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Thursday, December 13, 2012

Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (1988)

... aka: Imp, The

Directed by:
David DeCoteau

Just like much of the music of the 80s, this is very enjoyable on a strictly camp / cheese level. It's all about knowing what you're getting yourself into. And if you don't know what you're getting yourself into with a film called Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama, I'm sure a lot of things are lost on you. Naturally, this is a silly low-budget horror spoof not for the critical minded, but that just makes it all the more endearing and charming to the right kind of audience. One day, I really could see someone putting this little gem in a time capsule and sending it into space as a prime example of fighting back against 80s conservatism with pure, no-holds-barred exploitation. It never pretends to be otherwise. It never takes itself seriously. It is the perfect example of a film crafted by people who have their target audience in sight and don't want to let them down. And it was reasonably well made considering it cost around "90,000" dollars, which, with the prominence of digital video these days, actually isn't too shabby of a budget. This movie wasn't made to change the world, it was made to entertain. And that it does.






Taffy (Brinke Stevens) and Lisa (Michelle "McClellan" / Bauer) are sorority pledges at the mercy of blonde meanie Babs (the late Robin Stille of THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE fame), a future prison warden who gleefully subjects them to "institutionalized sadism" such as paddling their fannies and spraying whipped cream all over them (which of course then must be showered off). After a trio of nerds (Andras Jones, Hal Havins and John Wildman) are busted spying on the ladies, Babs forces them all to break into a shopping mall to steal a bowling trophy as part of their initiation rites, while she and a few of the other sisters (Kathi Obrecht and Carla Baron) keeps tabs on them using video monitors. There they encounter both foul-mouthed biker babe burglar Spider (Linnea Quigley, in one of her more amusing roles) and an evil, mischievous wish-granting Imp, with a LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS remake inspired "soul" voice, provided by "Dukey Flyswatter" / Michael D. Sonye. The imp traps everyone inside and proceeds to turn some of them into murderous beings, such as Bride of Frankenstein, a zombie and a killer dominatrix with one helluva paddle. Ah ha! It's great stuff. Really! It's totally infectious fun.






The #1 thing that draws people to this film - perhaps other than that wacky title - is the casting coup of Quigley, Stevens and Bauer (the three most popular American Scream Queens of their day) all in one film. You will read a lot of nasty and unfair things online about all three of these women. People will say they cannot act. Others will say they don't have talent outside of taking off their clothes. And some people even go so far as to blame them for "ruining" independent horror films. Sure, none of these ladies are Meryl Streep, but it's not like they're trying to act in Sophie's Choice either. They were most often hired to do campy, over-the-top T&A horror-comedies and gave fully-appropriate, over-the-top comedic performances in these films. Furthermore, anyone who has followed their careers know that each is capable of doing other kinds of roles in other kinds of films when they're hired to do so. You can watch SAVAGE STREETS (1984) to see Quigley give a credible performance as a deaf-mute high school student, or GRANDMA'S HOUSE (1989) to see Stevens giving an intense portrayal of a psycho mother, or DEMON WARP (1987) to see just how much Bauer enhances any film she's in by always giving 110 percent.






Another thing some people don't take into consideration is that the budgets and schedules on these films (many were made in less than a week) simply did not allow for multiple takes. On DeCoteau's follow-up feature NIGHTMARE SISTERS (1987), these actresses were doing 30 pages (!) of the script per day, were still able to create amusing characters and had to somehow glide their way through a 10-minute-long take without stumbling. That takes a talent that someone like, say, Julia Roberts, does not possess. Quigley, Stevens and Bauer got so much work not only because they were nice to look at, but because they were dependable and on point. Filmmakers knew they could rely on them to get the job done and do it with charm, a wink of the eye and genuine enthusiasm. They deserve more respect than what they get.






As for the director, this is certainly one of his better efforts, if not his very best. It's fun, upbeat, well-made and reasonably well-budgeted (Charles Band was the executive producer) for one of these things. Shame the same cannot be said for most of his other films. He's spent the last 15 or so years basically Xeroxing the same hot-guys-in-underwear template over and over again.

Some of the humor is embarrassingly dated; let's hope "Have a nice trip, see you next Fall!" never crops up in another film, but a surprising number of the gags still work. There are some amusing one-liners ("It's a shame we had to kill her... I really liked the outfit she had on" being a personal fav) and several great Quigley cat-fights. The entire scene where familiar character actor George 'Buck' Flower (billed as "C.D. Lafleur") - as the mall's hearing-impaired janitor - explains the origins of the Imp to Quigley and Jones is hilarious. Not too heavy on blood or gore, this does at least offer several decapitations (including someone bowling with a head!) and a few other bloody moments. There's also a car flip, clips from DREAMANIAC (1986) on a TV set and ample nudity provided by Stevens and Bauer.






Sorority Babes enjoyed a healthy run on late night cable in the late 80s into the mid 90s. It was a frequent fixture on the USA Network's Up All Night program, where it built up a small following. Now it's easy to find on DVD, which is nice to see. This kind of good-natured B-movie needs to break through to the next generation of fans. I grew up on this fluff and it truly does enrich your life in a unique way Hollywood never could.

★★★

48 comments:

Aaron said...

Whatever you do, don't ever watch the sequel called Sorority Babes in the Dance-a-thon of Death. It's awful on every level.

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

Wow, I wasn't even aware there WAS a sequel. I had to look it up and see it's from Todd Sheets. That raises my red flag right away. lol

crow said...

I watched this movie as part of a Linnea Quigley series for my blog. I really enjoyed it. I like that Quigley had a sizable role that saw her make it all the way to the final scene for a change. While the opening "nerd" scene where the trio of babes are "uglied" down in Nightmare Sisters is my favorite all-time featuring them, Sorority Babes was just a "cut the brain off" experience that remains a pleasure to me.

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

I'll have to go look at that LQ series you had going on. I missed it the first time around. I need to rewatch Nightmare Sisters, too. Been many years since I saw it. Back in the day it was on late night TV all the time (the edited version), along with Sorority Babes!

spookyx3 said...

just saw this again. that early scene of babs and the girls talking in front of a mirror is actually something of a repeat from "david mccabe's" REVENGE OF THE BABES, made around two years earlier.

i ran out of interesting observations eons ago.

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

I have yet to experience a "David McCabe" film. I have seen plenty from DeCoteau's other friends Ellen Cabot, Richard Chasen and Victoria Sloan, though.

spookyx3 said...

read somewhere (can't find it now) that a BOWL-O-RAMA blu-ray is coming this year. would have held off if i'd known.

it's only really because it's decoteau that the mccabe stuff is worth looking at at all. in BABES, it's funny to hear him "directing" ("that's great, baby, keep going!") from off-camera. and _i_ was amused that the endlessly repeated theme song, credited to 'shelby', is ersatz WHAMMY-era b-52s, with a drum track thieved from "legal tender".

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

Sorority Babes is in desperate need of a Blu-ray or at least a little lightening up. It was shot way too dark!

What exactly is the premise of Revenge of the Babes? Is it another Revenge of the Nerds rip-off a la Assault of the Party Nerds?

spookyx3 said...

hmm. it's real simple: the popular girls want some "virgin meat" and the nerdy guys are more than happy to help. no hostility, no revenge, no us vs them. and as usual with this stuff, you get far, far less than what the co-opted title evokes.

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

Yep I know the drill there! I always wondered if some of the cast of Dreamaniac (a lot of "one time" actors in that one) were from some of DeCoteau's earlier porno films.

spookyx3 said...

i'd need to see DREAMANIAC again. i don't wanna.

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

Ha, tell me about it. I may have to zip through it again one day to do screen caps but I plan on using the fast forward liberally when I do.

spookyx3 said...

amusing discovery: almost all of GIRLFRIEND FROM HELL (1989) was shot at the BOWL-O-RAMA sorority house. didn't even click until around halfway through, when they showed the upstairs hallway and bathroom (brinke-bauer shower scene).

spookyx3 said...



https://letterboxd.com/film/sorority-babes-in-the-slimeball-bowl-o-rama-2/

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

I saw that! Doubt they'll be able to capture the magic of the first but at least Linnea, Michelle and Brinke will all be in it. I'm just worried about DeCoteau being co-director cause of how he botched the other two reunion movies with them. Maybe Brinke also directing will help matters.

spookyx3 said...

silly as it might seem, years ago this news would have really bugged me. i used to get pissed about the torrent of modern remakes, unnecessary sequels, and ill-advised exhumations. came to realize it didn't matter. i never see 'em, and in almost all cases i don't even remember they exist after a while.

besides, rather than needing to vent, bringing back the BOWL-O-RAMA title thirty two years later (!) just makes me feel more surprised and sad than anything else.

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

Kind of wish Charles Band was directing it to be honest since Trophy Heads turned out halfway decent / fun. There will also be sequels to Head of the Family and Subspecies in this new batch of movies. I recently tried watching some lazy mash up with scenes from Gingerdead Man and the Evil Bong movies that showed up on Tubi recently. Dreadful!

spookyx3 said...

i'm just gonna ignore SORORITY BABES 2020. don't think i'd get curious even if the reviews are somehow overwhelmingly positive.

the proliferation of full-moon comps lately is presumably just a super cheap way to fill out their subscription streaming catalog. one of the anthologies i got "tricked" into (2hr running time was the giveaway) didn't even have new wraparounds.

(everything about EVIL BONG says "hard pass" to me, BUT it was the only selection on 13 NIGHTS OF ELVIRA i hadn't seen. she didn't cut in nearly enough!)

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

I noticed the new Sorority Babes has started filming (at least according to IMDb) but I wonder what effect Covid is having on the production.

spookyx3 said...

new tie-in comic: https://www.fullmooncomix.com/post/deadly-spotlight-8

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

The "sorority babes" look more like cheerleader bimbos.

*Bad flashback to Chainsaw Cheerleaders*

spookyx3 said...

nothing in brinke's latest (december 2020) fan club site update about SORORITY BABES 2 beyond "i was slated to direct three feature films this year [then COVID happened]."

i've seen three of the four completed "deadly ten" films. all pretty useless.

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

I've not watched any of the Deadly Ten's yet. The only ones I remember being interested in were the new Subspecies and Sorority Babes. Oh, and maybe Castle Freak, even though I didn't LOVE the original.

spookyx3 said...

gordon's CASTLE FREAK really worked for me. came to the rescue when horror was in bad shape and my favorite directors were floundering. i read the new one teases a RE-ANIMATOR reboot. would make me mad, heh.

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

I haven't seen it since it came out so, who knows, I may have a higher opinion of it now.

spookyx3 said...

i saw it just once. my DVD (bought in 2002??) is still sealed. almost makes me question rebuying anything on blu-ray.

spookyx3 said...

re SORORITY BABES 2, earlier this year:

LQ: I don’t know! They keep talking about it. I don’t know if it’s because of Covid. Nobody has come to me and asked me about it, even though they have me in it. It’s very odd. I don’t know what’s going on. Everyone is like, “This is coming out and you’re playing this or that” and I’m like, “I don’t know anything about it yet”. Nobody has said anything. I guess they assume that I’m going to do it.

[https://www.horrorgeeklife.com/2021/03/29/interview-talking-horror-with-scream-queen-linnea-quigley]

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

Probably a blessing in disguise if this doesn't happen. As much as I'd like to see the three together again, they'd probably shoot 2 minute cameos for each and not even have them in the same room.

spookyx3 said...

yep. they're doing it just to do it. shoot a sequel a year or two later, max. not after three decades as part of a stunt, which they still haven't pulled off.

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

Have you seen The Trouble with Barry? I didn't like it but it's worth watching the first five minutes for Brinke, Linnea and Michelle. Easily the best part of the film. Feel free to turn it off after their scene. lol

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

Forgot to add it's on Tubi.

spookyx3 said...

> Feel free to turn it off after their scene. lol

done! that was fun, thanks.

still haven't attempted 1313: COUGAR CULT (there's 14 of these??).

spookyx3 said...

hmm. there's more of these reunions than i thought: https://letterboxd.com/film/3-scream-queens/

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

I have "watched" both of those and by "watched" I mean I watched the SQ scenes and fast forwarded through the rest. Seeing how I'd gladly watch the three of them discuss paint drying for an hour and a half, I at least enjoyed their scenes. Speaking of paint drying, the rest of both of those movies is the usual DeCoteau shtick with shirtless buff guys exercising, walking around, etc. for what feels like an eternity. It appears Trophy Heads is the best we're gonna get. I wish Jason Paul Collum (who did the Screaming in High Heels doc) would try his hand at making one.

spookyx3 said...

just going by the titles and artwork, decoteau's modern stuff looks like it was all made by AI.

> Jason Paul Collum

i'd trust him, yup. wouldn't be surprised if he had a script ready to go.

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

I'd at least look forward to watching what he'd come up with, as opposed to knowing going in that 75% of the movie was going to be beefcake filler. He's been one of the only directors to actually utilize Brinke's acting abilities in the past, oh, 20 or so years.

I saw on his FB page that Michelle is going to be in his new movie "Mark of the Devil 777," though he says it's a cameo.

spookyx3 said...

SB2 filming now. don't know if decoteau's actively involved anymore.

https://tinyurl.com/3t9jke8c [brinke on set]

> GIRLFRIEND FROM HELL (1989) was shot at the BOWL-O-RAMA sorority house.

robin rochelle's wearing the demon-babs wig in daniel peterson's first movie, VAMPIRE KNIGHTS (1988).

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

Looks like it'll be somewhat disappointing (for me at least!) since it doesn't appear the Linnea and Michelle are gonna be in it now. Linnea was removed from the cast list and looks like Kelli Maroney will be taking her place playing "Mother Snake" (instead of "Spider"). I saw photos on Kelli's Twitter and it's just her surrounded by a young cast. Michelle and Brinke are still listed on IMDb though in the cast, though I have not seen any photos of them acting on set. Don't mind DeCoteau not being involved but was hoping the three SQs would be in it. The fact they're not removes a lot of my interest in the movie right there!

spookyx3 said...

sigh. already a terrible idea when it was announced, shaping up to be just another hour of "content" for FM's streaming service.

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

I was able to verify that both Brinke and Michelle have both filmed scenes for it. Probably will be on screen for a couple of minutes or something to make room for the younger actresses. No Linnea though!

spookyx3 said...

i'm 95% sure i'll never see it. still interested in brinke's 2018 short film -- PERSONAL DEMONS, written with ted newsom -- which should get a wider release in some form as part of (gulp) TERROR TOONS 4 (2023?).

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

Ah Terror Toons 4, which has been in production for like almost a decade now! Wonder what the big hold up was there? I'll actually probably watch because I watched the other 3 and due to Brinke, Linnea and Debbie Rochon.

Have you watched any of Jim Wynorski's latest films with Full Moon? I tried to give them a shot on Tubi and... yikes. Not for me I'm afraid.

spookyx3 said...

imagine going back in time and showing these guys what they end up putting their names on. predictably my last wynorski is SORCERESS (1995).

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

A little update on the sequel. I listened to a podcast while I was on a plane last week and Brinke was the guest. According to her, she and Michelle plays ghosts of their characters in the original and they will factor prominently into the plot. Linnea was slated to reprise her Spider role but broke her foot a week before shooting and had to be replaced by Maroney at the last minute. Maroney will be playing Spider's sister.

spookyx3 said...

all three in THE NIGHT JANE WENT INSANE (2023); quigley & bauer are voice-only. it's... OK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SJBeQP4aSI

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

That actually wasn't too bad! Better than most of the recent full-length features I watched.

I saw where Terror Toons 4 was put on Tubi and... I'm thinking about it. May just do some browsing to check out scenes with the actresses I like and call it a day.

spookyx3 said...

thanks! i went straight for PERSONAL DEMONS (starts at 36:02). the actual animated "special effects" hurt to watch, but when it's just the actors and green-screen (early FMV aesthetics) it's almost kinda charming.

The Bloody Pit of Horror said...

Glad to know it's not COMPLETELY awful. I figured I'd at least enjoy the scenes with Brinke, Linnea, Debbie Rochon, etc.

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