punishmentpark I'm surprised at how unappreciated this vicious slasher is. Maybe it helped that before this, I saw the truly inferior slasher 'Drive-in massacre' and was happy to be able to see what was actually going here, but I'll try to explain why I liked this one even beyond that.The characters are all slasher-worthy; American (post-)teens with their typical problems, played by enthusiastic amateurs (as far as I know and can tell). Laurie Lapinski's lead character won me over in a second, and it was especially nice to see Daphne Zuniga, as well. To say anything about one particular other actor, I would have to get into the plot, which I do not want to do, other than have you know that how 'Death dorm' unfolds is pretty awesome (even if storywise, this is no brilliant feat - at all). Then there's a good load of gore, which must be considered one of the key ingredients for slashers. Another one of those ingredients, gratuitous nudity, is rather poorly represented, but still, it's there.The film is nicely shot, which always helps. This one wins by surplus of perfect slasher elements, rather than being a perfect slasher. A good 7 out of 10.

Toronto85 A deranged killer attacks a group of students in 'The Dorm That Dripped Blood'. Five university students volunteer over the Christmas break to close up the dorm, clean up things around campus. PRetty soon we see that some maniac has the intention of killing them. He or she knocks off a couple of students (violently), and then starts playing pranks on our main group left at the campus. The psychopath destroys a huge dinner they make, cuts the phone lines, fixes the lights to shut off, etc. Very soon, the murderer starts attacking our main group leading to the identity being revealed in an interesting little ending.I thought 'The Dorm That Dripped Blood' was a good addition to 80's slashers, but didn't have the same flash that some of the other films at that time had. Production values seemed low in this one, so a lot of the film is poorly lit. The acting isn't the best ever, Laurie Lapinski was okay as the lead heroine. Daphne Zuniga, who is probably the most famous in the cast, puts in a good performance. Nothing spectacular, but nothing that took away from the film in a negative way. The scares are well done, the location of the dark dorm/campus helps in that! We get some stalking scenes with the killer and the characters which were creepy. The killer's identity is weak, but doesn't make this a bad film at all.I highly recommend 'The Dorm That Dripped Blood' to all horror fans. It is a relatively unknown slasher film that I don't believe has ever had a proper DVD release in North America. Check it out if you can! 7/10

Scarecrow-88 A co-op building is to be emptied and torn down and a skeleton crew of college students are assigned the difficult task of getting everything underway, with only two weeks to get the job taken care of during the Christmas holiday. Interference will come in the form of a killer, quietly dispatching anyone in the building when they are alone and vulnerable. The co-op and surrounding campus provides the killer plenty of room to hide and strike when he is good and ready. THE DORM THAT DRIPPED BLOOD(I watched it under the title PRANKS)consists of a hell of a lot of "walking and investigating" with a heavy emphasis on point-of-view(through the eyes of the killer as he moves about in the co-op building)and shrieking instrumental strings. The filmmakers seem to care more about building dread, but, for me, it was little more than dragging a rather, truth be told, non-eventful story to it's conclusion. The revelation of the killer is rather ho-hum and his motive is particularly lackluster, although the climax is surprisingly grim. The violence is mostly tame or off-screen and includes the use of a garrote, baseball bat, machete, knife, and drill. Pretty disappointing, I must admit, because the building is a strong setting for a slasher if it is able to successfully grip the viewer. But, the languid pace and long stretches where nothing happens sink this slasher, in my opinion. There's a bum hanging around used as a red herring device, but I figure the killer's identity will come as no surprise. Early role for television veteran, character actress, Daphne Zuniga(herself getting her own slasher to star in two years later in THE INITIATION). Laurie Lapinski(whose only role is this film)is the final girl, Joanne, who deserves nothing that awaits her. Stephen Sachs is a practical joker, Craig..and a practical wiseass. David Snow is Joanne's kind buddy, Brian, with Pamela Holland as Patti, the other girl helping on the clean up.

slayrrr666 "The Dorm That Dripped Blood" is a more than acceptable slasher entry.**SPOILERS**Attending a college party, Joanne Murray, (Laura Lapinski) Debbie, (Daphne Zuniga) Patti, (Pamela Holland) Brian, (David Snow) and Craig, (Stephen Sachs) overhear from her boyfriend Tim, (Robert Frederick) that the dorm is being demolished. Volunteering to stay behind over Christmas break to remove items inside and make it suitable for demolishing, they soon get to work and are able to get the work started. Hearing strange noises around, they each go off in search of the source, and find handyman John Hemmit, (Woody Roll) is still on campus. As the noises continue and the group soon starts to mysteriously disappear. As the group begins to notice the disappearances, they finally realize that a psychotic killer is in the school and is targeting them, forcing the survivors to band together to get through the night.The Good News: While not a perfect slasher, this is still a very enjoyable one. Perhaps it's best attribute is that it manages to do what most others think is a lock but rarely achieve, the perfect setting for the slaughter. Being inside a building slated for demolition ensures that the victims will be completely isolated since it's going to be marked off anyway, and thus providing insurance against those trying to help out. The place itself is quite a perfect setting, as the place really looks like it's condemned and able to be torn down and makes it all the more believable. The long, extremely dark corridors provide tons of areas to trap people in, chase them around or keeping their corpse around without fear of discovery yet come across as being part of the design of the place, not merely because of anything on the killer's part. There's some great stalking going on as well, with some pretty chilling scenes popping up here and there. The dorm kill is absolutely chilling, the scene in the bathroom has a macabre sense of chills and once the lights go out, it's simply packed with suspense. The entire final chase through the pipes and darkened hallways is completely suspenseful, and manages to come away with a large amount of tension. There's a real sense of urgency through the scenes, coming up with some great, innovative scenes here that are creative and quite necessary under the situation and make it all the more fun. There's even some pretty juicy kills in here. There's a razor-wire strangulation, a head crushed when a car drives over it, a hole bored in the back of the head with an electric drill, a spiked baseball bat bashed into the forehead, a hand split open from a machete and being dunked into a boiling vat of water among more that really helps this along. There all quite brutal and manage to get a jolt out. The film's last great quality is it's spectacular ending. It's one of the best twists in the genre, coming out of nowhere and being completely shocking as well, which is then upped all the more from the fact that even after that, there's a second series of twists that comes out which is such a departure from the others out there that it just makes it all the better and more fun. Overall, this is a highly impressive slasher effort.The Bad News: There isn't a whole lot here that doesn't work. One of the main things is that there's a really long portion in the beginning of the film before it really gets going. There's way too many senseless point-of-view shots that don't mean anything to the long, stalking scenes that are thrown in for no reason at all and don't even conclude in a false scare. These, along with the scenes of them running around doing their work or with each other that really make the beginning a little longer than normal. It's also quite a stretch to believe that so many of them would be so clueless about what's really going on. It takes place over several days, and the ones that are knocked off early are made to seem like they just dropped off the face of the earth, and these are then dismissed out-of-hand and forgotten about instead of causing cause for concern, especially as it grows later in the film. The last really big flaw is that the revelation of the killer and their motives is a little tough to swallow. They're not all that bad, and the reveal is a nice shock, but the fact that it's who it's revealed to be and the reasoning behind it don't really make any sense. That's the main problem with that one. These are pretty obvious ones, and while they may not be really relevant, they are important from keeping this from a classic slasher.The Final Verdict: While not all that bad, it's few minor flaws manage to keep this one out of the greats of the slasher genre. It's still a really entertaining entry, and that in itself should enable slasher aficionados to seek this one out, as it's a really enjoyable, but those seeking a definitive slasher should look elsewhere.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Language and Brief Nudity