Michigan Technological University

Alumni Relations

Sorority Row (D)

(R for profanity, sexuality, nudity, wild partying, and plenty of graphic, bloody violence):  The opening scene sets the tone for what looks very much like a remake of the old Wes Craven flicks of the 70s & 80s, a mix of hedonistic teens & slasher revenges - a theme that, for young audiences, never dies out.

Even before opening credits,  we're introduced to a familiar scene of orgiastic sorority house partying, pushed to a new extreme:  people in various stages of undress swilling, dancing, screaming, partaking in open sex, all against an ear-shattering pop music (Lucian Piani) score.
It sets a mood that permeates, & later spiked with the horror aspect, when in a lark one of the group of five sorority sisters in a stupidly impossible situation is accidentally murdered, to be followed by the seesaw effect of a sinister avenger who brutally kills off the people involved in the murder & indulgences in lustful pleasures - usually just before each killing.

Loosely based on the 1983 horror flick, "The House on Sorority Row" and perhaps adapting bits of the screenplay "Seven Sisters," this version, written by at least three credited authors, varies little from the traditional roller-coaster horror devices, and director Stewart Hendler had little to offer to improve on it.  His direction leans toward the use of a wobbly hand-held camera & grainy desensitized color, as he  enlists  two emotions from his cast of characters:   either smug, sensual or mouth-open grimacing.  (Most of the brutalities, by the way, involve vile  mouth destruction.)

His only ace-in-the-hand is the ongoing flagrant display of nude body parts, mainly breasts, albeit in teasingly brief flashes; that alone should satisfy a certain target group.

I'm left with a question:  is this an unsuccessful tongue-in-cheek parody on the adapted horror flicks or simply an unoriginal less than average assembly of mediocre talents?  Either way, it adds up to 101-minutes of disappointing flick that grows increasingly improbable & ridiculous as it approaches its zenith, then fizzles entirely. (Grade: D)

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Houghton, MI 49931-1295

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Michigan Technological University

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Houghton, Michigan 49931-1295
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