★ 5 / 10
Watchable (just barely) but also highly predictable 1980s
JPV852
Watchable (just barely) but also highly predictable 1980s slasher that has some good-bad moments here and there, but nearly enough to make it a recommendation.…
Watchable (just barely) but also highly predictable 1980s slasher that has some good-bad moments here and there, but nearly enough to make it a recommendation. The lead actress, Pamela Ludwig, was at least easy on the eyes and gives an okay performance, but everything else really doesn't work. Heck, the end feels like the culmination of a Scooby-Doo episode. **2.25/5**
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★ 6 / 10
**_Nancy Drew goes to college where there’s an
Wuchak
**_Nancy Drew goes to college where there’s an axe-murderer_** A journalism student (Pamela Ludwig) transfers to a university in SoCal during a notorious…
**_Nancy Drew goes to college where there’s an axe-murderer_**
A journalism student (Pamela Ludwig) transfers to a university in SoCal during a notorious fraternity’s rush week ceremonies. When attractive female coeds go missing and are curiously underreported, she investigates, but this attracts the attention of the axe-wielding antagonist.
“Rush Week” is a mystery/slasher that was released direct-to-video in the UK at the end of 1989, and not made available in the USA until early 1991. I point this out because it doesn’t have the ‘feel’ of a theatrical release. While there’s some nudity, there’s hardly any gore until the final ‘kill’ (not that I care personally; I’m just reporting). Despite being second tier, it should be enjoyed by fans of, say, "Happy Birthday to Me" (1981), “Zombie High” (1987) and the later “Class Warfare” (2001).
Ludwig works well as the star with her distinctive, pretty face. She was 28 during shooting and left acting for good in 1990 after an 11-year career where breakout success was denied her. Also on the feminine front, Kathleen Kinmont, from “Halloween 4” (1988), has a noteworthy sequence in the opening act. Meanwhile Heidi Holicker is a highlight as Sarah in a small part; you might remember her as Stacey in “Valley Girl” (1983).
On the other side of the gender spectrum, Gregg Allman from the Allman Brothers, and Cher’s ex-hubby, has a notable cameo as an aged-hippie “faculty advisor.”
While this has a comic booky direct-to-video vibe, it’s colorful and a fitting choice if you’re in the mood for something Halloween-ish, like "Night of the Creeps" (1986), just not as good production-wise. I’d watch it any day over the overrated and ridiculously contrived “Scream” (1996). Sure, this is contrived and cartoonish too, not to mention predictable, but it’s more palatable and less eye-rolling.
The film runs 1 hour, 36 minutes, and was shot in Los Angeles at the VA Hospital in Brentwood and the Higgins-Verbeck-Hirsch Mansion in Windsor Square.
GRADE: B-
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★ 5 / 10
Low on gore but there's boobs galore!
Stevieboy666
It is Rush Week at Tambers College and several female students have vanished after posing for topless photos taken by the very suspicious looking kitchen cook.…
It is Rush Week at Tambers College and several female students have vanished after posing for topless photos taken by the very suspicious looking kitchen cook. The Principal doesn't seem too concerned and there's not a police officer in sight so it's down to new student Toni Daniels (Pamela Ludwig) to investigate. "This is real life, not some stupid horror movie" says one character at the start, stupid maybe not but certainly not good either. The Golden Age of the Slasher Movie was long dead by 1989 though Jason, Michael and Freddy were still busy slashing teens in their respective franchises. So Rush Week is several years late to the party but for fans of the sub genre it is still a slasher movie that is worth seeing (though maybe just once). There is plenty of female nudity plus a lot of the men show - or "moon" - their bare backsides, however gore is in very short supply. Apart from a fairly decent decapitation all of the other kills are either off-screen or blood free, and this is a real shame because it lets the film down. There are a couple of red herrings but the identity of the killer comes as absolutely no surprise. The acting is pretty good and it does have that wonderful 1980's look, feel and sound, it just lacks the crucial red stuff.
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11%
AUDIENCE
· 50 ratings
5.0/10
1K
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Seed please :)