the rapper is in the film but doesn't rap. Which is weird. I give it 8 Stars.

Alpha Girls is the bloody good film debut driven forth from the depths of hell by way of Johnny Zito and Tony Trov, who each played an equal part in the film's production, writing and direction. A horror film from the bloody beginning where viewers are treated to a satanic ritual from the year 1896, the time of the Sorority's dark origination. A scene any horror hound will undoubtedly appreciate, serving up a nice dose of blood and skin. The film of course is of low budget and at times even uses it to advantage, ripe with moments of camp and twisted humor.

The opening scene aside, the film begins in present day, introducing the newest Alpha pledge hottie Morgan (Falon Joslyn) as she becomes acquainted with the snooty house members and the chapter's house mother Ms. Grace (Victoria Guthrie) . Morgan soon butts heads with Veronica (Nikki Bell) the house president and is sent to join the other three young pledges in their tortuous pledge hazing. While first being at odds with one another, the pledges soon find solace in each other by plotting against their house tormentors. It's then that pledge Cassidy (Beverly Rivera) uses her gypsy background to perform a ritual between pledges where each is to receive the one thing they most want in life, but what is received does not always come without a cost. Cassidy has tapped into something much more powerful than her own manifestations, something that is deeply rooted into the cultish history of the house. All hell soon breaks loose, sisters begin to die, it seems no one is safe from the evil power awakened from within the Alpha-Beta house.

The film, despite it's novice creators and restrictive budget, manages to pull off some pretty entertaining scenes continuing throughout the runtime. It's full of beautiful women that fulfill their parts without anything cringe-worthy and that's a lot to be said for this type of film. The effects were minimal, scenes of blood mostly with little actual gore, not lacking but not overkill. They even throw in Ron Jeremy for a cameo as a confessional priest, although I was hoping for a glory hole gag that didn't happen, oh well. Overall, this film accomplishes what it intended, it was a decent B-horror flick with some good entertainment value.

I had only heard about this film playing the local art-house just the night before and wanted to check it out if for no other reason than to see what I expected to be a fun nod to the 80's in town that (finally) wasn't some formulaic slasher-kill-teenagers flick with yet another obligatory cameo by Tony Todd, Robert Englund, or Kane Hodder (much as I respect those actors). My assumption going in was that it would likely be a low budget film hiring strippers to "act" and would most likely be cheesy, but fun. What I got in return made me feel like an asshole for even thinking this.

Alpha Girls was one of the funnest lower-budget films I have seen in ages and was more finely executed than any time I've ever seen someone try to make a horror film with familiar themes. The actresses were all great, the story-telling very solid, the directing top-notch, and the editing very stylish! Even when it comes time to make a nod at the cheesiness we all love about 80's horror, there is absolutely nothing amateurish about this film, even more impressive given its budget and shooting-time limitations! What really impressed me most, I think were how well the characters came off in the film, and while perhaps no one's going for an academy award here, you definitely don't want to see the cast killed off from the beginning--there was nothing stupid about any of these characters or performances, I would say. With touches of the Craft, Night of the Demons, and Sorority House Massacre, if you're looking for something fun an entertaining to check out, this is a fine way to spend 90 minutes!

Alpha Girls is a fun throwback flick that dishes out a good time on a Saturday night. I prefer to use "cheeky" rather than "campy" to describe the horror film's undertones. It has a fun mix of 'The Craft' Meets 'Mean Girls' that really works in the movie's favor. All of the actresses put 100% into their performances and bring individual life to their characters. Zito and Trov have designed a movie that nods to everything from 'The Amityville Horror' to 'Revenge of the Nerds' and it works. When used, the special make-up effects are successful and throw a nice amount of gore onto some pretty pictures.

Definitely fun with a group of people. Don't miss this one.

I was lucky enough to catch this movie and Southwork, the band who scored the film, last night as it played in Knoxville.

A lot of other reviewers note the campiness of the movie, but I didn't see what they did. Maybe I'm missing the point, but I think of the Adam West Batman series, Rocky Horror or even Return of the Living Dead when I think "campy" and I just didn't see that here. Don't take that to mean this is a movie that has no sense of humor, it does, but it also has one hell of a mean streak. That isn't a bad thing.

Alpha Girls looks a lot bigger than a lot of movies with much larger budgets. Decent sets, costumes and some of the effects helped achieve that bigger feel. Intentional or not, the movie does have a bit of an 80's throwback feel and I'm OK with that either way. The acting is a little hit or miss, but is fine overall. Other than a "girls day out" scene that feels a little long, the movie is well paced. My biggest gripe would be some of the digital effects used feel less like a part of the scene and have a "pasted on" type of look.

Overall, I had a good time watching this and would encourage anyone that enjoys a little satanism with their sorority girls or fun horror movies in general to check this out if the tour hits your town.

Seeing what can be achieved with so little is promising for low budget films in general, but I look forward to seeing what these guys do next.