The House On Sorority Row (Not A Boobie Movie)

Score: 7 Out Of 10.

             I was settling in and browsing through Hulu (which is quickly becoming my new favorite place to watch movies) when this very poster caught my eye. I have seen it before and always assumed it was what my wife refers to as a "boobie movie" and started watching. "The House On Sorority Row (1983)" was written and directed by Mark Rosman and stars Kate McNeil, Eileen Davidson and Janis Ward. The plot (which should sound familiar as it has been done at least a dozen times) follows a group of sorority girls who accidentally kill their head mistress and hide the body. But it is not long before the girls themselves start turning up dead. So the term "boobie movie" does not really apply, but I was pleasantly surprised to see a pretty good slasher flick. The film is pretty well acted (I was actually disappointed to see that some of these girls have not acted in anything else) and the ending is something that I genuinely did not see coming. Although admittedly the movie had some slow parts, the pacing as a whole really is not bad.

             What really got me here is the way the film was advertised. I have seen this poster/box art in a few different places before and have always glossed over it because I thought it was just another excuse to show a bunch of naked girls on screen (there is some nudity, by the way) and that it what I really think hurts this movie. Had they sold it as a serious slasher film, I think we would today be mentioning it in the same conversations as "Friday The 13th (1980)" or "Halloween (1978)." Instead, we ignore it when trying to decide what movie to watch. I should also mention that this movie had a remake released in 2009 that I saw when it first came out. Given the choice between the two, the 1983 version is far better. It is better acted and better scripted, although, the 2009 film was better marketed.

Love,

   The B-Movie Guy.
Twitter: @BMovieguy