Sorority House Massacre II (1990)

Directed by Jim Wynorski [Other horror films: Chopping Mall (1986), Not of This Earth (1988), The Return of Swamp Thing (1989), Transylvania Twist (1989), The Haunting of Morella (1990), Hard to Die (1990), Scream Queen Hot Tub Party (1991), 976-Evil II (1991), Ghoulies IV (1994), Sorceress (1995), The Wasp Woman (1995), Vampirella (1996), Storm Trooper (1998), The Bare Wench Project (2000), Raptor (2001), The Bare Wench Project 2: Scared Topless (2001), Project Viper (2002), Wolfhound (2002), The Bare Wench Project 3: Nymphs of Mystery Mountain (2002), Cheerleader Massacre (2003), Bare Wench Project: Uncensored (2003), The Thing Below (2004), The Curse of the Komodo (2004), Gargoyle (2004), Komodo vs. Cobra (2005), The Witches of Breastwick (2005), The Witches of Breastwick 2 (2005), Bare Wench: The Final Chapter (2005), Cry of the Winged Serpent (2007), House on Hooter Hill (2007), Bone Eater (2007), Vampire in Vegas (2009), Cleavagefield (2009), The Hills Have Thighs (2010), Dinocroc vs. Supergator (2010), Camel Spiders (2011), Piranhaconda (2012), Gila! (2012), Scared Topless (2015), Sharkansas Women’s Prison Massacre (2015), Legend of the Naked Ghost (2017), CobraGator (2018)]

Oh boy, this was a fun film.

So, first thing’s first, I guess I have to mention that the flashbacks shown here aren’t from the first Sorority House Massacre (which, in it’s own way, was an enjoyable film), but from The Slumber Party Massacre. Why they just threw that footage here to give this killer an origin is beyond me, but hey, they did. It’s a brave choice, really – instead of footage from the first movie, they throw in clips from an entirely different movie.

This film is on it’s own plane.

I think that I speak for everyone when I say that the VIP here is Mike Elliott, who is pretty much fun in every scene he’s in. He also can’t die, as he’s shot multiple times with a shotgun toward the end, and is still kicking. This is after being stabbed and strangled, so this guy is certainly a go-getter.

The main cast, though, consisting of Dana Bentley, Michelle Verran, Stacia Zhivago, Melissa Moore, and Robyn Harris, are all decent in their own way. This mostly takes the form of nudity and scantily-clad pajamas, but here, everyone plays their parts. I think that Harris (who is on IMDb under the name Gail Thackray) was the most attractive here, but let’s give these women their due and admit all are rather pretty. Some were even in adult films before this, so no doubt that played a part in their casting.

Story-wise, what Sorority House Massacre II comes with isn’t that unique, but it’s not exceptionally poor either, especially when some of the more silly elements (such as Mike Elliott’s red herring status throughout) are intentional. I will admit that they took a route toward the end that I really didn’t care for, so it could have been a bit better, but still, it was decent. I will admit, though, that the addition of Jürgen Baum’s character was pretty pointless, aside from giving us more nudity during the strip club scene (which was funny overall, especially with those two Middle Eastern mens’ catcalls).

None of the kills were great, but most were perfectly competent. Either strangling or death by hook, we did occasionally get some blood splatter, but that wasn’t something they focused on. More than anything, it was half-naked women running around a dark house (they could have escaped easily earlier on, as they could have outrun Elliott’s ploddingly slow character, but of course they didn’t) and trying to survive. In it’s own cheap way, it was fun, save for an element toward the end I could have done without.

The film’s laughable, to be sure, but I don’t think that’s overly damning. As soon as they threw in flashbacks not to Sorority House Massacre but The Slumber Party Massacre, I was in awe. The movie isn’t really played comically, but there were enough goofy things here to make me happy without becoming too overbearingly campy. The first movie is a better film, but this one isn’t a movie I could imagine ever having a problem watching again. It’s not great – and it maybe overvaluing the film to call it average – but that’s what I’m going with, because whatever else you can say about it, it’s a fun movie.

7/10

This is one of the films covered on Fight Evil’s podcast. Listen below as Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and I discuss Sorority House Massacre II.