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Released by: Liberation Entertainment
Released on: October 12, 2010.
Director: Mark Rosman
Cast: Kate McNeil, Eileen Davidson, Janis Ward, Robin Meloy
Year: 1983
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The Movie:
Written and directed by Mark Rosman, who has since gone on to churn out a lot of comedies and TV work in addition to writing the recent remake of this very film entitled simply Sorority Row, this low budget slasher film from 1983 isn't even close to the best of its breed but it has a certain quirky, nostalgic charm that makes it marginally endearing to fans of the genre.
When the film begins, a woman loses her baby during childbirth. After this scene, we meet Mrs. Slater (Lois Kelso Hunt), a cranky old woman who runs a sorority house populated by a group of foxy and nubile young ladies who are planning to use the house for a big party against her will. They try to keep it a secret but when she walks in on them yapping about it while chugging booze in their pajamas, the secret is a secret no more. Unhappy with things going the way they are, she later disrupts one of the girls, Vicki (Eileen Davidson), in the midst of having relations with her boyfriend, at which point the girls decide to teach to old bat a lesson. They borrow a gun and decide to prank her into falling into the pool that is in the backyard and which is full of green algae.
Of course, the prank goes wrong and before the party starts they wind up killing the woman by accident. Katherine (Kate McNeil), the only one of the bunch who seems to have any morals, wants to call the cops but the other talk her out of it. While the band plays in the living room and the party starts to heat up, various party goers start getting knocked off, one by one, and Mrs. Slater's body, which was left at the bottom of the pool, is mysteriously missing.
Despite the fact that much of the violence takes place off screen, that the film is fairly bloodless, and that when there is any gore its handled fairly poorly, it's hard not to like this picture. Yes, it's almost entirely by the numbers but it's such a dopey premise played so hamfistedly seriously that you can't help but dig it.
No one in the film is particularly good as far as their performances go, but you've got to give Eileen Davidson credit for playing the bitchy bratty type with such stereotypical gusto and to Kate McNeil for looking cute and playing the nice girl as woodenly as she does here. Lois Kelso Hunt's turn as the bitchy matron type resembles sort of a demonic and uber-cunty Mrs. Garrett from The Facts Of Life, played as if she's got some sort of bizarre fetal complex. On top of that, we get some performance footage from a band called 4 Out Of 5 Doctors during the party scene, a group so horribly dated that they fit right in with the rest of the eighties era clichés that run rampant throughout the film.
A few suspenseful moments remind us that we are watching a horror film and the orchestral score composed by the prolific Charles Band and performed, amazingly enough, by the London Philharmonic Orchestra is definitely a highlight. In the end though, as fun as this movie is, it's hard to take any of it all too seriously. It's plenty nostalgic for those of us who grew up in the era in which it was made and it's a fun film, but you can't really say that it's a good one, not in the traditional sense - it's entertaining enough though and worth seeing.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, unfortunately interlaced, looks pretty decent given the film's age and budget. Restored from 35mm elements, colors look a bit flat occasionally but are more often than not pretty natural looking. Black levels are a bit murky in the opening scene in but are decent enough for the rest of the film. Some minor print damage pops up here and there but it's not distracting and there are no problems with mpeg compression artifacts or edge enhancement to note.
English audio tracks are supplied in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The 5.1 track won't blow you away but it sounds okay with the music spread out across the spectrum and a few nifty directional effects noticeable throughout the movie. Dialogue is fine, easy to follow and understand, and the levels are well balanced. An alternate French language 2.0 Stereo track is also included.
The previous DVD release from Elite contained only the original theatrical trailer (2:57, anamorphic widescreen), which appears here as well alongside a brand new commentary track from writer/director Mark Rosman who is joined by actresses Eileen Davidson and Kathryn McNeil. Rosman does most of the talking here, explaining how when he sold the movie to Film Ventures he had to colorize the opening scene that was originally shot in black and white before moving on and discussing why the opening sequence was designed to look the way that it does. Rosman also talks about how the film was originally called Seven Sisters but that the distributor changed it so that people wouldn't think that it was a movie about nuns. There are a few moments where they clam up a bit but these are few and far between and for the most part this is a relaxed, amiable but fairly interesting talk about their various experiences on the film and about how the project came to be, even if the commentators spend a bit too much time explaining what's on the screen at times.
Rounding out the extras are a still gallery, an alternate ending (0:39) that appears here as still photographs with Rosman's narration overtop of it explaining why it was shot and why it was cut, some storyboard comparisons for a few key scenes (4:37), static menus and chapter selection.
The Final Word:
While far from the greatest slasher of its era, House On Sorority Row is entertaining enough and Liberation Entertainment has done right by the title on this anniversary DVD release by presenting the film in good shape and with some decent extra features as well.