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.

Samantha Willows (Leighton Meester) is a college freshman pledging a prestigious sorority. However something supernatural is killing its members. There was a mysterious girl missing from the previous year's pledges. Meanwhile, Sam's high school boyfriend has come along to college but is jealous of her new life.

This is a low budget weak production horror. The supernatural is revealed right off the bat. The big mystery is revealed before it even asks the questions. The CG is poorly done. The only good thing here is Leighton Meester. She takes this weak material and makes a little something. However, the production is so low that there isn't even enough members in this sorority. It's just weak overall.

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.

The movie did start off promising enough but quickly fell apart with it practically telegraphing, in a number of very obvious clues, to the audience who the killer is. I ended up figuring it out about half way through the story who the killer was. Do to this I was a bit bored and kept checking on the time that's left over of the film. It is an above average movie due to the actors and the story premise. But I wouldn't watch it again even if someone asked.

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.