The House on Sorority Row (1983)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The House On Sorority Row is a 1983 low budget American slasher film directed by Mark Rosman. The film has become a cult classic among fans of the slasher genre. The story concerns seven sorority sisters who want to have a graduation party but the house mother refuses to let them have it. On the day of their planned party, the girls decide to play a practical joke on the housemother that results in her death. They hide her body in the sorority's unused swimming pool, but that evening as the party begins, someone starts killing the sisters one by one. It was released in cinemas on January 21, 1983.

Plot

Katey, a graduated sorority sister, is pressured by her six sorority sisters into pulling a prank on their strict house mother, Mrs. Slater, who is known for carrying a sharp walking cane. The prank goes awry and Mrs. Slater is shot. The girls all agree to hide Slater's body in their dirty swimming pool until a graduation party being held in the house is finished. As the party begins, a guest wanders around the pool and is subsequently impaled through the neck by an unknown figure, wielding Slater's cane, and dragged away.

When other guests attempt to throw Jeanie in the pool, they are stopped by the sorority sisters. Later, to prevent the pool lights from coming on revealing Slater's body, Stevie, one of the sorority sisters is forced to go into the power room of the house located in the basement. While doing so, she is repeatedly stabbed by Mrs. Slater's cane. Sorority sister Katey meets her date for the party, Peter, with whom she neglects as the other girls worry why Stevie hasn't returned from the power room yet.

Vicki orders the girls to search around the house for Mrs. Slater. Morgan, enters Mrs. Slater'sroom and begins to sort her cloathing when a body falls on top of her. The sisters then find Slater's body which has mysteriously been moved to the attic, from whence it falls. Morgan, an attractive yet not-so-bright sister, hides in her room where she is lured to the door and stabbed. Having found Slater's body, the sisters decide to bury it in a nearby graveyard. Meanwhile Katey explores the attic of the house and discovers several children's toys. Diane, one of the sisters, is killed while waiting in her van for the other girls. Jeanie, the most nervous member of the group, is also attacked while running back into the house but manages to escape. However, after informing Katey about the attack, Jeanie is chased into the upstairs bathroom and is decapitated.

The party goers finally depart, leaving Katey and Peter in the house. Katey tells Peter to go home and finds a number on a chain she found near the gate. The chain has the phone number for a Dr. Beck who soon arrives and asks Katey where Slater is. The two discover the bodies of Stevie, Morgan and Diane in the pool. Meanwhile, Vicki, the mean unofficial leader of the sisters and her lackey Liz attempt to bury the body in the graveyard. Vicki orders Liz to bring the car around. While doing so, Liz has her throat slashed and Vicki is hacked to death in the process. Katey and Dr. Beck arrive at the graveyard only to discover their bodies.

After giving her a sedative, Dr. Beck reveals to Katey that Mrs. Slater had a son named Eric who was horribly deformed and mentally underdeveloped. Eric had actually been living in the Sorority House's attic and witnessed the shooting death of his mother. Katey is used as bait to lure Eric out of the attic so Dr. Beck can shoot him with a tranquilizer gun. However, the plan backfires when Peter comes through the door and is shot and Dr. Beck is viciously hacked to death by Eric who pushes him over a flight of stairs.

Katey grabs the hand gun that was used on Mrs. Slater and flees from the clown-costumed Eric, which is when she discovers Jeanie's severed head in the toilet. After a fight in the attic, Katey stabs Eric, and he falls through the attic hatch to the floor below. Katey peers down, and thinking that he is dead, is relieved. Katey lays in the floor and falls asleep. However, Eric then opens his eyes as the film ends.

Directed by Mark Rosman - Produced by John G. Clark - Written by Bobby Fine, Mark Rosman - Starring Kate McNeil, Eileen Davidson, Janis Ward, Robin Meloy, Harley Jane Kozak - Music by Richard Band - Cinematography Tim Suhrstedt - Editing by Paul Trejo, Jean-Marc Vasseur - Distributed by Film Ventures International (FVI) - Release date(s) January 21, 1983 - Running time 92 min - Country United States - Language English - Budget $425,000

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_on_Sorority_Row