The House on Sorority Row *** (1982, Kate McNeil, Eileen Davidson, Janis Ward) – Classic Movie Review 12,961

Mark Rosman’s cult movie 1982 American slasher film The House on Sorority Row [House of Evil] stars Kate McNeil, Eileen Davidson and Janis Ward. Once again someone is exacting murderous revenge on the sorority sisters of a college campus.

‘When the Nightmare ends… the Terror begins.’

Director Mark Rosman’s cult movie 1982 American slasher horror film The House on Sorority Row [House of Evil] stars Kate McNeil [Kathryn McNeil], Eileen Davidson, Christopher Lawrence, Janis Ward [Janis Zido], Robin Meloy, Harley Jane Kozak, and Jodi Draigie.

Once again someone is exacting a murderous revenge on the sorority house inhabitants of a college campus, as a group of sorority sisters conceal a fatal prank against their house mother and are stalked and killed during their graduation party.

The ages-old familiar theme becomes an unexpectedly above average stalk ’n’ slash movie thanks to the stylish direction of one-time Brian De Palma assistant Mark Rosman, who packs in lots of scares and eerie tension.

Writers Mark Rosman and Bobby Fine were apparently inspired by the Italian horror films of Mario Bava and Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Diabolique (1955).

Also in the cast are Ellen Dorsher, Lois Kelso Hunt, Michael Kuhn, Michael Sergio, Ruth Walsh, and Larry Singer.

Lois Kelso Hunt is dubbed with a huskier, lower-pitched voice.

Release date: November 19, 1982. It was a nice little earner: costing $425,000 (estimated), it grossed $10,604,986 at the North America box office.

Quentin Tarantino selected it for his First Quentin Tarantino Film Fest in Austin, Texas, 1996.

The theme can be traced back as far as the 1932 classic Thirteen Women, sometimes considered the first slasher movie, in which a woman rejected from a sorority gets revenge by causing the murders of its members.

The film was shot on location in Pikesville, Maryland, in the summer of 1980, with additional photography in Los Angeles. Mark Rosman used his parents’ backyard for extra shooting.

The original 1986 UK Apex video version of the film retitled House of Evil was cut by three seconds by the BBFC. The uncut original version of the film was finally released in the UK in 2002 when the cuts were restored for the Hollywood DVD titled House on Sorority Row.

The band 4 Out of 5 Doctors appear courtesy of Nemperor Records Inc and CBS Inc.

A remake, just called Sorority Row, was released in 2009.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 12,961

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