Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (The Last Drive-In)

Film Year:  1988
Genre:  Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
Director:  David DeCoteau
Starring:  Linnea Quigley, Michelle Bower, Brinke Stevens, Andras Jones, Hal Havins, Robin Rochelle, Buck Flower, Dukey Flyswatter

The Movie

A trio of horny college nerds (two of which seem to be in a competition as to who looks more like Cory Feldman in Stand By Me) are caught spying on a spank-filled sorority initiation by the sorority sisters themselves.  They are then "punished" to help the pledges with their final task of stealing a trophy from the local bowling alley.  At the alley, they bump into a punk girl who is robbing the place, who helps them break into the trophy case.  They accidentally knock the trophy open and a magical imp pops out.  He grants them all wishes at first, but then turns more mischievous and murderous as the night goes on.

Reviewing Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama is a thankless task, since you probably know if you'll enjoy the movie based on reading the title.  For the most part, you'll get what you paid for, as there are a few college girls (several disrobed to the bare minimum) and there's a bowling alley.  It can also be properly deduced from the title that the film doesn't quite desire to be taken seriously, which is a safe assumption to make.  The film is a comedy, though how successful of one may depend on your personal taste.  Considering the rather risque resumes of certain production members, it's not so surprising that the humor of the film wouldn't feel all that alien in a soft core porn film.  A lot of it is cheesy and broad, very little of it is actually witty or land with much precision.  But I won't lie, as sometimes the film managed to get a chuckle out of me when I least expected it.  Not often, though maybe the film's stupidity was wearing me down and I was starting to meet it at its level.  I also kind of liked that the reluctant hero if the film was a burglar who gets sucked up into it because she just happens to be there.

Creatively, the film seems to stem from a variety of sources.  The ordinary people in a horrific situation turning into wacky antics seems like it's borrowing from Return of the Living Dead (and even shares actress Linnea Quigley with that film).  The idea of friends becoming possessed and turning against one another in a sadistically playful manner has slight echos of Evil Dead.  But the movie that I most couldn't get out of my head while watching Sorority Babes is everyone's favorite MSTed movie, Hobgoblins.  These movies have a lot in common, and not just the overtly silly stabs at humor and innuendos underlining the film either.  Both films include magical critters that bring your dreams to life and eventually turn them against you.  Sorority Babes is a better film than Hobgoblins, to be fair, though the aim of both films is pretty much exactly the same.

It's a weird and hastily made movie that is made to appease the desires of its target demographic without putting more effort into it than its worth.  Every once in a while it feels like it's putting a slight bit of thought into itself, which is more thought than I think most will give it credit for.  There is one scene in particular that sticks with me in which one of the nerds gives the wish to the imp to make one of the pledges his sex slave, which the imp obliges, though when they head into the other room to do the nasty, he suddenly has second thoughts and considers that this is against her wishes and asks her to stop, though she continues to sex him up.  I would have though most productions of this ilk would just think to themselves "SEX AND BOOBIES!" without acknowledging just how rapey this entire concept is of turning a woman into a man's own pleasure toy without her consent.  Instead it takes a step back and decides to address that for a moment...before deciding it's best course of action is to portray it as sexual assault on both sides instead of overruling the act altogether.  Because two wrongs make a right?

I wasn't really sure how I would have described this movie.  So far this review is going on a lot longer than I thought it would have, and it's probably more words than Sorority Babes deserves.  But the simplest thing I can say is that the movie is exactly what you'd expect it to be.  If you think that sounds amazing, then go nuts.

The Drive-In

I'm not too convinced Joe Bob had much to say about Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama, as I took far fewer notes while watching this episode than I have been in other episodes.  He seems mostly attracted to the fact that the film stars three 80's scream queens Linnea Quigley, Michelle Bower, and Brinke Stevens.  I can't claim much familiarity with the trio personally, with the exception of Quigley, who I mostly remember from her very...ahem...revealing performance in Return of the Living Dead.  I'm sure if Joe Bob continues The Last Drive-In for years to come (fingers crossed) I'll become more acquainted with the other two, as he treats the trio like royalty.  He shares the most information on Quigley, and gives comparison to the other two, claiming that you're either "a Michelle person, a Brinke person, or a Linnea person" depending on if you like your women nerdy, trashy, or tough.  But he settles that debate by deducing that Linnea would likely win in a three-way catfight.

Info on the rest of the film is fairly light.  He touches upon David DeCoteau's prolific career (who is the second director in this marathon to helm films in the Puppet Master series, after Tourist Trap's David Schmoeller) and has some slight production tidbits like the film being shot in nine days.  He jokes that the film is proof that you can "Have a script by Tuesday, film it on Wednesday, and have it in the video store by Thursday."  Info on cast members outside of the scream queen trio is fairly minimum as he mostly name drops them and lists a few films they've been in, including the primary piece of trivia for Robin (Rochelle) Stille's being her suicide.  Most of Joe Bob's bumpers are just snarky comments about the film, like asking why there are only three members of this sorority.  He also offers a random tangent about an actor's subtext, using Michelle Bower's sex scene as an example of "This nerd is making me horny!" subtext, then concluding "guys don't have subtext, only girls have subtext."

I think Joe Bob just showed this movie for the sake of showing this movie.  It's a nutty little movie, though there isn't anything particularly interesting to say about it.  The most memorable Joe Bob segment is the first, where he rants about the Los Angeles public transportation.  Sorority Babes is a crazy movie, but this episode isn't quite a crazy experience, though if you're all in for the movie itself you'll get the most out of it.

Joe Bob's Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐