The House on Sorority Row isn’t a great horror with no real surprises and the gore isn’t anything special, kind of falls in the middle of those slashers from the early 1980s. Performance from the lead on the other hand wasn’t bad and it is at least watchable.
The House on Sorority Row
— MVD Rewind Collection —
(1982)
Genre(s): Horror
MVD Visual| R – 91 min. – $29.95 | July 6, 2021
Date Published: 08/31/2021 | Author: The Movieman
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MVD Visual provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Come meet the girls of Theta Pi. All through college they’ve lived under the tyranny of their resident house mother. But tonight will be different. Tonight the girls of Theta Pi are celebrating their graduation in the most deadly way they know. When these inventive senior sisters decide to do in their demented house mother, it’s an easy task. But, someone has seen, someone who wants revenge. And no college class could have prepared the girls – or you – for the horrifying mayhem that greets them on that last fateful night. Quick Hit Review: With the popularity and success of Halloween and Friday the 13th, the slasher genre was in full swing throughout the 1980s, like Happy Birthday to Me, Silent Night, Deadly Night and The Slumber Party Massacre. Among those was also The House on Sorority Row, a film I’d heard of but never got around to watching. And frankly, probably for good reason. It’s not a bad film per se however save for some okay gore effects and a creepy moment or two, there’s not a whole lot that stands out. The killer for this film, thought to be the house mother these girls thought they killed, was instead a twist anyone could see coming. The acting is pretty much on par with a film of this type although Kathryn McNeil in the lead wasn’t bad, even if she’s not distinguishable from many “final girls”. And the kills weren’t terribly creative with the murderer merely utilizing a cane as their weapon. The House on Sorority Row was written and directed by Mark Rosman, a filmmaker with an intriguing, if not limited filmography. While he would direct a couple more horror and sci-fi flicks (Evolver, The Intruder), he would also go on to helm… A Cinderella Story and The Perfect Man (both starring Hilary Duff). |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 4/5 |
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This release comes with a matted slip cover and inside the inner cover is reversible. It appears all of the features from the 2014 Scorpion Releasing Blu-ray have been ported over. Audio Commentaries:
Interviews:
There is a good array of participants here however a few, namely the ones for Davidson and McNeil, is a bit cheesy set against a green screen, but there’s some okay information to be had from each one. Also included is the Original Pre-Credit Sequence (2:06), Alternate Ending Storyboards (7:11). Alternate Mono Audio Version with Re-Timed Pre-Credit Sequence (1:31:53), Theatrical Trailer (3:10) and TV Spots (4:36). |
VIDEO – 3½/5 |
| The House on Sorority Row comes to Blu-ray from MVD, presented with a 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. Having never viewed the Scorpion Releasing Blu-ray, I don’t know how this one compares but I have to wonder if this is the same or similar transfer. Whatever the case, this isn’t a great looking picture with some stabilization issues (a couple scenes I noticed some shakiness) and detail is a tad soft in some instances but the close-ups had some detail to them. There were some minor dust marks or scratches while colors at least do have a bit of vibrancy. |
AUDIO – 3¼/5 |
| The movie comes equipped with an LPCM 2.0 track, which I found to be underwhelming but serviceable enough, especially for what was a low budget film (from nearly 40 years ago no less), and which probably didn’t get very much of restoration work done. Dialogue does come across with decent clarity at least, while the rest — outside of a few of the kills — was on the quieter side of things. There was also some noticeable hissing during some scenes, particularly when there is dialogue, but otherwise it’s an okay lossless track. |
OVERALL – 3/5 |
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Overall, The House on Sorority Row isn’t a great horror with no real surprises and the gore isn’t anything special, kind of falls in the middle of those slashers from the early 1980s. Performance from the lead on the other hand wasn’t bad and it is at least watchable. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.