I love slasher movies, I love horror movies, I love remakes and I love sequels no matter how campy and silly they are. So for film makers to essentially screw up the stereotypical slasher flick for me would be near impossible but they did it with Sorority Row, a remake that takes campy and stupid to the level of actually being campy and stupid and not the kind that is fun to watch...which does exist. Even seen Sleepaway Camp? Evil Dead? Nightmare on Elm Street 3+...I could go on. The movie starts with a good solid lead in, some gore and a twisted prank but then everything falls apart. Essentially the film takes hints from Scream, and I Know What You Did Last Summer...90's classics that changed the face of slasher flicks. But when a horror movie relies on gore, guts, nudity and a kick butt killer you really have to make sure you have those pieces in place. Something I believe kept Nightmare On Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and Halloween series going was the killings were always outrageous and over the top and creative and not one death, except maybe for the original prank, are creative in any way. They aren't even funny or campy.
No one in the cast stands out so this is one of those movies where the cast can be lumped together in one great big pile. There isn't a "scream queen" and no strong hero or heroine to the film and that is a problem. The five sorority sisters did a crappy thing and now they are being picked off so you don't really want them to survive and you can't root for the psycho ghost killer so you're left watching evil taking vengeance on shallow, stupid kids. There needs to be one strong lead actor. The one shining point in the cast was having the amazing Carrie Fisher in a cameo as their house mother. That part of it was fun and seeing the royal Miss Fisher in the role was worthwhile. I understand she took the role as a favor to a family member? Not much wonder there.
The film can be described in one word...vapid. Now some would say that every slasher/horror film is vapid but that isn't true. A good horror film can have plenty of depth and story and characters and despite the beginning Sorority Row has none of this. I think director Stewart Hendler is trying to set himself up in the horror genre but this doesn't help him any but it's mostly likely the script at fault in this case. How do you take the writer from Honey I Shrunk The Kids (The TV Series) and have him pen a college slasher flick? It just doesn't work. Some people are diverse but he needs practice. It's not the worst film I've ever seen...probably not the worst horror film I've ever seen but it's a steer clear unless you're a gluten for punishment. 5/10
No one in the cast stands out so this is one of those movies where the cast can be lumped together in one great big pile. There isn't a "scream queen" and no strong hero or heroine to the film and that is a problem. The five sorority sisters did a crappy thing and now they are being picked off so you don't really want them to survive and you can't root for the psycho ghost killer so you're left watching evil taking vengeance on shallow, stupid kids. There needs to be one strong lead actor. The one shining point in the cast was having the amazing Carrie Fisher in a cameo as their house mother. That part of it was fun and seeing the royal Miss Fisher in the role was worthwhile. I understand she took the role as a favor to a family member? Not much wonder there.
The film can be described in one word...vapid. Now some would say that every slasher/horror film is vapid but that isn't true. A good horror film can have plenty of depth and story and characters and despite the beginning Sorority Row has none of this. I think director Stewart Hendler is trying to set himself up in the horror genre but this doesn't help him any but it's mostly likely the script at fault in this case. How do you take the writer from Honey I Shrunk The Kids (The TV Series) and have him pen a college slasher flick? It just doesn't work. Some people are diverse but he needs practice. It's not the worst film I've ever seen...probably not the worst horror film I've ever seen but it's a steer clear unless you're a gluten for punishment. 5/10