The October
Review Marathon keeps coming here at Crappy Movie Reviews. This time around I
thought we would check in on an early Tiffany Shepis flick directed by Rolfe
Kanefsky. These are two of my favorites from the independent scene of the late
nineties and early two thousands. Plus, Brad Dourif gets to chew some scenery
as the bad guy!
Dourif’s
Professor Kapps is frolicking with a beautiful young lady when the topic turns
to his interest in the occult. Before long he is killing and sacrificing her to
unlock some great evil power. Sadly, he is interrupted by some kids pledging
their frat/sorority (I guess this is co-ed now?) and ends up dead. Panicking
they take his magic book and I guess his scepter because of fingerprints,
intending to destroy them later. After their scavenger hunt is over, which is
why they were in Kapps’ looking for items on the list, they have to spend the
night in a haunted house. Can you see what is about to happen?
Kapps didn’t
actually die but is in a coma and is able to use his new power to possess one
of the college kids who killed him. The rest are to be used as a sacrifice to
open the gateway to hell in the basement of the house. The remainder of the
movie is them getting picked off in gruesome ways while trying to figure out a
way to save themselves.
This isn’t
an original idea and feels very much like another take on Night of the Demons,
but it is well made and a lot of fun. The story kicks off with Dourif being
evil, which is always a good time. Then we are introduced to our main
characters, including a couple of very beautiful ladies in Tiffany Shepis and
Nectar Rose. Their introduction is awesome in that sort of Sorority Babes in
the Slime Bowl-o-Rama way. Well maybe not that much skin, but it isn’t far from
it. Then shenanigans are had with something bloody, silly, or sexy happening
every second of the way until the end credits.
The gore
and makeup are decent and spread evenly throughout the movie. Some of the
highlights are a head hitting the floor, someone getting skewered, and a death
by lawn dart. Seriously people those things were dangerous! There is also a gag
with a mannequin that worked way better than it should have. We also get a
couple members of the cast “Demoned” out after they have been possessed. It is
a simple makeup effect but works perfectly on camera. The fact that all of the
above is done with old school practical makeup effects makes me love the movie
that much more.
This might
be why I enjoy The Hazing so much. It follows the formula that so many great
movies did in the “good old days”. I’ve already mentioned a couple of those
movies while describing this one and there are more comparisons that can be
made. I don’t consider this a bad thing since not every movie needs to break
new ground or be art. Sometimes you can just have an entertaining romp with all
the “boxes” being checked. That is what the Hazing is for me. You could toss
this in the middle of an eighties marathon and probably wouldn’t notice the
difference. I consider that high praise. I highly recommend The Hazing.
© Copyright 2019 John Shatzer
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