Pledge Night (1990) Review

To anyone English the world of fraternities is a real oddity. Non-existent in UK universities our entire relationship and understanding of them comes from movies. From Animal House to Old School, House Bunny to Van Wilder, Pledge to The House on Sorority Row what we have learned is that being part of a fraternity or sorority involves lots of parties, pranks and most of all initiations.

As an audience we also understand that these ancient and embarrassing rituals that gain an applicant entry to the sacred group they are attempting to join can be hilarious or horrifying depending in the genre of the film we are watching. The 1990 cult classic Pledge Night manages to move between the two as the hapless pledges go from comedy to carnage when an ancient evil is unleashed.

Interestingly for a film all about the American college experience there is a strong anti-fraternity element to Pledge Night, which is written by Joyce Snyder, which sees the first act purposely portray the humiliating process of hell week in all its sadistic glory.

Following Larry Bonner (Todd Eastland) and the other five initiates we watch as they are spanked, forced to eat and drink disgusting things and psychologically tortured by the gleeful guys who lead the house of Phi Up and seem to relish every minute of it.

The rituals we watch are dehumanising and degrading reducing the boys to obedient animals and this attitude is echoed in the fraternity’s treatment of the women in the film who are seen as either subservient sorority sisters or local meat to be used and abused.

In fact hazing, which takes place not only in US colleges and universities but in sports teams and military units as well as many other countries, has been prohibited in many places and as of 2019, the US has 44 states that have passed laws prohibiting hazing because of the dangers and many deaths related to it.

Setting up the students the frat boys inform the newbie’s that one of their potential brothers Dan (Arthur Lundquist) has gone insane causing them to fear the process even more. Ironically Dan is in fact losing his mind and more importantly taking the japes too far, branding Larry with a red hot poker rather than using the intended replacement that has been dipped in ice.

As things progress Larry’s mother visits him to make sure he is okay seeing that the town has banned hazing after an accidental death in the 60’s involving a boy named Sid (played in the flashback by Anthrax lead singer Joey Belladonna) being dissolved in a bath of acid in a hoax gone horrifically wrong.

After taking the fraternity experience semi-seriously Pledge Night makes a sharp turn into the ridiculous in its second act as the spirit of Acid Sid (now played by Will Kempe) returns to reap revenge on anyone and everyone in the frat house. With the pledges passing the first few deaths off as a prank they start to take things seriously when they realise Acid Sid has possessed Dan driving him to kill.

From here on the horror is amplified and hell week starts to literally live up to its name as the demonic force melts faces, bursts through bodies and tears the teens apart leaving the stragglers to band together and attempt to stop a seemingly indestructible undead entity from the 60’s.

The first directorial credit for Paul Ziller Pledge Night is an entertaining experience helped by its decent into insanity accompanied by a screeching soundtrack from thrash metal icons Anthrax. Sleazy and silly at times it also attempts to shine a little light on what goes on behind the fraternities closed doors making me very glad I went to Uni in the UK.

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