Beautiful to the Death

And another horror remake: After "My bloody Valentine", "Stepfather" or most recently "A Nightmare on Elm Street" underwent a (actually unnecessary) fresh cell treatment, now the B-horror movie "The House on Sorority Row" from the early 80s had to take its turn. "Beautiful to Death" is certainly quite nice to look at, but doesn't provide the genre with a single fresh idea.

The story is quickly told: a joke by her friends from the sorority Theta Pi costs Megan (Audriana Patridge) her life. Knowing that Megan's death could mean the end of any possible career, the five girls make their friend's body disappear. But a few months later, when they have their degrees in the bag and are preparing to leave the frat house behind, and with it Megan's death, they find that their actions have not gone unobserved. Now a creepy killer sets out to avenge Megan's death...

The dialogue is occasionally unintentionally hilarious and the characters extremely cliched. Of course, there's the "good soul" in the form of Cassidy (Briana Evigan), who is opposed to making Megan's body disappear and turning herself in to the police from the start. Of course, there's also the career bitch (Leah Pipes as Jessica) who won't let that happen under any circumstances. Rumer Willis, daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, gives the obligatory angsty bunny who threatens to completely break under the weight of her guilt. There is no real depth to any of these characters. Rather, all of the leading ladies are little more than attractive cannon fodder for the killer, who at least has one thing going for him: a very original murder tool.

Director Stewart Hendler, who most recently directed the not-really-bad mystery thriller "Whisper" with "Lost" star Josh Holloway, wanted to pay tribute to the slasher film of the 80s with his version of the B-movie. He deliberately wanted to move away from torture horror a la "SAW" and deliver more traditional fare to the genre fan. He managed to do that quite nicely at some points. There are actually a few successful moments that spread a touch of suspense and fun. But the bottom line is that "Beautiful to the Death" remains a very popular horror film without much memorable value and without real surprises. Attractive actors and actresses and a few good moments of suspense just aren't enough to really satisfy lovers of the genre. Nevertheless: if you liked movies like "I know what you did last summer", you can risk a look here, too

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp