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THE CAMPUS CORPSE (1977)
aka THE HAZING
Directed by Douglas Curtis
Vestron Video VHS
Reviewed 07.27.06
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba
THE FILM
I made a lunch appointment with
The Campus Corpse. It didn't show
up. I'm not bitter, but I'm not
quite pleasant, either. Figures.
Get this straight: The Campus
Corpse aka The Hazing
is not a horror film. Rather, it's
a meager, PG-rated coming of age
mix-up that places a few people
in a horrible situation. Given the
keen title, that's a bit of a rip,
huh? Possibly. Filmed in Des Moines,
Iowa and somewhere in Arizona by
producer-director Douglas Curtis
(The Sleeping Car), this
film is all about deceit; both of
its characters and its resultant
audience. A little deception never
hurt anybody. Unfortunately, falling
in love montages, complete with
bicycles and lyrics like "Flyin'
on a midnight rainbow...",
often do. Feel the pain.
"We are Delts. We can do anything."
And Craig Lewis (Jeff East, young
Clark Kent from Superman)
believes it. Craig gets a hot-shot
track scholarship to a small Midwest
college. Five minutes after his
Adidas hit campustown, Craig feels
the fraternity heat. He makes friends
with the nerdy, wise-crackin' Barney
(Charles Martin Smith, you'll know
him when you see him) and the two
pledge the Delt house. Haze-mania.
At the behest of head Delt honchos
Rod and Phil (Jeff East, Strange
Behavior), Barney and Craig
are driven out to the deep woods,
stripped to jock-straps, and told
to run back to town by nightfall.
It's cold. The terrain is treacherous.
Something bad happens. The truth
will hurt. Again, feel the pain.
The Campus Corpse sucks
you in. The simplistic presentation,
realistic settings, heightened tension,
and spot-on acting make it impossible
to resist. Director Curtis plasters
the film with full-toned photography
and a steady pace. In effect, you're
thrown right in the middle of it
all. It's a nice place to be (yes,
even despite the horribly dated
soundtrack escapees from Stripes).
Suddenly, everything changes. The
denouement rips out the constriction
and replaces it with a cutesy, feel
good dupe. We find out that the
previous 80 minutes of gloom and
slow-brew anxiety was all for naught.
Does the film follow suit? Well,
look at it this way. Lyrics about
midnight rainbows aren't likely
to leave an imprint on your psyche.
Oh, and the lunch date? Whatever.
I left hours ago.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Decent, but nothing special. The
print seems a little cropped and
a few jump cuts gashed through.
Darker scenes were surprisingly
clear. Other than that, it's a pretty
typical 1980s VHS presentation.
EXTRAS
Vestron, you old dog. Following
the end credits are two trailers
that are sure to please: National
Lampoon's Class Reunion and
the always dashing House
On Sorority Row.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Campus Corpse has a
lot going for it. Your tolerance
for complete deception will play
a huge hand in the film's resonance,
but the choice is yours. If you
can find it easily, it's worth one
watch. In one ear, out the other. |
To the slopes
Leave it to him
Love is...
It gets hot when you're dead
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