The Dorm That Dripped Blood is a 1982 American slasher film directed by Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter, and starring Pamela Susan Shoop, David Labiosa, and Joel D. Wynkoop. The film follows a group of students who are stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant while staying in a dormitory over Christmas break.
An early 80’s slasher movie with a reputation for nastiness, most horror buffs will know The Dorm That Dripped Blood by the name Pranks, as that’s been it’s going name for quite some time now. It was one of the hordes of low budget slasher flicks that emerged from the early 80’s and garnered cult status on it’s way. Synapse has recently released a new fangled Blu-ray under The Dorm That Dripped Blood moniker, fully uncut, so we thought we’d get a review in.
It is old, it looks old and it feels old. The gore, whilst being brutal for the early 80’s isn’t really that nasty by today’s standards. The acting quality isn’t particularly impressive either. The vast majority of the cast are unknowns with the exception of Daphne Zuniga. This was her first movie in fact and yeah she is decent in it, though her part sadly, is fairly short.
Has time been good to The Dorm That Dripped Blood? As you can probably guess I’d have to say no on that count, it’s slow, not really that scary (saying that though, it does have its tense moments) and the gore is too light, for my tastes it is any who. On the positive side the storyline is pretty decent and it does have a good ending but it’s too late to save the movie.
I can really only recommend this one to fans of it from back in the day, I’m pretty sure that long term fans will still get their kicks from it and with Synapse putting out a decent (though not stellar) looking Blu-ray you’ve now got the perfect chance to re-enjoy this movie again, fully uncut. It also includes a solid commentary from the directors Stephen Carpenter and Jeffrey Obrow on it.
The Dorm That Dripped Blood is an underrated slasher film that deserves more attention. The film has a creepy atmosphere, good kills, and a likable cast of characters. The Dorm That Dripped Blood is a fun watch for any fan of the genre.
Synopsis
The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1982) is an American slasher film directed by Stephen Carpenter and Jeffrey Obrow. The film stars Pamela Stein, David Mucci, and Traci Lin.
The film follows a group of college students who are preparing to spend the summer break renovating a dormitory. However, the dorm is haunted by the spirit of a girl who was murdered there, and the students begin to die one by one.
Will the students be able to survive the night, or will the ghost of the murdered girl have her revenge?
Movie Details
Directors: Stephen Carpenter, Jeffrey Obrow
Writers: Stephen Carpenter, Jeffrey Obrow, Stacey Giachino
Actors: Laurie Lapinski, Stephen Sachs, David Snow, Pamela Holland
Release Year: 1982
AKA: Pranks, Death Dorm