Purely Joyful Movie!

Absolutely amazing

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

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

A piece of dirt slasher film, lacking even that elementary 'veneer' or level of polish which makes it look like a sophisticated film. Instead this looks like just what it is, a cheap-as-chips slasher effort with a routine plot, no memorable twists or surprises, and some shoddy gore effects thrown in during a desperate attempt to entertain the horror crowd. God, if only this cheesy film wasn't so boring, it might even have been kind of fun, as we watch an unknown killer going around bumping off various uninteresting characters for the duration of the film. In fact, the only imagination here comes from the variety of the weapons wielded by the psycho, ranging from an electric drill to a garrote, an axe, a knife, a car, and even a deep fat frier. Sadly either the rather poor gore effects are nevertheless cut by those butchers at the BBFC, making the Vipco re-release an almost pointless exercise.The cast is a bunch of unknowns who act like amateurs, and as is usual for these affairs, the only person of note is the lead. Here it's the slim and pretty Daphne Zuniga (THE FLY II), appearing in her first motion picture, if you can call it that. She's marginally less annoying than most scream queens you'll have the opportunity of seeing if you're a horror fan. Amusing supporting characters include a bonehead jock, a weirdo-type with frizzy hair, a strange guy who would rather hunt around in a skip than watch his wife strip off her nightie, and some typically dumb cops.Although the run time is only eighty minutes, it seems like an age as the murders are spaced out too far and nothing happens in between. Most of it takes place in the dark in depressing locations, but the similarities with the horrific MANIAC end there. Instead this is dull and derivative through and through, not worth watching even for those with a penchant for this kind of cinema. Watch it only for the amusing hand-slicing-via-knife nightmare opening shot.

Since John Carpenter 's Halloween was such a huge success , that inspired many filmmakers to follow suite with something similar . The 80's churned out thousands of low budget slasher films of varied quality . In my opinion most of these films suck and for every brilliant slasher film ala Halloween , there are a hundred that are garbage . The Dorm That Dripped Blood is somewhere in the middle , it does stick to the formula early in the film . However, I applaud the film for the plot twist and dark ending . It also has a few real well done gore scenes that were in some places censored , thus earning video nasty status in England. The score is good as well. For a slasher flick I found this to be alright . However, for the most part slashers aren't my bag. Crazy dude with machete chasing teenagers that can't act gets old for me real fast. If slashers are your thing, this film may appeal to you, as many worse movies of this type exist.

"The Dorm that Dripped Blood" is about what you might expect of a slasher flick, making it completely enjoyable. One thing about which I'm curious is the director Stephen Carpenter. There is a Stephen Carpenter who wrote the screenplay for the "Ocean's Eleven" remake and created the TV series "Grimm". Is this the same Stephen Carpenter, does anyone know? Whatever the case, it's probably not important. What's important is to see the college students meet their ugly demises while they prepare a dormitory to get demolished. A noticeable cast member is Daphne Zuniga, who later played Princess Vespa in Mel Brooks's "Spaceballs".A really interesting mix of things.

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.