Fraternity of Horror (1964)

Fraternity of Horror (1964). 1h 8m

“In this amateur-ish haunted house film, three American fraternity pledges and their unfortunate dates have two hours to complete a quest in a local spooky mansion. The prize is $100, an amount that makes these 1964 characters goggle-eyed with excitement. Before things get going, the Spinners sing a song called u0026quot;Watusi Girlu0026quot; to pad out the frat party opening. There is a hokey, Scooby-Doo-like charm to the simple proceedings in the mansion, and probably the whole thing would be more fun with a better print; itu0026#39;s likely the only one weu0026#39;ll ever have is this incredibly muddy and murky video transfer. That said, the film has quite an effective finale and peculiarly downbeat ending. As silly as the idea for the revealed antagonist is, the cacophony of non-stop screaming on the soundtrack that begins once he appears, the frantic acting that one can barely discern, and the creepy, dead-eyed mask on the villain (that looks a bit like Michael Myersu0026#39;s) manage to briefly create an atmosphere of hysterical fear. Unfortunately, even with this short running time, itu0026#39;s a bit of a chore to get there.”