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Released by: Alternative Cinema
Released on: July 22nd, 2014.
Director: Henrique Couto
Cast: Marylee Osborne, Haley Madison, Erin R. Ryan, Joni Durian
Year: 2014
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The Movie:
A worthy follow up to The Babysitter Massacre, Henrique Couto's latest horror picture is 2014's Haunted House On Sorority Row. When it begins, a couple are heading into what they believe to be an abandoned and very likely haunted house for a quick, covert booty call. Well, it turns out the rumors were true and that a very naked, curvy ghost makes her presence known!
Cut to a few days alter and a real estate agent signs the deal for pretty dark haired Alex (Joni Durian) to take possession of the place. She warns Alex that the place is haunted, but the new homeowner sees that as a plus. She also plans to turn the place into a sorority house for her friends, the kind of girls that the regular sororities aren't interested in pledging. Before you know it, Melissa (Haley Madison), Sherrie (Erin R. Ryan) and Tiffany (Marylee Osbourne) are setting up shop with help from two dudes, an obnoxious guy in a Pantera shirt named Jim (Eric Widing) and his considerably nicer friend, Dave (Mike Hilinski).
Shortly after their arrival, however, things get odd. At first the food they've brought with them starts to taste bad - not just the spaghetti that Sherrie made, but even prepackaged stuff like chips and other snacks. From there, Jim heads to the washroom where he sees a bunch of vomit on the floor. He cleans it up but gets locked in and then sees the ghost of an ex-girlfriend of his, naked in the shower. After that, Melissa sees her grandmother and then the others start seeing strange visions tied into the respective skeletons they keep hidden away in their mental closets…
Made with little money but lots of enthusiasm and creativity, Haunted House On Sorority Row is a quirky micro-budget picture that manages to create some genuine tension and provide a few good laughs along the way. The film does not want for nudity or violence and offers up plenty of naked ladies, gore and makeup effects during its briskly paced eighty-minute run. On top of that there's some very solid camerawork on display here and good sound design work and an effective score too. Couto's not working with a whole lot of cash, but he makes up for that by playing to his strengths as a filmmaker, showing an obvious love for the genre and a gleeful comfort level with the picture's more exploitative elements.
Like pretty much every other low budget picture ever made, there are times where the picture isn't as glossy or polished as you might want and there are times where the actors slip up a bit but by and large, the film features pretty decent performances. Widing plays the dirt bag part very well (but never comes across that way in the extras) and Hilinski works as the nice guy tagalong. The girls own the film, however. Ryan has proven herself in the past and once again delivers strong work and Joni Durian as well but they and the other two ladies who make up the sorority girls all give their characters different personality traits to help keep things interesting. As the plot dives into their past, the good and the bad of those traits comes to the surface in interesting ways. It all builds to a pretty nifty conclusion and makes for a very entertaining watch.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen presentation offers good black levels and nice, lifelike color reproduction. The shot on digital video movie is nice and clean, and the disc is well authored so there aren't any serious compression issues. Some light banding and minor shimmer pops up here and there but otherwise, this looks good thanks to the obvious care that went into both the compositions and the lighting.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track, the only option, is fine. Dialogue is generally easy to understand and while there are a couple of spots where the levels jump, these are rare exceptions. Overall the movie sounds pretty good, music is used well and the sound effects come through with some solid resonance. There are no subtitles or closed captioning options provided.
Extras are plentiful on this disc, beginning with the audio commentary from Henrique Couto, actor/editor Eric Widing and cast members Joni Durian, Mike Hilinski and Erin R. Ryan. Couto keeps the conversation going at a good pace with the others chiming in when and where they feel the need. It's a detailed talk with a good sense of humor behind it as they discuss who did what behind the camera, the murder set pieces, the locations and quite a bit more.
The disc also includes an eighteen minute featurette that is made up of cast and crew interviews. Although this does cover some of the same ground as the commentary track does it's still worth watching. Couto shows up here again, as do all of the actresses and Widing, but so too do special effects guy Geoff Turner and producer Marylee Osborne. As such, the piece covers some different ground at times. Aside from that we get trailers for a few other Alternative Cinema releases, an odd short film featuring Ryan called Bed Demon, menus and chapter selection.
The Final Word:
Alternative Cinema gives Haunted House On Sorority Row a pretty solid release with good A/V quality and some fine extras. The movie itself is a kick, a slick micro-budget horror picture that provides all the staples of the genre while at the same time managing to stand out from the pack thanks to some good acting, strong production values and a twisted sense of humor.
