Bet ween the Frames

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Friday , October 2 , 2009

Sorority Row: Ultimately Dismal Horror Flick

Posted by betweentheframes , Reader : 302 , 03:02:21

An occasionally stylish but ultimately dismal horror flick, Sorority Row is only interesting for what it says about (and to) its audience. The screen gets filled with half-dressed co-eds who may or may not have to flee for their lives. Yet the film's target demographic may surprise you. Largely thanks to Twilight's Bella and Edward, teenage girls are now just as enthusiastic about horror movies as their male classmates are, if not more so. Always eager to capitalize on a trend, Hollywood has been sure to maximize the girl-power quotient however they can. The latest example is this remake of a minor 1983 horror title about sorority sisters whose bonds to each other are tested when they have to cover up the accidental death of one of their own. Queen bee Jessica (Leah Pipes) is the most ruthless in ensuring that "the tenets of sisterhood" are upheld and their secret is kept. Cassidy (Briana Evigan) and Ellie (Rumer Willis) are rather more conflicted about the whole affair. But they're all in danger when the past catches up with them in the form of a hooded killer with a customized tire iron. Female characters may be foregrounded here but Sorority Row proves that some rules of the horror flick are stubbornly resistant to any newfound sensitivity to gender. For instance, you can be sure that the young female character who expresses the most enthusiasm for sex will be the first to get dispatched. Sorority Row does not only make good on that tradition, but uses her as the recipient of the film's grisliest death. Should any character need to have a shower, you know it will result in both an excuse for nudity and a cheap homage to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Finally, any depiction of female rivalry must ultimately culminate in an old-fashioned, hair-pulling catfight. Director Stewart Handler absolutely obliges, though you'll wish he hadn't. The few examples of catty, campy humor suggest that Handler might' hae wanted to take this in another direction. The appearance of Carrie Fisher as the sorority's shotgun-toting house mother is another flicker of life in a film that otherwise gets grueling fast. The fact that some of the sisters are plucky enough to survive seems less like a sop to the young women in the audience than the set-up for a potential sequel. Either way, it's no triumph for gender parity.

An occasionally stylish but ultimately dismal horror flick, Sorority Row is only interesting for what it says about (and to) its audience.

The screen gets filled with half-dressed co-eds who may or may not have to flee for their lives. Yet the film's target demographic may surprise you. Largely thanks to Twilight's Bella and Edward, teenage girls are now just as enthusiastic about horror movies as their male classmates are, if not more so.

Always eager to capitalize on a trend, Hollywood has been sure to maximize the girl-power quotient however they can.

The latest example is this remake of a minor 1983 horror title about sorority sisters whose bonds to each other are tested when they have to cover up the accidental death of one of their own.

Queen bee Jessica (Leah Pipes) is the most ruthless in ensuring that "the tenets of sisterhood" are upheld and their secret is kept. Cassidy (Briana Evigan) and Ellie (Rumer Willis) are rather more conflicted about the whole affair. But they're all in danger when the past catches up with them in the form of a hooded killer with a customized tire iron.

Female characters may be foregrounded here but Sorority Row proves that some rules of the horror flick are stubbornly resistant to any newfound sensitivity to gender.

For instance, you can be sure that the young female character who expresses the most enthusiasm for sex will be the first to get dispatched. Sorority Row does not only make good on that tradition, but uses her as the recipient of the film's grisliest death.

Should any character need to have a shower, you know it will result in both an excuse for nudity and a cheap homage to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Finally, any depiction of female rivalry must ultimately culminate in an old-fashioned, hair-pulling catfight. Director Stewart Handler absolutely obliges, though you'll wish he hadn't.

The few examples of catty, campy humor suggest that Handler might' hae wanted to take this in another direction. The appearance of Carrie Fisher as the sorority's shotgun-toting house mother is another flicker of life in a film that otherwise gets grueling fast.

The fact that some of the sisters are plucky enough to survive seems less like a sop to the young women in the audience than the set-up for a potential sequel. Either way, it's no triumph for gender parity.

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