This is the last movie I’ll be watching in the year 2014. I don’t know how I feel about that. This title was originally produced as American Horror House in 2012, changed to Paranormal Initiation in 2013, and changed again to Sorority Horror House in 2014 once it gained a distribution deal through MTI Home Video. “Eh, who doesn’t like sorority girls themed horror films? I’ll give a shot,” was exactly my thoughts as I added this title to my Christmas list. Here are my thoughts on it.
Sorority Horror House is written by Anthony C. Ferrante and directed by Darin Scott. Cast members include Alessandra Torresani (“Caprica”), Jackie Tuttle (Pitch Perfect), Dave Randolph-Mayhem Davis (Ghost Shark), Carol Jean Wells (Ghoul), Salina Duplessis (My Name is Karma), Cameron Deane Stewart (Bad Kids Go to Hell), Isabel Cueva (“Hollywood Angels”), Ashton Leigh (Swamp Shark), and Morgan Fairchild (Flamingo Road).
Sorority Horror House started out promising enough. Viewers meet a character at the very beginning who is the assumed survivor girl of the movie, but she is killed off right away with a particularly gory death scene involving strings from musical instruments. The next few scenes showcase the pledges of the sorority walking around in their underwear and give little glimpses into their character development. About twenty minutes into the movie I wasn’t thinking this was a fantastic movie, but I was interested and still giving it a shot. After the half hour mark in the movie, it lost me and I struggled to keep my eyes on the screen. I think it was the near laughable special effects (digital, CGI) that did me in. They were bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. The tongue effect was the worst, though. A lot of the characters became too bitchy and lost their original appeal, so that lost my support too.
I think my biggest problem with the movie, especially at the end, is that they tried to do way to much at once. The basic premise of the movie was great, a cool ghost story set in the middle of rush week in Greek life. Screenwriter Anthony C. Ferrante has a knack for writing fun, college-aged horror films that aren’t knock offs, and in this case I think less would have been more. The idea that a den mother is killing the sorority girls and their pledges and controlling them like dolls in the afterlife was a great premise. If it stayed with that basic, underlying plot I could probably rate this movie much higher. Things got confusing at the end, though, with a weird magic spell book, a barrier outside no one could cross, and a whole bunch of other stuff that was just…yeah, confusing.
Sorority Horror House’s most strategic move was booking Morgan Fairchild in a lead role. She may not be the biggest A-list celebrity of all time, but she is one of the most beautiful and has accomplished more than many have or ever will. She is an Emmy Nominee, Golden Globe Nominee, and Soap Opera Digest Nominee with some of her roles including “Mork and Mindy,” “Flamingo Road,” “Friends,” and “Chuck.” She’s even done three horror films aside from this one: The Haunting of Sarah Hardy (1989), Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge (1989), and remake The Initiation of Sarah (2006). With all that said, however, I don’t feel as if she was challenged at all with Sorority Horror House. I know she was supposed to be an evil, witchy villain, but she still lacked her normal charm and grace. I think this was a check film for her; a term I use to specify an acting gig that’s done merely for the monetary gain. I think her diehard fans will enjoy her here, but horror fans will definitely be left to think, “What’s the appeal?”
This title had a lot of potential, but it ended up not making it through rush week. It had a great director, an even better synopsis, and a big name attached to it. Alessandra Torresani was believable in her role and I could see her doing well in horror films and comedies. The first twenty or so minutes were solid. But besides that… This was kind of a miss for me. I’m going to rate it a 5 out of 10.
