The House on Sorority Row (1983)

Film: The House on Sorority Row (1983)

Stars: Kathryn McNeil, Eileen Davidson, Janis Zido, Robin Maloy, Harley Kozak, Lois Kelso Hunt, Christopher Lawrence

Director: Mark Rosman

Oscar History: No nominations

Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

All October long, The Many Rantings of John is running a marathon dedicated to the Horror classics of the 1960's-00's that I'm seeing for the first time this month.  If you want to take a look at past titles from previous horror marathons (both this and other seasons) check out the links at the bottom of this article.

Elevated horror is something of a pejorative, given that every era has had good horror films, frequently great horror movies, and to claim that it was only prestigious in the past ten years or so feels like a bit of a mislead (and an insult to those that came before).  But it isn't entirely without merit when we think about horror with proper studio backing, and we can see that with The House on Sorority Row (and I mean that as a compliment).  The film, which was made in the mold of Friday the 13th and Halloween like many of the slashers of this era (where they were looking for an easy buck, and in this case they got it with a modest hit on a shoestring budget), isn't meant to be a particularly compelling film.  I doubt the director intended to make a movie that would be remembered over 40 years later, but it has been, and watching it, you understand where the film was trying to go (and how different a story like this would've been today).

(Spoilers Ahead) The movie is about a group of sorority sisters who are celebrating their graduation before they go out (nervously) into the world, and want to throw a party.  This is squashed by Mrs. Slater (Hunt), their house mother, who is very prim and enigmatic.  The girls try to throw a prank involving a fake gun wound, but in a moment that even Anton Chekhov might've described as too on the nose, Vicki (future Real Housewife Eileen Davidson), the snobby leader of the group, accidentally shoots Mrs. Slater, though we learn later she's not dead.  The girls throw her into the pool, and because this is a movie (and we need a longer plot), they still have their graduation party.  At the party, of course, it appears that Mrs. Slater has not died, and the girls start to die.  It turns out, in a late-act twist, that it's Mrs. Slater's son Eric who is actually the killer, a deformed monster who is that way because of illegal fertility treatments that Slater took to get pregnant with him.  Our final girl Katey (McNeil, personifying every final girl cliche by being scrappy, kind, AND brunette) thinks she's defeated Eric, but just before the credits roll, his eyes open from assumed death, indicating he's still going to get her.

The film breaks very little ground.  The plot is as predictable as you can muster-even the late act twists are telegraphed over the film's opening scenes, as if to say "don't forget about this when the pretty girls show up!"  And none of the acting in this is very good.  Davidson is an Emmy-winning actress in addition to her time on reality television, and she's maybe the best of the bunch, but this is not meant to be a film with fine acting.  Even the plum roles of Mrs. Slater and her sadistic doctor aren't given enough camp or villainy to feel like anything more than placeholders in the movie between the body count.

But that's where the fascinating aspects of it show up.  The movie feels like a template for future horror movies in the sense that we have specific things that would become common in future, bigger budget horror.  In a film today, Mrs. Slater would be played by someone like Octavia Spencer or Kathy Bates (the remake, made in 2009, starred the much bigger name Carrie Fisher)...definitely the role that would've gotten a random Oscar winner to add some prestige to the picture (I spent much of the movie longing for Shelley Winters to be in the role, as she'd have been perfect for it).  The sorority sisters are more distinct than you'd expect-you can practically hear the Buzzfeed quizzes asking which one you are, the characters not feeling entirely interchangeable.  And Eric & Katey both live through the film, setting up any sequel you might need with bigger gore and larger stars if that's what guaranteed box office allowed.  It's very much in the mold of the movies in the 1990's and 2000's that would come from beneath its shadow.

1920's: The Golem, The Phantom of the Opera

1930's: The Black Cat, The Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula, Dracula's Daughter, Frankenstein, Freaks, The Invisible Man, Mad Love, The Mummy, The Old Dark House, The Raven, Son of Frankenstein, Werewolf of London

1940's: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Cat People, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Dracula, The House of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man Returns, The Invisible Man's Revenge, The Invisible Woman, The Ghost of Frankenstein, Invisible Agent, The Mummy's Curse, The Mummy's Ghost, The Mummy's Hand, The Mummy's Tomb, Phantom of the Opera, She-Wolf of London, Son of Dracula, The Uninvited, The Wolf Man

1950's: Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man, Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy, Attack of the 50-Foot Woman, The Blob, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Creature Walks Among Us, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, It Came from Outer Space, Revenge of the Creature

1960's: The Devil Rides Out, The Innocents, The Masque of the Red Death, Night of the Living Dead,Village of the Damned

1970's: The Amityville Horror, Black Christmas, Carrie, Dawn of the Dead, Don't Look Now, Halloween, The Hills Have Eyes, The Omen, Phantom of the Paradise, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, When a Stranger Calls, The Wicker Man

1980's: Altered States, An American Werewolf in London, The Changeling, Child's Play, The Evil Dead, The Fly, The Fog, Friday the 13th, Gremlins, Hellraiser, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Poltergeist, Sleepaway Camp, The Thing

1990's-Present: Arachnophobia, The Blair Witch Project, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Candyman, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Paranormal Activity, Scary Movie, Scream