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Sorority Slaughter (Saturn's Core) Blu-ray Review
Released by: Saturn's Core
Released on: November 26th, 2021.
Director: Gary Whitson, Sal Longo
Cast: Tina Krause, Laura Giglio, Pamela Sutch, Deana Demko, Dave Castiglione, Sal Longo
Year: 1994
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Sorority Slaughter - Movie Review:
One of the countless no-budget shot on video productions produced by New Jersey's infamous W.A.V.E. Productions in the nineties, 1994's Sorority Slaughter is entertaining both in spite of and because of its shortcomings and also serves as one of the first credits for the lovely Tina Krause, who would go on to become a bit of a scream queen in the low budget horror industry with a career that continues to this day.
The story revolves around a trio of sorority sisters (Krause, Leslie Cummins and Laura Giglio) that decide they're going to play a prank on Hugo ('Dave Castiglione'), their middle-aged weirdo/peeping tom neighbor who none of them realize is involved in some arcane, occult practices.
Of course, the prank soon goes south and Hugo winds up dead, really through no fault of hs own. Except maybe he isn't really dead... maybe he's come back from the dead and intends to kill off the three girls in service of Radu so that he can achieve eteranal life. As Hugo starts stalking about and killing people off, he sets his eyes on pretty Kim (Krause) and decides that he'll make her Radu's bride!
Shot for peanuts in and around Gary Whitson's New Jersey home, there's no hiding the fact that this movie was made for the cost of a dinner for four at Burger King, but those with an interest and/or appreciation for super low budget shot on video productions will find more than enough to satiate their viewing needs with this movie. All the SOV slasher film requirements are here - questionable acting, dated fashions, super-cheap gore, scenes shot inside participants' homes and even a little cheesecake (Krause does a shower scene here but doesn't run about in her birthday suit the way that she would in some of her later pictures). There are references to other, earlier W.A.V.E. Productions movies worked into the picture (pay attention to what some of the characters are watching on their TV sets in the movie) and a wonky score to go with it.
Not enough? You also get a really, really long scene where a car wash turns into a hose fight which turns into what is essentially a wet t-shirt contest, girls frolicking in a pool for no real reason other than the pad the running time AND a scene shot inside a 'video store' that is clearly a set but admittedly a pretty rad set and one that you'd probably want to spend a lot of time in. The pacing is erratic and all over the place and for some reason the girls feint a lot in the movie, but pay attention in one scene and you'll see what is clearly a Robocop poster on the wall of a room - bonus points for that. All in all, this might not be the most original film ever made and it's impossible to ignore its many and obvious flaws, but it's pretty entertaining stuff and frequently very amusing as well.
Sorority Slaughter - Blu-ray Review:
Sorority Slaughter comes to region free Blu-ray in an AVC encoded 1080i high definition transfer that was transferred from the original S-VHS master. Framed at 1.33.1 and taking up 18.1GBs of space on the 50GB disc, this looks very much like the micro-budget SOV production that it is, but it's more than watchable if you keep its low budget origins in mind. Detail can't surpass the source material but the disc is well authored and compression is obviously much better here than had the movie been put onto a DVD. Colors and black levels look alright, skin tones too. Again, don't expect a revelation here but those accustomed to the way that camcorder epics such as this look on optical discs will be more than happy with this way this has turned out, so long as expectations are kept in check.
The 16-bit DTS-HD 2.0 Stereo audio, available with optional English subtitles, sounds fine in both cuts. Levels are balanced well enough and there isn't much in the way of hiss or distortion to complain about. Again, the limitations of the source material do factor into the equation here, but overall, given the film's roots, the audio is decent.
Lots of extras here, starting with an audio commentary track with stars Laura Giglio and Dave Castiglione that is moderated by Ross Snyder from Saturn's Core. This covers the use of fictional credits and aliases in the movie, a lot of the themes that recur through much of W.A.V.E. Productions' output, Sal Longo's performance as Hugo and what he was like to work with, using footage from the earlier Vampire Brides and Bloody Creek in the film, who the different actresses were who popped up in the film, how W.A.V.E. expanded their catalogue by having fans script and finance their own videos catered to whatever kink or fetish may appeal to them, how Gary Whitson is still going at it today and continues to make fetish films, how they became affiliated with W.A.V.E. in the first place, how ridiculous the movies were but how much fun they were to make, Giglio's background acting and live theater, the importance of horror conventions to W.A.V.E. Productions' business model, meeting fans (one of whom Tina Krause would typically hide from!), Krause's reluctance to do as much nudity in this picture as she would do in her later films, the 'video store' featured in the movie, Aven Warren's handling of all of the effects in the movie and using a real cow's liver for one scene (which smelled terrible) and lots, lots more.
Saturn's Core has also provided two bonus movies, the first being the fifty-five minute Sorority Girl Murderer!, which is an-alternate cut of Sorority Slaughter that incorporates new footage shot in 2012. This is also presented in AVC encoded 1080i and framed at 1.33.1 with 16-bit DTS-HD 2.0 audio in English, but there are no subtitles provided. The feature takes up 9GBs of space and the presentation is comparable to the main attraction.
Not enough? The disc also contains Sorority Slaughter 2, which was directed by Gary Whitson in 1997 and which stars Tina Krause, Debbie D., Laura Giglio, Deana Demko and Dave Castiglione. This one hour and forty-seven minute epic gets 17.8GBs of space and is again presented in AVC encoded 1080i and framed at 1.33.1 with 16-bit DTS-HD 2.0 audio in English, but there are no subtitles provided. This one spends a lot of time in a homemade dungeon set with girls getting chained up and put into a stockade and it's very clearly meant to be pretty much a fetish movie. We also see girls getting paddled on the behind in someone's living room. There is a bit of a story here - Krause reprises her role as Kim and, after the events of the first movie, she comes back as zombie and in order to sustain herself must ingest the blood of three young women. Somehow she's also become the head of a sorority house, so young women are plentiful in her world. Hugo is in this one as well, helping Kim go about her business and mumbling his lines fairly incoherently. It's incoherent and it goes on way too long at almost two hours in length, but it does have a certain charming goofiness to it that fans of SOV trash should enjoy.
Also included on the disc is a vintage cable access interview featuring co-directors Gary Whitson, Sal Longo and special FX artist Aven Warren. Entitled The Video Makers, this piece runs just under fourteen minutes and it sees the three participants talk about their aliases, how they got started, some of the movies that they've worked on, how some of the people they've worked on have gone on to do further work in the industry, sets and locations, shooting on S-VHS and some the specifics of the films that they'd made up to this point. We also get to see a clip reel that features footage from Psycho Dance!, Sleepover Massacre, Dead North, Hung Jury and The Perils Of Penelope. Watch it all the way through for an ad for Leonardo's, your place to go for the best fresh seafood and Salem Community College!
Rounding out the extras is a six minute deleted scene (it's a lengthy nudity-laden bedroom scene) featuring a quick vintage introduction by a lingerie-clad Tina Krause, trailers for Mail Order Murder: The Story Of W.A.V.E. Productions, Psycho Sisters and Duck! The Carbine High Massacre as well as menus and chapter selection options. Saturn's Core also offers up some keen reversible cover sleeve art for this release.
Sorority Slaughter - The Final Word:
The Saturn's Core Blu-ray Sorority Slaughter is pretty packed, offering up the feature, its sequel and an alternate version as well as a really strong commentary and an interesting interview as well. Obviously not a film for all tastes, it is a great package for the shot-on-video trash film connoisseur and if you find yourself in that demographic, consider this one a no-brainer.
Click on the images below for full sized The Sorority Slaughter Blu-ray screen caps!
