The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1982)

Too much of everything

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Five co-eds are left to their own devices on a mostly deserted college campus. Their job is to clear out a dormitory that's been targeted for demolition. They never do get around to doing very much work, and things are thrown further asunder when a mad sadistic killer is shown to be running around the campus and coming up with nasty ways to murder people."The Dorm That Dripped Blood" wasn't really all that bad for this viewer. It doesn't do much to rise above most of the entries in this genre, but it *does* have good atmosphere, and suspense. It won't be sleazy enough or gory enough to suit the whims of some fans of the genre, but Matthew Mungle does devise some decent enough gore. The drill to the back of the head is a mild highlight. And there are some breasts bared in one sequence.The scenario is dependent upon some of the expected clichés, such as characters splitting up so they make better victims, and the red herring utilized is pretty obvious. One of the best components, which helps to raise the rating a bit, is the music score by the talented Christopher Young ("Hellraiser"), his first for a horror film. Methods of murder range from the expected hacking and slashing to being boiled alive and being run over by a car.The cast is a little more "normal" looking than what we get in some of these films; there are no supermodel types here. The actors do a passable job with the material they've got. Laurie Lapinski is the requisite "final girl" type, Woody Roll the aforementioned red herring. Lovely Daphne Zuniga, who received an "introducing" credit for the subsequent slasher "The Initiation", actually made her film debut here.At least "The Dorm That Dripped Blood" ends in an atypical fashion, which helps to make it more than just routine.Six out of 10.

I'm surprised at how unappreciated this vicious slasher is. Maybe it helped that before this, I saw the truly inferior slasher 'Drive-in massacre' and was happy to be able to see what was actually going here, but I'll try to explain why I liked this one even beyond that.The characters are all slasher-worthy; American (post-)teens with their typical problems, played by enthusiastic amateurs (as far as I know and can tell). Laurie Lapinski's lead character won me over in a second, and it was especially nice to see Daphne Zuniga, as well. To say anything about one particular other actor, I would have to get into the plot, which I do not want to do, other than have you know that how 'Death dorm' unfolds is pretty awesome (even if storywise, this is no brilliant feat - at all). Then there's a good load of gore, which must be considered one of the key ingredients for slashers. Another one of those ingredients, gratuitous nudity, is rather poorly represented, but still, it's there.The film is nicely shot, which always helps. This one wins by surplus of perfect slasher elements, rather than being a perfect slasher. A good 7 out of 10.

"The Dorm That Dripped Blood" follows a group of four college coeds who are staying behind on campus to help clean out an old dormitory hall that is scheduled to be demolished. As is par for the course, an unseen killer is lurking around with an arsenal of weapons— a drill gun and a spiked bat, to name a couple. Is it a local squatter wreaking havoc? Or someone else?Also released as "Pranks" and "Death Dorm" in the '80s, "The Dorm That Dripped Blood" is one of the darker entries in the genre, and has been something of a lost film for decades now. It was infamously chopped up by censors, and even the restored Blu-ray edition, which is the most complete version of the film to date, is sourced from secondary materials. While the film's rocky release history adds to the allure of the picture, what we have here is actually a solid slasher flick that is dripping with atmosphere; the cold, foreboding concrete dormitory setting lends the film one of its greatest strengths, as the killer lurks in the shadowy stairwells, atop the roof, and in the cavernous basement. The film was written and directed by UCLA students Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter (Carpenter is behind the popular television series "Grimm" these days), and the direction is stylish and gritty, while the script makes some creative spins on slasher conventions; we don't have your typical villain walking around with a butcher knife here. The industrial theme of the killer's murder weapons seems to take influence from "The Toolbox Murders", and the film is also rather similar to that one in terms of tone as well— both are darker and more abrasive than the average slasher fare. Unlike some of the more visually polished campus slashers of the era ("The House on Sorority Row" and "Final Exam" come to mind), "The Dorm That Dripped Blood" tends to trade gloss and comic relief for a general mirthlessness. The cast is made up of unknowns, most of whom were probably fellow film students of Obrow and Carpenter, though it does feature Daphne Zuniga in her debut screen role— Zuniga, who later became famous on "Melrose Place", would star in the sorority slasher flick "The Initiation" in 1984, though I think "Dorm" is the better film in her slasher repertoire. The twist in the film's finale is overshadowed by its remarkably downbeat ending, which was a daring yet admirable move on part of the filmmakers. The special effects here are also impressive given the film's shoestring budget, and the the killer's brutal use of the spiked baseball bat has a disturbing and effective presence on screen.Overall, "The Dorm That Dripped Blood" is an oddball among its campus slasher peers of the 1980s, but not really for bad reasons. It's conventional in the way that it's framed, but surprisingly unconventional in the tone of its contents— it's a dark and unsettling slasher film that betrays and provokes its audience with a unique sort of success. The lack of big-budget polish really works in the film's favor, providing additional atmosphere and foreboding. Highlights: Daphne Zuniga's dad getting bludgeoned with a spiked bat in the dormitory stairwell, and everything about the demoralizing conclusion. Oh, and did I mention the pressure cooker? 8/10.

A co-op building is to be emptied and torn down and a skeleton crew of college students are assigned the difficult task of getting everything underway, with only two weeks to get the job taken care of during the Christmas holiday. Interference will come in the form of a killer, quietly dispatching anyone in the building when they are alone and vulnerable. The co-op and surrounding campus provides the killer plenty of room to hide and strike when he is good and ready. THE DORM THAT DRIPPED BLOOD(I watched it under the title PRANKS)consists of a hell of a lot of "walking and investigating" with a heavy emphasis on point-of-view(through the eyes of the killer as he moves about in the co-op building)and shrieking instrumental strings. The filmmakers seem to care more about building dread, but, for me, it was little more than dragging a rather, truth be told, non-eventful story to it's conclusion. The revelation of the killer is rather ho-hum and his motive is particularly lackluster, although the climax is surprisingly grim. The violence is mostly tame or off-screen and includes the use of a garrote, baseball bat, machete, knife, and drill. Pretty disappointing, I must admit, because the building is a strong setting for a slasher if it is able to successfully grip the viewer. But, the languid pace and long stretches where nothing happens sink this slasher, in my opinion. There's a bum hanging around used as a red herring device, but I figure the killer's identity will come as no surprise. Early role for television veteran, character actress, Daphne Zuniga(herself getting her own slasher to star in two years later in THE INITIATION). Laurie Lapinski(whose only role is this film)is the final girl, Joanne, who deserves nothing that awaits her. Stephen Sachs is a practical joker, Craig..and a practical wiseass. David Snow is Joanne's kind buddy, Brian, with Pamela Holland as Patti, the other girl helping on the clean up.