Hazing

The Hazing (2004)

After watching many horror films I’ve come to understand that Fraternity and Sorority initiations/parties should never mix with haunted houses. And of course bowling alleys are a bad idea as well. But here we have yet another group of pledges that are sent on a scavenger hunt before spending the night in a haunted house. Unfortunately for them one of the things on the list is a magic book owned by a homicidal professor. They get the book, but accidentally kill him… almost. Basically he is in a coma state, but does manage to use and possess them so that they open a portal to hell. A few boobs, some blood, and a particularly gruesome tongue later evil is banished… almost.

Looking at my notes the first thing that I wrote down was, “Someone has seen the Evil Dead.” Not only is there an evil book and dagger that are strangely familiar, but also you have demons possessing people and making them do some freaky stuff. Toss in some obvious references (the picture of Bruce as a scavenger hunt item was pretty funny) and it is pretty obvious that the director/writer Rolfe Kanefsky is a fan. Now most of the time when I watch a movie that references other horror films it is a bad thing. But then someone like Kanefsky didn’t make those movies.

The Hazing is a well paced and entertaining little movie that doesn’t take itself at all that seriously. It is populated with likeable characters that are pulled off nicely by a talented and in the case of the ladies very attractive cast. The Hazing is very reminiscent of the kinds of flicks that I used to rent and enjoy on VHS back in the day. It follows a familiar formula, but is a blast to watch. There are some funny bits of dialogue, followed by some gore, followed by some skin. The audience is always given something fun to watch, which means you never have a chance to loose interest. Hell there is even a twist at the end that is perfectly cheesy and put one last smile on my face before the credits rolled. There are a lot of filmmakers that are going out of their way to try and recapture the feel of the ‘80s horror film and failing miserably. Why more fans aren’t talking about the Hazing is a mystery to me.

Of course we can’t talk about a horror movie without mentioning the gore. I was really impressed with what I saw here. Most of the effects, at least the gore anyway, are done with practical effects. This includes a nifty beheading, some axe play, a gag with a mannequin that I really dug, and finally a killer tongue that was awesome. There are some digital effects, but this is mostly used for ghosts and other out there supernatural stuff that should look a bit strange. All in all for a low budget horror flick I’m not sure anyone could ask for more then what you get here. I know that I had fun with it.

I recommend that people check out this movie. It isn’t the Evil Dead, hell it isn’t even Night of the Demons. But then how many movies are that good? That said The Hazing is a blast and well worth tracking down.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer