Thursday, September 15, 2016

Thursday Movie Picks: Sororities/Fraternities/School Secret Societies


Deja vu means there's a glitch in the Matrix. I feel like I was just here on Thursday Movie Picks talking about college. That's right, I was. It's okay, though Wanderer of Wandering Through the Shelves, the hostess with the mostess...no, that's corny...sigh. Anyhoo, last week the TMP crew was tasked to talk about college movies. This week the assignment is tweaked just a bit so that we focus on sororities, fraternities, or school secret societies. Aren't those all the same thing? No? Oh, well. Since I hit you with all sorts of shameless crap last week, I figured I'd give you some actually good movies this time. Okay, so our definitions of 'good' might be slightly different. I like bad...so bad they're awesome!

H.O.T.S. 
(1979)
Our heroine is named Honey (Susan Kiger). Let's just start with that. Better yet, let's talk about the school they attend, Fairenville University. Pretty harmless, right? Well, if you had any doubts about what type of movie you're about to watch when this thing starts, a title card informs you the school is also known by a popular moniker, good ol' F.U. At F.U., Honey can't get into the super-duper popular Pi sorority so decides to form her own called, well, H.O.T.S. They're mission is culturally ambitious if I must say so, myself. They want to steal all the boyfriends of the girls in Pi. Of course, this means things must end in a big showdown between the two factions. In this case, that means a game of strip football.

Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama 
(1988)
Some naughty frat boys (are there any other kind?) try spying on the girls in the nearest sorority in the middle of their initiation process. Since they're also dumb frat boys (again, are there any other kind?) they get caught. When they do they get sent, along with the sorority's pledges, to steal a trophy from the local bowling alley. Bada-boom-bada-bing, things get out of hand, and the statue gets broken. This releases an evil imp, and whaddya know, a slasher flick breaks out. Trust me, it's every bit as ridiculous as it sounds.

Sorority Row 
(2009)
When one of their sorority sisters winds up dead due to a prank gone wrong, the remaining members of Theta Pi dump her body and vow to never speak of the incident again. A year later, someone starts mysteriously bumping them off, one by one. Yes, it's a complete rip-off of I Know What You Did Last Summer.  That said, it has a far better cast than any other movie in this post. It includes the likes of Audrina Patridge, Briana Evigan, Rumer Willis, and Jamie Chung. Most importantly, it's got Carrie Fisher. Yup, Princess Leia shows up in a slasher flick.



16 comments:

  1. I have seen Sorority Row which wasn't very good and a waste of Carrie Fisher who deserves better. H.O.T.S. I think I've only seen bits of. Sorority Babes in Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama is something I don't remember seeing.

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    1. Oh, SR is a total waste of Carrie Fisher, but she plays it to the hilt and is by far the best thing in it. In her defense for taking the role, acting gigs weren't exactly rolling in for her in '09 and, at that time, being in another Star Wars flick seemed to be out of the question. You gotta see the rest of H.O.T.S.

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  2. Well Dell if they still existed these would make a marvelous triple feature at a drive-in! I saw H.O.T.S. years ago along with much other low budget junk when cable was just starting out. Don't know how I missed Slimeball Bowl-a-Rama during the same period, it certainly played there but I think it just seemed a bridge too far for me! Have not seen Sorority Row which despite the presence of Carrie Fisher I don't see myself seeking out.

    The first thing that popped into my head this week was Revenge of the Nerds but I suspect that will be all over the place today so I went searching elsewhere. My first two are on the more serious side so I went for something bright and shiny to finish up.

    The Skulls (2000)-Thinking it will help grease the wheels for his entrance into Harvard Law School Luke (Joshua Jackson) joins the secret fraternity at his college “The Skulls”. At first everything seems great but a series of disturbing incidents causes him to look for answers to the real purpose of the fraternity and suddenly he finds that his life might be in danger.

    Fraternity Row (1977)-College Freshman Zac (Gregory Harrison) pledges a prestigious fraternity despite his girlfriend’s feeling that they are antiquated and discriminatory. Objecting to the brutality of hazing Zac, joined by some of the other pledges, rebels but the fraternity’s leader turns a deaf ear to their complaints leading to a terrible calamity. Scott Newman who plays the head of the fraternity was the son of Paul and died of a drug overdose not long after completion of this film.

    Good News (1947)-It’s football season at good ol’ Tait College and Big Man On Campus Tommy Marlowe (Peter Lawford), the star quarterback, is torn between two sorority sisters, the gold digging Pat McClellan and wholesome, down to earth Connie Lane (June Allyson). Flirty Pat turns his head which causes him to treat Connie badly but when he flunks a test and may not be able to play the Big Game it’s Connie he turns to so that he can make the grade! Tuneful musical is an almost perfect example of MGM at its peak. The finale, The Varsity Drag and the earlier Pass That Peace Pipe, are studies in color coordination and dancing precision while remaining breezy delights.

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    1. A great triple feature, indeed!

      The Skulls is one of those films I keep saying I'm going to watch, but never do. Several times I was actually really close to seeing it, but chose something else at the last minute. Maybe this is the kick in the butt I need to finally give it a go. Haven't even heard of those other two.

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  3. The only one of these I've heard of is Sorority Row but man Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama has an amazing title!

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  4. Carrie Fisher is in Sorority Row?? Is it a comedy? I'm kidding, I know its not meant to be.

    Haven't heard of the others, but I did actively avoid the last one.

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    1. Lol. She is actually good, too, far better than the material.

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  5. Ok, I so want to see these horrible flicks because they even look bad just from the pics you show here. Poor Carrie Fisher...I guess her career hit a high note

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    1. A high note, lol. Good thing for her Disney threw a bunch of at George Lucas.

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  6. LOVE your descriptions of those first two Z-Grade-looking films. So bad they're awesome? Or not quite?

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  7. I haven't seen any of these but Sorority Row sounds so bad I feel sorry for Carrie Fisher.

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    1. I was surprised to see her in, but she came out of it okay, lol.

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  8. Haven't seen Sorority Row but wasn't it a remake of some 70s or 80s film? So I'm guessing that it was probably I Know What You Did Last Summer that ripped it off?

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    1. You are actually correct, The House on Sorority Row from 1983. I stand corrected.

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