Sorority House Massacre

Plot synopsis:
As a little girl, Beth's (Angela O'Neill) brother, Bobby (John C. Russell) kills her whole family and attempts to kill her. When he is caught, he is committed, and she grows up with a new family. Years later, Beth goes to college, where she joins a sorority. Due to a memory block, she doesn't remember that the sorority house was her childhood house, however her memory soon starts to return. Meanwhile, Bobby senses her presence in the house and escapes the mental asylum so he can finish the job he was unable to complete. He steals a hunting knife in a hardware shop killing the elderly owner.
As Beth settles into the sorority, many of the girls leave for the weekend, leaving only her, Linda (Wendy Martel), Sara (Pamela Ross) and Tracy (Nicole Rio) in the house. As the girls enjoy having the house to themselves, Craig (Joe Nassi), Andy (Marcus Vaughter) and John (Vinnie Bilancio) come over. John tells the story of Beth's family murders, scaring her. She goes to bed and has a nightmare about her brother, becoming more scared. She remembers her brother hiding a knife in the fireplace, and when the group investigate, they find the knife. Realizing the time, Andy leaves in a rush, only to be confronted by Bobby and stabbed to death. Linda hypnotizes Beth, who recalls Bobby attacking her. Afterwards, Tracy and Craig go outside to the tipi they set up earlier, while Linda and Sara go to bed. Bobby attacks Tracy and Craig, shredding the tipi with his knife. As they try to escape, Tracy is stabbed to death. Craig runs into the house and alerts Linda and Sara who try to phone the police but find the lines have been cut. They attempt to warn Beth and John, but both have fallen asleep. As Bobby approaches them, Beth wakes and runs upstairs to the others, but John is murdered.
The survivors barricade themselves inside a room, before Craig escapes out the window down a safety ladder. While he holds it steady for Linda to climb down, Bobby stabs Craig to death before climbing up the ladder for Linda. Linda manages to make it back through the window and the others remove the ladder, making Bobby fall. Thinking he is dead, the girls try to escape the house but upon discovering he is still alive barricade themselves back into the room. However, Bobby comes in through the window and they flee outside. They once more encounter Bobby, who manages to repeatedly stab Sara. Meanwhile, Bobby's search party realize he will have gone to his old house and send the police there.
Beth and Linda run down into the basement where Beth finally realizes what happened to her when she was younger. When Bobby once more attacks them, the girls run upstairs. Bobby corners Beth but Linda manages to hit him with a shovel. Thinking he is dead, they begin to leave the house, but Bobby stabs Linda before attacking Beth who over powers him and stabs him in the neck, killing him. The police arrive. Beth is taken to the hospital where she continues to have nightmares about her brother.

Tags: cult, psychological, murder, flashback

Review:
The build up to the climax is a little slow, but once the action kicks in there are surprisingly a few tense moments, such as when the killer tries to climb in through the window.Overall, Sorority House Massacre is just an average slasher flick.
And in some ways, it was pretty campy (watch for the dress-up session!) but once the horror gets started, it gets pretty good.Beth, a girl plagued by obscure but genuinely creepy nightmares, moves into her new sorority, just when most of the girls leave for Memorial Weekend.
The house seems strangely familiar to Beth, and a series of dreams and bizarre visions link her to a madman who is dead set on nabbing her in the house.In some ways a "Halloween" ripoff of the highest order, "Sorority House Massacre" takes the blueprint of Carpenter's classic and bases itself on the precise premise without an ounce of shame.
While some people have ripped this film for its shameless imitation, genre fans are more likely to appreciate the funky weirdness the film has to offer.There are tinges of a psychic thriller set inside the slasher framework here that are handled surprisingly decently; lots of talk of ghosts, dreams and psychology, and brainwave connections make for some inventive plot fixings.
(**1/2 out of *****)This is the only movie in the slasher-slashes-girls-in-their-nighties series -- which includes the "Slumber Party Massacre" movies and Jim Wynorski's "Hard to Die" (he also directed the sequel to this one) -- that stands on its own.
Angela O'Neill plays a traumatized college girl who has sleeping and waking nightmares about a madman who murdered his family, except for one sister (guess who it is), twelve years ago in the house that is now O'Neill's sorority house.
I'm not gonna lie to you -- this is far from great -- but, it is surprisingly suspenseful in parts, the characters are fairly likable, and, unlike most of these other movies, the script does a believably good job of keeping the girls trapped in the house.
Otherwise, the T&A is not as rampant as in the other nightie slashers, but the story is (slightly) more rewarding.HIGHLIGHT:  One sorority chic and her boyfriend are fooling around in a tent in the backyard when the killer ruins all their fun by slashing up the tent and stabbing the girl right between the -- well, not the eyes -- and her boyfriend ditches her and runs, screaming and buck-naked, back into the house..
I really liked the four main sorority girls, so much that it hurt when they got killed, the boyfriends I really didn't care for, anyway, this has a little blood, boobs, lots of screaming and running around, and even a little graphic violence.
When people think of trashy 80s slasher films, this is the kind of movie that comes to mind.
about 10 years ago i couldn't sleep at night an this movie came on like at 3am an i loved it an for years I couldn't remember the name of it an recently I finally figured it out an so i went an bought it for 10 bucks it's not as good as I thought it was thenbut I still like it only complaint is it's too much like slumber party massacre 2 but this one is better an makes more sense.
Due to memory loss, she does not remember that the sorority house was her childhood home.Thank you, Roger Corman, for producing this cheap attempt at a slasher, cashing in on a craze at the time.
While (for good or bad) nudity is a crucial part of the slasher, this pushed the concept of "gratuitous" to new levels.The film was written and directed Carol Frank, assistant to the director of "Slumber Party Massacre".
Surprisingly good of its kind, this slasher flick, one of many MASSACRE films of the 80s, has more character development, symbolism, and backstory than it has any business having.
Once he escapes he goes to a sorority house where he seems to have a certain connection to a college girl named Beth (Angela O'Neill).In the end this movie is better than it should have really been.
I also think by doing this it may have extended the running time a little as it comes in at only 74 minutes.Anyways, on a side note they end up watching SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE, which I do recommend watching and writer/director Carol Frank worked as assistant to the director in that film.
So when they get naked, it's like, "Who cares?"  Plus, I assumed since the film is titled "Sorority House Massacre," it would be about a bunch of GIRLS being stalked by a psychotic killer, and not a bunch of girls AND THEIR BOYFRIENDS!
Sorority House Massacre just has to be the most hysterical slasher movie of the mid to late 80's even though it was never intended to be this way!
Still, I'd watch this movie again and again, it's as good as any horror spoof even though we're not supposed to snigger when one of the girls gets butchered and her stud boyfriend runs into the house naked except for some sneakers and cheesy white socks, sprouting, in a deep jock voice with twitching eyebrows "Some guy just killed Tracy"...Classic!!!!.
The more I watch movies that are associated with Roger Corman the more I like them he's the king of B list short cheap low budget films that entertain.
This title "Sorority House Massacre" is a tale of a young girl Beth who has visions of the past and when in sunny southern Los Angeles when away at college with her girlfriends she starts to feel strange with this particular house as it has a haunted past.
"Sorority House Massacre" does have some things going for it, although in the end it doesn't stand out from other slasher offerings during this time.
The nightmare sequences are reasonably well realized, and the girls in the story are not quite your typical slasher movie airheads.
Still, when we watch something like this we come to expect a degree of crudeness and cheesiness, and this movie does succeed in that regard; it's even got a requisite dopey 80s style montage.Troubled girl Beth (Angela O'Neill) comes to visit her friends at a sorority house, while being plagued by visions of a stone faced psychotic creep, Bobby (John C.
The music by Michael Wetherwax is quite good and there are some efficient "prowling camera" sequences.If one simply can't get enough of this sort of thing, they could do worse than "Sorority House Massacre".Six out of 10..
Carol Frank, writer/director, tries to add a semblance of authenticity to the table by introducing psychic connections, but that plot ultimately ends up being a direct Halloween rip-off so unfortunately, the story here fails.However, we're watching an 80's slasher flick, story is not important here, we want the T&A, stalking and slashing!
I mean, there are a couple of standard flashes skin, and splashes of blood here and there but overall the movie lacks any interesting kills or suspense.There is plenty of fun to be had though, with a hilariously out of place montage where the girls try on a bunch of clothes, and some fantastically bad acting sure to delight lovers of bad cinema.
It's short and for the most part bad enough to be very entertaining, and if you are a slasher enthusiast, you could do worse than Sorority House Massacre.1/5.
The plot of "Sorority House Massacre" is routine:some girls are having a party,some of their boyfriends crash it,most of them get killed by an escaped killer who can't be bothered with any sort of costume.Carol Frank's sorority slasher rips-off "Halloween","Slumber Party Massacre" and "Nightmare on Elm Street" as the main character is having nightmares about the knife-wielding murderer,who is actually her brother come back to stalk and slash after escaping from a mental hospital.The killings are mostly bloodless but still vicious stabbings.The characters are likable and there are some effective suspense set-pieces.If you are in the mood for some silly 80's slasher you can't go wrong with "Sorority House Massacre".7 knives out of 10..
Extremely low budget, acting is nothing special, cinematography looks like something a kid could do, but with a running time of 1 hour and 15 minutes not a total waste of time for slasher fans.* out of ****.
For a slice n' dice flick set in a sorority, we get very little naked co-ed, pretty tame FX, and for being made in 87, we get clothes from 84-85, no attempt to lighten it up with a few laughs, the false thrills of the obvious boyfriends coming over to see the girls, etc are laughably predictable, and as another astute reader noted, they watch TV when the power is out?
Well what I can say about "Sorority House Massacre" well one thing I Can say is that there isn't a single original thought or idea put into This movie whatsoever, for a start it blatantly rips off the story lines From far superior slasher gems such as (Halloween and Slumber Party Massacre), which isn't a bad thing if it's done right and well in this Movie's case it's not.We even get the main heroine having the old routine nightmare visions Of the killer, another tired and tested formula, this could have Worked if it wasn't for the lack lustre performances and mediocre death Scenes, where I think the director was trying to go for mood and Tension rather than gore, with the victims being stabbed in the back or The stomach, but just doesn't succeed and all of which pad out the Running time in this muddled mess, this movie just tries too hard at Copying Halloween and just doesn't succeed definitely suffers from some Pedestrian direction and a full screen transfer that gives it a real 'Made for TV' look.
The films quest to be taken seriously isn't helped Either by some dodgy acting and an unconvincing killer.All in all a complete rip off from other movies and it's obvious why The slasher boom started to die down by the late eighties and this Doesn't help at all..
In what is deemed as somewhat of Halloween rip-off, Sorority House Massacre is Carol Frank's first project as director, and her last to boot.
Frank must've been impressed by the film's output because here we have another Slasher that features sorority girls frantically trying to escape a knife-wielding killer in their night gowns.Beth, after the death of her aunt, moves in with her sorority girlfriends.
The reason that Sorority House Massacre is compared to Halloween is mainly because of the story – we have a young woman who has an odd connection to the male killer – a killer who's been locked away in a facility for 15 years.
It's worth noting that this film spawned two sequels – Sorority House Massacre 2 and Hard to Die, both released in 1990.
"Sorority House Massacre" is one of those movies with constraints in budget or talent or both that prohibit you from making any investment of time or consideration in anything that happens on screen.It's like watching a movie playing in the house next door and you're trying to peer through the window to get a good look at the screen.
This movie completely fails at establishing anything like that.According to the IMDb plot description, what sets off the protagonist of "Sorority House Massacre" remembering her evil brother, and what makes him come back to take revenge (or whatever you call what he is doing), is the fact that the titular "sorority house" is the same house that they grew up in, where he first went on a killing spree.
You can get this movie relatively inexpensively, but you'd be better off watching any number of better constructed slashers.Read more at bandsaboutmovies.com/2017/07/08/sorority-house-massacre-1986.
Sorority House Massacre (1986) * 1/2 (out of 4) Really bad slasher has a new girl moving into a sorority house when she starts to have nightmares about some unknown man killing a family.
Soon this unknown man escapes from a mental hospital and sure enough he heads to the sorority house where he starts killing the girls and boys there.
SORORITY HOUSE MASSACRE features just about everything you'd want from a slasher but even its clichés are clichés.
I don't know a single thing about writer-director Carol Frank except that this is the only time she worked under these titles and it really does seem as if she didn't know anything about making a movie so she just watched other horror films and tried to copy them.
Not to be confused with the earlier and slightly better The Slumber Party Massacre, with which it shares several similarities (a house full of teenage girls, a psycho killer, a virginal heroine, the word 'Massacre' in its title), Sorority House Massacre is yet another routine 80s stalk 'n' slash thriller, with a little Nightmare on Elm Street dream nonsense thrown in to try and spice things up a little.It doesn't work!.When the most horrific thing in a scary movie is the awful fashion sense of its characters, then you know you've picked a real turkey; admittedly, the extra large shoulder pads, baggy checked trousers with extremely high waist, and nasty perms are all fairly amusing, but they do not make up for this film's inability to scare, its lack of gore, or the complete absence of a decent plot.The derivative story sees Angela O'Neill as Beth, the new member of a sorority house where it is rumoured that a lunatic once murdered his entire family.
Escaping from his asylum with ease, he makes a quick stop at a store to pick up a hunting knife, and then hot foots it to the sorority house, where he begins to hack up the girls (and their boyfriends, who, this being a cheesy 80s slasher flick, drop by to party).Taking an absolute age to get going, with far too much time spent on mundane chit-chat between the girls, and on Beth's dreary nightmares (caused by her psychic 'link' with her brother), this film has a real problem with its pacing.
The deaths, when they do arrive, are uninspired, consisting of one tedious, unconvincing stabbing after another, leaving one longing for something a little more creative (is it too much to ask for our killer to make an effort?).By 1986, absolutely tons of slasher movies had already been and gone; this one added nothing new to the genre, whilst making a complete hash out of the stale elements it borrowed from its predecessors..
However, most often these budget titles are no so much horror as farce, not so much scary as spoof.Sorority House Massacre is a budget film for sure, but refreshingly has some elements of horror and suspense.
What does happen over time is that Beth will find that the images that occur in her mind and dreams(not just that one recurring nightmare, but various images of Bobby trying at her with a long curving knife)are repressed memories from her childhood resurfacing because they are awakened as she comes to the sorority which was once that very home Bobby killed in.
Slasher films from the eighties are my favorite, they just don't make them like this one anymore.Four sexy sorority girls and their dumb boyfriends (really dumb) are stalked by one of the girls' crazy brother.
The first time you watch this is a lot of fun to guess who will be the next one to die, fortunately, the dumb boyfriends are the first to get killed, leaving us with three of the terrified girls (in little clothing, bra-less) trying to get away from the killer..
If you love campy corny cheesy slashers from the 80's, you'll definitely love SORORITY HOUSE MASSACRE!!!.
The new girl in the local sorority house is having nightmares of a killer.
"Sorority House Massacre" is a teen-slasher as eighties as they come!
Even though every situation was déjà vu and every plot twist was repetitive, Sorority House Massacre certainly isn't the worst film in its kind..
No, it's not Halloween time, but the maniac escapes and goes back home to kill his remaining sister and any nubile Sorority girl who gets in his way.
Borrowing heavily from John Carpenter's "Halloween", delivers mostly what you expect a slasher movie with some Elm St. dream sequences for good measure.
Her psychotic brother escapes from the asylum where he has been committed, then descends on her new home and starts hacking his way through her house mates.This slasher film is almost completely devoid of interest.
"Sorority House Massacre" is a really troubled slasher with a few good areas.**SPOILERS**Visiting some friends, Beth, (Angela O'Neill) finds that Linda, (Wendy Martel) Sara, (Pamela Ross) and Tracy, (Nicole Rio) are moving into a sorority.
Of course you can, it's hardly rocket science is it?Written & directed by Carol Frank Sorority House Massacre is one of the lamest, poorest & rubbish 80's slashers money can buy & only really succeeds in confirming that a woman can make a horror film every bit as bad as a bloke.
On a personal level there is nothing that I enjoyed about Sorority House Massacre, it's full of clichés, annoying teenage character's, lame death scenes, bad dialogue, situations & happenings that make no sense plus it's extremely slow & boring.
There are so many things that I didn't like about this film I could go on all day long but I think you get the idea, I don't like Sorority House Massacre at all.
Total crap & I just about hated every lame boring minute of it, there are loads more much better slasher films out there for anyone to be bothering with such a crap film such as Sorority House Massacre.
The best thing about the movie is the title, although sadly there isn't a "massacre" of any sort really.Sure enough, the film opens with lots of p.o.v. camera-work and tinkly music.