Sorority House Massacre Review (1986)

 My History With the Film:
Sorority House Massacre is one of those films that has a memorable poster so it’s always stood out to me. For years, I’ve had it on my Amazon Watchlist and I finally decided to give it a shot and see what it was all about.

What The Film Is About (Non-Spoiler):
College student Beth and her sorority sisters are stalked by an escaped psychopathic killer who shares a strange telepathic link with her.

What I Liked About It:
-The opening scene felt like a foreign or art film. The dream sequence was nothing something you’d normally find in a slasher film. I loved that about the movie and it really set the pace for things to come.

 

-While no performance truly stands out above the others, all of the performances by the females are pretty good. They are goofy, fun, believable and what you’d expect in an 80’s slasher.

 -I questioned whether to include this in the What I Liked or What I Didn’t Like categories, but there is a montage of the girls changing clothes that features cheesy 80’s music, weird edits, flying clothes, and nudity. To be honest, it doesn’t really fit the feel of this film, but its so fun and over the top I couldn’t help but enjoy it. So, I’m gonna settle and say I Liked It.

 

-I’m not a fan of telekinesis in pretty much any film, let alone a horror film, but the writer did a great job laying some ground work and not going too crazy with the idea. It works, and it works way better than it should in a film like this.

-Our killer reminds me of the one in Slumber Party Massacre. We see his face, but he doesn’t talk and he’s intimidating. He makes for a forgetful but effective killer.

What I Didn’t Like About It:
-Marcus Vaughter (Andy) put on one of the most annoying performances in horror history. He was part geek/part prankster and I couldn’t wait for him to die. Luckily he doesn’t spend much time in the film, but he definitely brings a level of annoyingness to every scene that he takes part in and should have dialed it down a few notches.

Additional Notes:
-The actress on the poster (Suzee Slater) does not actually appear in the film.

-Was shot in just seventeen days.

-Writer/Director Carol Frank was the assistant director on The Slumber Party Massacre prior to writing and directing this film.

Rating:
Sorority House Massacre shares some plot beats with Slumber Party Massacre which I watched as a double header. Both films find a group of girls alone in a house with boys playing pranks in the dark and a real killer lurking in the shadows. Sorority House Massacre is a better film overall, since it really makes a solid attempt at being a good film. There is some interesting choices of visuals, it doesn’t intentionally give into the cheese often, and the killer is slowly built up. I was impressed by how intentional the pacing seemed to be and how much I enjoyed this film.

I’d rate Sorority House Massacre a solid three out of five and say it’s a rental for 80’s slasher fans.