Customer Reviews

Sorority House Massacre 2

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Let's face it, anyone picking up something with girls in their bras and "It's cleavage vs. cleavers" on the cover can't rightly complain if what they get isn't gothic horror in the best Hammer Films tradition. This is a cheesy, T&A filled slasher flick, and it does that very well.

As far as cheese, the movie really hits the bullseye when it comes to being cheesy enough for it to be fun, but not so cheesy that it's completely silly. The girls in the film are scared, but they keep making wisecracks to each other. They run around and scream in the best tradition of slasher flicks, but there's still enough seriousness to it that it succeeds at being a suspenseful, scary movie.

As for the T&A, this movie delivers. The girls are beautiful, and not only do they all have their own topless scenes, but they spend the last 2/3rds of the movie running around in their undies. And did I mention they go outside in the rain?

For the plot, well, it's a slasher. The girls move into a run-down house that they're going to fix up into a sorority house. They bring plenty of alcohol. There's no electricity, so they light the place with candles. A thunderstorm rages outside. The creepy neighbor shows up and gives them the key to the cellar. They go to the cellar, they go to the attic, they play the Ouija board, creepy things happen, bodies start piling up, you know the drill. The creepy atmosphere is done quite nicely.

Overall, this movie should fully satisfy the expectations of anyone who looks at the box cover before buying it.

OK, it's not that bad, guys. Trying to review this using the same standards you might use for say, Citizen Kane, is silly. If you like watching movies where sorority girls run around in lingerie or less for most of the movie you will like this just fine. If your favorite actress is Meryl Streep, you probably will not like this movie.

This movie is a parody of slasher movies in which a bunch of scantily-clad sorority girls spend a night in a spooky house and are picked off one-by-one as the night progresses by a mysterious assailant. It's about what you'd expect - don't take it seriously. Robyn Harris and Melissa Moore are especially cute, but shouldn't wait by the mailbox for a letter from the Academy.

Famous last words, especially in a film with `massacre' in the title...I just want to say after watching Sorority House Massacre II: Nightly Nightmare (1992) - it was originally released as just Sorority House Massacre II in 1990 - that the women featured on the DVD case are not in this film...but that's not to say the women who are in this film aren't good looking, as they are (for the most part), but apparently not DVD packaging good looking...anyway, this is a sequel to the earlier film Sorority House Massacre (1987), but in name only, as the two share nothing in terms of cast, characters, storyline, etc. If you've seen the first film, as I did, then you'll probably agree this is probably for the best, as the first one stunk on ice...directed by schlock auteur Jim Wynorski (Chopping Mall, Deathstalker II, Munchie), the film stars Gail `Robyn' Harris (Cellblock Sisters: Banished Behind Bars) and former Playboy Playmate Melissa Moore (Vampire Cop, The Invisible Maniac). Also appearing is Michelle Verran (Backdoor to Hollywood 4), Dana Bentley (Bad Girls from Mars), Stacia Zhivago (in her screen debut), Jürgen Baum (Hard to Die), Karen Chorak aka Toni Naples (Doctor Detroit, Deathstalker II), and Peter Spellos (The Guyver, Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, Munchie).

As the film opens, we see a barely dressed, sweaty girl with a large, lengthy cut above her cleavage, holding a knife and pleading to someone off screen to remember...to which we then fade into what I think is a flashback, assuming we started out somewhere near the end, and I was right, so I got myself a cookie...anyway, we now see five busty, mostly braless girls, all supposedly a part of the same sorority, arriving at a large and dumpy house. Seems they got the house cheap, but only because no one else wanted it as it's the same house where old man Hockstetter sliced and diced his entire family some five years before. The girls are soon visited by large neighbor man named Orville Ketchum (Spellos), later described by another character as `300 lbs of bad news', who imparts some history (in terms of a lengthy flashback showing a man killing women with a power drill), along with giving them the creeps. Not long after this the girls decide to change into lingerie, so here comes a good dose of the T & A, which, at this point, isn't unappreciated. The girls then mess around with an Ouija board they found in the basement, get freaked out, and go to bed...and this is when the killings begin, the choice of weapon being a meat hook. Who's doing it? It can't be old man Hockstetter because we saw him bite it in the flashback...perhaps it's Orville, from next door (who, but the way, likes to eat chunks of raw meat while watching TV), but that seems too obvious...perhaps it's Jojo, the idiot monkey boy (it's not, as he isn't even in the film)...I guess you'll just have to watch the film and see (it's only an hour and 17 minutes)...

I think one of the prerequisites for females appearing in this film must have been a willingness to shuck clothes (their bodies filmed in lengthy, loving detail), as all five main girls do so within the first half hour, but I'm not complaining (actually, of the eight women appearing in this film, seven of them show some skin). Heck, even the goodie goodie Linda (Harris) popped her top, which was nice as normally there's one girl in these films who won't, and she's probably the one you like to see most, get nekkid, that is...and I have to say these `girls' hardly appear to be college material, as none of them seemed smart enough to get out of high school much less into college, and all appear to be in their mid to late 20's, but whatever...it's sort of pointless to compare this sequel to the original as they have nothing to do with each other, but this production is much better than the pervious film, which is about the equivalent of saying a week old dead body doesn't smell as bad as one that's been sitting around for month. The film features a lot of blood, but very few visceral scenes (the most violent scene involved someone stepping into a bear trap). The acting wasn't great, but good enough for here...the worst actor in this slop was actually Jürgen Baum, who appeared as a police detective. Thankfully Mr. Baum has since found his true calling in a behind the scenes capacity (gaffer). And what was the point of the two police detectives, the other played by Ms. Naples? All they did was push a red herring in our laps and take up screen time with some useless banter. Another important distinction between the first film and second is, while the first appeared to take itself a little too seriously, Wynorski seems to have no misconceptions about what this film is, as there's a slightly comical feel throughout. Another vast improvement is the music...here it's very moody and appropriate, sometimes over the top, but it works well, even to the point of supporting some of the more suspenseful scenes (yes, there are a few). I did find the character of Orville, who takes a real licking (and keeps on ticking), pretty annoying after awhile, as his lumbering around with a idiot look on his face got a little old...at least the identity of the killer isn't revealed until near the end, and I didn't really see it coming only because it seemed like a real reach, but it did fit in with the overall silly nature of the film. All in all not very original, but entertaining, especially if you like a little skin with your slasher pics.

The full screen picture on this DVD is decent, and the 2 channel stereo audio comes through fairly well throughout. Special features include biographies for some of the cast and crew, along with a trailer for this film and ones for Slumber Party Massacre II (1987), Slumber Party Massacre III (1990), and Emmanuelle: First Contact (2000).

Cookieman108

In case you're wondering, the body count in this film, not including the flashbacks, reached a grand total of 5 by my count...and someone does get a swirlie...

Okay, an academy awards entry it's not... but SORORITY HOUSE MASSACRE 2 is actually a fun little film. Director Jim Wynorski knew exactly what kind of film he making (originally titled NIGHTIE NIGHTMARE -- come on!) and he gleefully succeeds at giving 2 am Cinemax watchers what they're craving. Cute, busty girls , all of them perky and sweet enough to rot your teeth, gather for what is essentially a mocking of THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE and its imitators. There are suprisingly a few genuine scares and, though the plot is rather moronic and the girls bascially just jiggle and scream, remember, THAT'S THE POINT! There are those of us out there who enjoy completely irreverant movies! Not all of us want THE GODFATHER or GONE WITH THE WIND. My only complaints are #1: that it isn't a true sequel and #2: instead of using footage from the original movie, they used footage from SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE and had new actors voice over the original ones. Rather pointless.

If cheesy horror is your bag, check this out. If you want class, stay far away.

This is a teen slasher flick that dates back to the 80's ( I think.. ) That is pretty entertaining. The plot is very simple (like 90% of the horror flicks) , babes get together to re-model a sorority house and encounter a hideous murderer, but that is not what's important here.. The babes in here are really yummy looking, for about half the movie they run around in their pretty lingerie with panty thongs! :-) Mr. disturbed neighbor next door Orville Ketchum is a weirdo and delivers an amusing performance, he just looks so evil, and him being a chunky pyscho path makes his character more interesting.. This has plenty of slashing, nudity (yum!), and laughs, and that is what makes a good slasher film, imo... Fans of the Slumber Party Massacre series, Friday The 13th, Sleepaway Camp, will probably cherish ''Sorority House...''

After the incredibly embarassing original, a sequel is born that will blow every other sorority house movie away. 5 girls move into a haunted house where after they undress and engage in a rousing game of OUIJA, one of them is possessed by the spirit of the original owner who killed a bunch of other girls before. Excellent low budgeter with some nice hook murders which never lose their charm. Oh, by the way, don't be decieved by the heart warming reanactment scene. Those scenes were NOT from the original.

This really is one of the top 5 cheesy, T&A, slasher B-movies of all time. Most of the other reviewers have summarized the plot (or lack thereof) so I won't rehash that, but I will suggest that you make this a double feature with Wynorski's "Hard to Die" when you get around to it. Watch SHM II first, then HtD. You'll see why afterwards.

After all, the whole point of this type of movie is for semi-naked women (OK, OK...I'll admit it's a stretch to think of them as "sorority girls" since the actresses are actually in their mid to late twenties) to run around babbling silly dialogue with absolutely no conviction. Like sheep, they're brought to the slaughter. HtD improves on this by introducing automatic weapons into the mix. (Yes, in HtD the same women run around wearing little or no lingerie and firing automatic weapons.)

One aspect that seems to be overlooked by most reviewers is that this movie was actually shot and produced fairly competently. So many recent movies are independent productions shot directly on video and starring the friends of the filmmaker. The acting in these is certainly no better than it is in SHM II, but the camera work and audio are usually awful in these newer films. Camera motion is substituted for actual scares in an effort to be disorienting (I guess)...the lighting is uneven and annoying...and the audio is all over the place. In SHM II, the scenes are lit fairly well, the film has been color-balanced, and you can actually hear the dialogue. Yes, it's a well-made cheesy B-film.

Anyway, if you don't care for these retro-gems, don't watch this movie and don't bother reviewing it. You'll just point out the obvious. NOBODY thinks that the acting is great...and fans don't care. (In fact, we would be pretty upset if the acting was any good or if the plot made sense.) But if you're a fan of the genre, check out both SHM II and HtD ASAP.

This sequel to Sorority House Massacre has nothing to do with the first one. There is a flashback sequence, but they for some reason flash back to Slumber Party Massacre. All these massacre movies are pretty much the same, so I guess they got confused about which movie this was a sequel to. But it doesn't matter, because this movie sure is fun! It doesn't take itself as seriously as the first and that's a good thing. Sometimes it plays it straight, but sometimes it feels like it's starting to border on being a slasher spoof as opposed to a straight slasher film. There is plenty of violence and no less than six women show off their double d's, so fans of 80's slasher flicks should definitely enjoy this.

This is your movie if you're into the campy horror stuff,the girls are sexy and some of them started their "B-Girl" careers here in the SORORITY & SLUMBER PARTY SERIES,(like Gail Harris and Melissa Moore). SIMPLE PLOT:The girls run around naked and in their underwear, then get bumped off.But i don't know why this movie is listed as unrated, there is no "UNRATED" version to my knowledge or one that even says "Nighty Nightmare".if there is,i think both versions would have the same footage anyway.

[good things]
A very fun watch, full of big breasted females, sexual innuendos, boobs and blood. The story has more holes than Swiss cheese, but they are easily forgotten. The movie, other than the bimbos, actually has a good plot. They introduce Orville Ketchum, which serves as the most perfect Red Herring in (B) movie cinema history.


[the bad]
Other than the aforementioned plot holes, there is the bad acting. Very typical of this genre. The blood was actually pretty well done for this calibre of movie, but in a few shots, when blood was supposed to squirt you could actually see the person squirting it in the shadows. The back story was also very questionable, that will be explained later.


[final thoughts]
The movie busting out a whopping 80 minutes, and about 70 minutes minus the stolen footage of Slumber Party Massacre, which makes this movie easily watchable. The movie was unrelated to Sorority House Massacre, and used footage from Slumber Party Massacre, and a character (which had a different name in this movie) who eventually was summoned from the dead via a Parker Brothers Ouija board to possess, and lead the busty blonde to kill all of her friends. While Orville Ketchum was toying around, trying to warn the girls, they mistook him as the killer and put a beating that would even kill Jason Voorhees. That also made this movie very fun to watch. I really don't know how else to take this movie, we have everything we could want in a slasher, and we have a lot of it. Jim Wynorski did a great job directing this, and continues to be one of his 3 best ever. The whole Slumber Party/Sorority House/Cheerleader Massacre/Hard To Die movie franchise is very hard to follow, they all use from the other movies, but don't at all seem linked. You make up your mind.