FratHouseMassacre

Frat House Massacre (2008)

This movie is set in the late ‘70s. We follow a group of frat boys that have inexplicably gone bad. When someone doesn’t meet their expectations when pledging the Frat they get sent packing… in a body bag! When one of their own, Sean, wants to quit they send him packing as well. At the exact moment of his death his younger brother, Bobby wakes up from a coma. Only it isn’t Bobby who is back, but Sean. In his brother’s body Sean goes about getting some payback on the Frat boys, who all the while have continued racking up a body count. Much blood is spilled before things come to a resolution.

Call me overly pessimistic, but when a movie is billed as “harkening” back to the movies of the ‘70s and ‘80s my bullshit detector goes right off. When the further claim of reminding the viewer of ‘70s exploitation and ‘80s slasher movies I’m even more suspicious. But I still like to take the time to check it out for myself. So when I had the chance to get a review copy of Frat House Massacre I said yes. I’m glad that I did.

Lets handle the 1st claim, the ‘70s exploitation vibe. This movie is both sleazy and violent in a way that I never expected. The characters are brutal and it is difficult to find anyone to root for. Even the character that is out for some revenge is so damaged that it (trying to keep things gender neutral, no spoilers here!) borders on being unlikeable. Oh and the scumbags in this movie are real scumbags. They beat and molest the women who follow them around, show no mercy, and kill for the enjoyment of it. When I’m talking about the violence this is what I mean (I’ll talk about the gore and effects later). I found myself really disliking the characters, while at the same time sort of enjoying the movie. This is how I normally feel when I’m watching a nasty exploitation movie. So yeah I’d have to say that I can see Frat House Massacre having that ‘70s grindhouse feel to it.

So lets talk about the other claim, the ‘80s slasher vibe. When I review a slasher movie I always apply my rule of three. Blood, boobs, and bodies are for me the keys. We get some rather nasty kills in this one. There is a knife thru the mouth, a skewered noggin’, a couple of cut throats, an axe to the neck, and many more. My favorite kill in the movie is reminiscent of one from a great ‘80s flick and brings the gore! So we have the blood. We get quite a bit of female nudity during the unpleasant stuff that I’ve mentioned with the scumbags molesting the ladies. But we also get some random nudity on display for probably no other reason then that they could. And the movie has a good body count, especially after the last 20 minutes. Blood, boobs, and bodies means that yes this also reminds me of the better slasher movies of the ‘80s.

Frat House Massacre delivers the goods and is one that I think all genre fans are going to want to check out. Head over to the Synapse website at http://synapse-films.com/ for more information on how you can pick yourself up a copy.

3 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer