Description: Morgan Meadows Hall has been condemed and soon will be torn down. Five college students volunteer to close the structure during Christmas holiday. What ensues are bone-chilling events and narrow escapes from a murderer wielding a spiked baseball hat. E
This film feels like a "Prank". This low budget slasher film was made in the early 80's during the slasher craze and yet it was really dull and pathetic, I couldn't find anything interesting that happens during the course of the film except for Daphne Zuniga's character having the best death scene in the beginning (She gets run over by a car) but the violence in this film was very tame and there was just a small amount of gore that didn't work. A group of college students agree to spend their Christmas holidays clearing a derelict college of old furniture, unfortunately there happens to be an insane killer on the loose the acting in this film was completely awful and you'll realise that the actors look way too old to be cast as college kids. This film was very lame and terrible it felt like a waste of time, I suggest that you skip it and watch The burning or the Halloween series instead.
Weak Entry in the slasher pool `Pranks ", aka The Dorm that Dripped Blood is one of the most disappointing Slasher films from the 80's. Spoiler ahead. Its cheese appeal isn't even that good, I own it because I have a slasher collection ,I watch it about once a year thinking maybe it will grow on me but it doesn't. There are a couple of good kills but has very weak acting and I didn't like the characters ,it just didn't work for me and I even liked "Don't Go In The Woods Alone "its all in what you like I suppose but trust me it pretty much sucks...I'm sure Daphne Zuniga gags when she thinks of this movie. Plus she was one of the first to be killed anyway.
Weak, formulaic and horrible acting! 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!
Highly Enjoyable College Slasher. This is my 2nd Favourite College Slasher besides "House On SOrority Row". Impressive Gore, creative dath scenes and an early performance by Dathne Zuniga!
1982 U.S. slasher movie, that says it all 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.
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