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THE DORM THAT DRIPPED BLOOD
(1982)
aka PRANKS
Directed by Stephen Carpenter and
Jeffrey Obrow
Media Home Entertainment VHS
Reviewed 12.15.05
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba
THE FILM
Scrooges of the world, unite! There's
finally a film that caters to your
very sense of holiday negativity.
Only this time, people don't just
miss out on extravagant gifts. It's
nothing so pithy. Nope, in this
part of town, they all die. All
of 'em. Even that little transistor
radio. Even the snow, god
help us. Yes, this non-dorm drips
the blood. Scrooge or not, you’re
in for a treat.
According to Jim Harper’s
Legacy Of Blood, The
Dorm That Dripped Blood (released
in the UK as Pranks and
subsequently landing on the ginchy
Video Nasties list) was filmed by
UCLA film students Stephen Carpenter
and Jeffrey Obrow for next to nothing.
Thanks to the distinctive atmomsphere
of gritty, no budget film production
and a candy cane nod towards all
things downbeat, the film hits a
memorable peak for thrifty American
slashers. Trust me, you won’t
be laughing much.
It’s the week before Christmas
break on the campus of a small California
college. No snow, mumbling parents,
and Princess Vespa herself, Daphne
Zuniga, all join in for the fun.
Joanne and her fellow eggheads run
a co-op building on campus, which
will be torn down shortly following
the holidays. In the opening minutes
of the film, an unknown hand is
cut in half. Daphne Zuniga is disposed
of in a most alarming way soon after,
along with her cracked parents.
Clearly, our raging killer (hide
your dinner spread) is not f-ing
around. Turning our attention towards
the co-op, the remainder of the
film finds Joanne and company under
ruthless seige from the motiveless
slasher. And what of John, the frizzy
haired creep? Bobby Lee, the white
trash gigalo? Questions; bah! The
jarring finale will make these things
seem like so much melted snow.
The Dorm That Dripped Blood
lies somewhere between Friday
The 13th Part 3 and Another
Son Of Sam; it follows
a strict classic slasher template
in both style and attitude, but
morphs into a surreal, claustrophobic
free-for-all by film’s end.
The plentiful gore spices up the
under-lit kill scenes, adding to
the disorientating sensibility.
Once we move into the bowels of
the co-op building, it’s impossible
to tell which way is up, thanks
to the amateurish edits and constant
confusion of the characters. Intentional
or not, a dreamy ambience kicks
in, quite similar to the enveloping
forests of Jeff Leiberman’s
Just
Before Dawn. Although the
consistency stumbles with the killer’s
whiny reveal and the building exploration
scenes could’ve used some
trims, Dorm’s intensity
more than makes up for these slight
missteps.
Since the Christmas setting is irrelevant,
Dorm moves beyond the holiday
gimmicks and shoots straight for
the quintessential, cheapo vein.
Bullseye.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Aside from a few tape rolling blips,
we’re looking good. The dark
print adds much to the sinister
aura and film noise is at a minimum.
The mono sound, on the other hand,
was mucky and filled with incidental
fuzz. Bootleg company Jef Films
released an obscenely overpriced
Region 1 DVD under the nonsensical
Pranks title, but it was
appparently taken straight from
an old (and cut) UK tape.
EXTRAS
Well, alright. Immediately following
the end credits is a lengthy trailer
for Frank Henenlotter’s gutter
classic, Basket Case.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Filled with blunt violence and a
serious attitude, The Dorm That
Dripped Blood is an excellent,
prime time era slasher for all the
right reasons. A most unanticipated
ending seals the deal. Christmas
time is (not) here! |
May da Schwartz be witchoo
B.M.O.C.
Drill 'em
Toilet love
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