We all know the drill with any movie that has words like “sorority,” “party,” and “massacre” in the title (I cover as many as I could here). Big-boobed babes dancing in their panties then getting slaughtered one by one!
But Sorority Party Massacre is a bit more complicated—and a bunch more comic—than that. It also has a handful of familiar names in the cast, like Kevin Sorbo, Richard Moll, Ron Jeremy, and Leslie Easterbrook. Sure, they’ll all probably score it some SyFy Network or Chiller Network airings, but the real star of the film is scream king cutie pie Thomas Downey.
After an intense opening scene that is right out of Scream, with the question on the phone being “What do you fear most?” instead of “Do you like scary movies?,” we are introduced to Downey, who plays a detective being reprimanded for using excessive force during his crime stopping. What better way to punish him? His boss Kevin Sorbo sends him to an island full of hot sorority babes to keep an eye out for trouble.
Okay. So there’s T&A and lipstick lesbian action as we’re introduced to each sorority babe on the island, but there’s no party. The girls are there to compete for—oh let’s face it. They’re there to die! Is the killer the tough “house mother” (Leslie Easterbrook)? The ferry captain (Richard Moll)? Or the mentally slow caretaker with the wandering eye (played by cutie Keith Compton, who totally steals the show)?
After the grisly opening kill, the movie becomes surprisingly cheeky and the kills fairly tame. The movie also loses its way for a while; the pacing drags, despite the comic acting skills of the charismatic cast. It’s an hour and 40 minute movie that could easily have been trimmed down to about 85 minutes to fix that. But once the action finally kicks in, it becomes the quick-witted horror comedy it was meant to be and piles on the clever twists right up until the end.
I love the cast, from the girls to the wandering-eyed caretaker. And then there’s dreamy and adorable Mr. Downey, who is so great at subtle comedy, much of it delivered through his facial expressions. And the spike in the horror/humor quality in the second half of Sorority Party Massacre made me a fan. I’m totally looking forward to the sequel, Bachelorette Party Massacre! And Downey is coming back for it! WAHOO!
