The Dorm That Dripped Blood

Well, that was a downer! And I mean that in the best sense. In fact, The Dorm That Dripped Blood has an ending so mean...so cruel...so nuts...that it actually elevates the entire film that came before it. Before that moment, The Dorm That Dripped Blood basically clips along as a decent enough college slash 'em up, but the ending really sends it over the top.

The film follows a group of college kids staying over the holiday break to take inventory and clean up an old deserted dorm. Soon enough, they find themselves sliced and diced by an unseen murderer. Why? Who knows. People handle the stress of college in their own unique ways.

The murders are mostly well staged and there's a handful of suspense here and there. Most of the actors are fine if nothing else. There's a fun cameo by Daphne Zuniga and a pretty cool music score by Christopher Young if that helps.

All in all, The Dorm That Dripped Blood is a decent little time waster. You could do much worse.

While I'm not a Christmas-Film Lover, usually I watch the occasional Christmas movie or five by now. Can't believe thee ONLY one I've seen was a new-to-me: THE DORM THAT DRIPPED BLOOD. If you think Die Hard borderlines as a "Christmas" movie, this one is about 9 yards removed...but still technically, Christmas time.

Standard slasher with a ton of padding, one of my Melrose Place gals' first appearance (Daphne Zuniga) and while nothing great it did have some creative kills and one HELLUVA ending. In fact, no spoilers, the finale's shocking decision was so perfect, it elevated the whole movie and earned a recommendation. Available on YouTube for free - though I think that's the edited down version. I saw one driller-killer scene more graphic somewhere else.

***

Final thoughts: Unbelievable this was called "Pranks" at one time. In only one scene were "pranks" even brought up and it had zero to do with the plot, motivation or the rest of the movie. Thank God they changed the title.

College students, who are clearing out a condemned dormitory, are stalked by an elusive killer.

The Dorm That Dripped Blood (aka Pranks) is a bit of a mixed bag for slasher fans. The movies production values are pretty low and the story for the most part is pretty routine, there's even a creepy bum hanging around for a red herring. In fact much of the story's build-up is pretty forgettable, save for one or two brutal murders. But the movie is really made better by its surprisingly intense climax (in an atmospheric setting) and one fairly bold, unconventional conclusion.

The cast is lackluster for the most part. Stephen Sachs is the best of the lot as he does a pretty nice turn in character. Also look for a young Daphne Zuniga as an ill-fated student.

Over all this is a pretty standard B slasher effort, but the finale is well worth savoring and for this viewer saved the movie from being a complete ho-hum.

** out of ****

Must give Stephen Carpenter and Jeffrey Obrow credit for having the guts to go against established slasher formulas to create something different. There's definitely an attempt to set atmosphere over numerous scenes of gore. There is attempt to develop the characters. The ending is what makes the film memorable. Maybe the motivations for the killings isn't original, but it doesn't have to be. Sometimes in life bad people win. It sucks. It's infuriating, but sometimes that's how it goes. I applaud the writers and directors for going against the grain with this one.

The Dorm That Dripped Blood has never been mentioned in many "best horror films of all time" lists and it probably never will be, but if grisly gore is your thing, there are worse ways to spend your 90 minutes. It at least has an admirable mean streak that runs throughout where you feel that no one is safe and that's a good thing to feel in a horror movie. A lot of the college kids look like they might be old enough to have children in college themselves, but that's part of the fun of these cheap horror movies, isn't it?