Pranks DVD with Laurie Lapinski, Stephen Sachs, David Snow (R) +Movie Reviews

1982 U.S. slasher movie, that says it all

B-Movie Nightmares | Sparks, NV United States | 04/27/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Another 80's college film in which all the "students" look older than expected. College girl Joanne Murray takes on the unenviable job of readying the student housing building to become apartments, which includes selling the unneeded furniture, etc. This takes place during a break, so a mysterious psycho is stalking the nearly-empty premises on campus. Need more?Who's the killer? Is it weirdo John Hemmit from Room 25, an older resident of the dorm with a fuzzy Bozo-the clown balding head? He's played by "Woody Roll," by the way. Or is it jeans-jacket wearing redneck Bobby Lee, who hits on our heroine? Watch it and see.As you can imagine, this is typical slasher stuff, with overly dramatic music that sounds ripped off from "Psycho." Don't expect anything earth-shattering; you do get a cheapie, yet solid release for fans of 80's slasher/horror. No real extras on the DVD, however, save a biography of supporting actress Daphne Zuniga in her film debut, amazingly she went on to 80's moneymakers like The Sure Thing, VisionQuest and Spaceballs. After that...Toxic Avenger 3, anyone???It's not like the grainy print is retouched or anything...who's gonna bother? 80's horror fanatics will still love this cheesefest that was like a poor man's "Pieces??" I don't know, it's not as gory and weird as Pieces, but it's in that same mindless yet fun stalk n' slash vein....Expect a low budget, some bad acting, and if those are things you are able to tolerate then Pranks ain't half bad. Best served with lots of beer and a roomful of friends."

Weak, formulaic and horrible acting!

HorrorMan | The Marsten House | 05/02/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"When I first purchased the low-budget movie named "Pranks", I didn't really know what to expect. After all, "Pranks" is a slasher/horror movie from the 80s, a very fertile period for such movies and time period which quite honestly produced some pretty good slasher and horror movies in general...unfortunately, after viewing "Pranks", I can honestly say that this is not one of them.

"Pranks" is about a group of college kids who are staying on campus over the holidays preparing a building which is going to be torn down I think (herein lies another problem in that it is very difficult to understand what is going on in this movie because the acting is so poor). Obviously, most kids have gone home for Christmas and New Year's except for this group of kids and one "weird" kid who ostensibly becomes the lead suspect as gruesome murders begin to occur.

The murders remain largely unbeknownst to the characters in the movie, so the director and screenplay writer wanted to give the audience information to which the main characters are not privileged. The plot is decent enough although the execution is formulaic/generic and lacks luster throughout the film. One of the reasons for this is the pathetic acting we see in this movie, which really overshadows any kind of merit this movie is able to produce as a horror movie.

There is no question that "Pranks" is a low budget production to begin with and along with that, there is going to be some subpar acting, but the acting in "Pranks" is borderline-awful!! It is this acting and poor direction that really makes it difficult for the tasteful horror movie viewer to stay interested. In fact, the movie comes off very generic in style and substance, and rather predictable and boring. The only thing that is even remotely interesting are the kills which aren't too bad considering the era in which this movie came out from.

The Director does use some weak misdirection to attempt to keep the audience guessing as to who the killer is, but the savy horror movie audience can clearly identify the "weird guy" as a "red herring" as another reviewer put it. In summary, "Pranks" is a poorly executed attempt at a horror movie which suffers from terrible acting, extremely poor production values and flawed direction. The result is a dull, boring and weak horror movie with a few decent kills...certainly nothing to write home about. Also, as a final note, the actor who plays the killer does a terrible job and comes off, in the end at least, like a total wuss!"

Pranks is good- BUT...

S. Rinaldi | Melbourne, Victoria, AU | 02/02/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I LOVE this film- with all the reviews I read before I bought the actual DVD- everyone made it sound as if the DVD quality was EXTREMELY BAD. It was in some ways a little bad- but when it first came on my tv screen I thought it would be heaps worse! Its okay for me but the dark scenes (night) are often hard to see. It is heavily cut which kinda sucks- but all in all I still love it. I wish they finally came to their senses and made a normal DVD version from a company like CODE RED or ANCHOR BAY. They should keep all the gore intact and have it as the dorm that dripped blood which sounds more appealing with full original cover art! This movie rocks and if you're a slasher fan like I and an 80s one at that, then you should love this film! CHEESY at times and "different" acting but good. If you ever come across this on video BUY IT it'll be uncut and great! If you even find a DVD R uncut version then BUY THAT as well. However I still do recommend this to everyone. I loved it heaps!"

Pranks...On the viewer!

M. Ryan Fairbanks | Cleveland, Ohio | 07/16/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Ah yes, the "who-dunnit" slasher movies of the 80's. There were some pretty darn good ones like My Bloody Valentine, April Fool's Day, or even the original Friday the 13th to name a few. However for every good one, you can bet there were about a dozen bad ones...I think you know where I'm going with this.

Pranks AKA The Dorm that Dripped Blood is pretty much your standard fare where this type of movie is concerned. A group of college friends are closing down an old dormitory building when they find themselves being stalked by a mysterious killer. Meanwhile two or three red herrings are thrown the audience's way to keep them guessing.

Apart from the usual calling cards, there were two big problems with Pranks. First and foremost, the lighting in Pranks is HORRENDOUS! Lighting seems to be an issue with a lot of these slasher flicks, but speaking as someone who's watched a lot of them, I can honestly say that Pranks is probably the most poorly lit and difficult to watch movie I've seen to date. Secondly, this is one of the most blatantly cut DVD's I've ever seen. Nearly every death scene cuts away before we witness any blood letting. The cover art for the DVD is a picture of a cut death scene for goodness sakes! That boiled head? Yeah that's part of the movie, only you won't find it when you watch this DVD because it's cut out. I'm not saying that re-inserting gore scenes would magically transform Pranks into a good movie, but jeez, it would have spruced things up a little bit.

All in all, I'd say avoid Pranks altogether until an uncut DVD is released. When and if that ever happens, I'd recommend it only to die hard slasher completists."

Oh come on...is that your best shot!? I've seen way a worse

Jennifer M. Hensley | Hawaii | 02/24/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"When I bought 'P R A N K S' -aka- 'The Dorm That Dripped Blood', I was expecting to witness the worst of the worst in the slasher genre. The below average, run-of-the-mill, whodunit, 80's slasher. I thought it would be a film that consist of one or two unoriginal kills, slow pacing, plot holes, laughable acting (which I personally enjoy), annoying music score, bad lighting, and the standard ending that most 80's slashers have. Seriously, I thought it was going to be the typical-two-steps-below an 80's slasher like, 'Graduation Day' for example. Well, yes, my gut instinct was MOSTLY right. There are several unoriginal kills. My problem is not that the kills are unoriginal, it's that when I expect to watch a B-Slasher, I want GORE. It doesn't have to be realistic gore. It could be cheesy gore as in '100 TEARS'-style gore. There are only two scenes that gave me the gory goods. Most of the kills, the camera pans away. Also, 'PRANKS' does have somewhat of a slow pace but the parts that are slow, seem interesting to me. However, it would seem to be in the films favor if there was a plot hole. Haha. That's right. You heard me. Mainly because I don't understand why the killer becomes THAT nuts!!! It just seems out of nowhere in an uncool kinda way. Somewhat goofy. The acting isn't the best but again, I'm proven wrong on my prediction. I've seen much much much worse acting than this. Believe me. The music score is decent. Some of the sounds used for "fright" scenes worked for me. Yes, some bad lighting is a problem but it isn't as bad as some other Horror flicks like, 'HUMONGOUS' or 'The DEMON'. 'PRANKS' just needs better treatment because this edition is copied strait from VHS. At least it's a decent VHS copy. Doesn't have quite the Grindhouse look. Haha. The ending to 'PRANKS' is AWESOME!!! This is what makes it all worthwhile. It surprised me. All in all, I was entertained and am glad to have it in my Horror collection.

'PRANKS', in my opinion, is a slasher that doesn't rank up there with 'Graduation Day' or even 'Slaughter High'. Just as 'Graduation Day' and others I've mentioned don't rank up there with other 80's slashers such as 'MANIAC' or even 'Intruder'. 'Friday the 13th' being a perfect example of being right at the top level of 80's slashers. 'PRANKS' does rank with 'Girls Night Out', 'Night School', 'Honeymoon Horror', 'The SLAYER', 'Blood Hook', and 'The PREY'(1983). I do find 'PRANKS' to be far better than 'Don't Go in the Woods...Alone!', 'The FOREST', and 'Scalps'. I do like 'Don't Go in the Woods...Alone! and those others i've mentioned, but for different reasons. I hope this is a helpful way in my part by using the "slasher grading system". A nutty system in my head when comparing to other 80's slashers. I know I'm not the only one that does this. Let's just say that if you didn't enjoy 'Prom Night' and you think that's a boring flick, than you better stay far away from 'PRANKS' and other slashers I've mentioned ranking on that same level.

I'd say you should have a wide variety of Horror in your collection because you never know what your going to be in the mood for. Plus, your attitude towards certain Horror titles may change in time. I actually enjoyed all of 'Don't Go in the House' for the first time tonight. I remember not liking that one but now I love it. But that will be another "review".
"

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