Anyone who knows me knows that I am a sucker for limited print runs of horror films. If you tell me that only 100 copies of this B-movie was made, you can pretty much guarantee yourself a sale. That is how I came across Die Die Delta Pi. I mean, with a title like that, I was already likely to add to cart, but throw in that only 100 were made, and it was a done deal. But was it worth it?
The Movie (2/5)
It’s the late 1980’s and a sorority is out in the woods drinking around a campfire when a prank against the nerdy, smart legacy sister goes horribly wrong and ends in the fiery death of the girl. While this may seem bad enough, when the screaming, hysterical co-eds get back to the sorority house they stumble upon an active murder scene where a caped mysterious killer slashes them up one by one, leaving only a couple alive.
The killer was never seen or heard from again…
Fast forward twenty something years, and the daughter of one of the survivors is setting foot on campus for her first day, and is approached by the cheery, friendly sisters of the newly reopened Delta Pi sorority. It’s the sorority’s first year back, and they need sisters.
We soon find ourselves around the same campfire with a new round of soon to be victims as they ceremoniously spank each other four times with the special spanking paddle to seal the bond of sisterhood. Sororities are weird…
…anyway the scene quickly turns into chaos and college kids end up dying in all sorts of fun ways. Who’s gonna live? Who’s gonna die? Who is the killer? I’ll let you find that out for yourself.
So as you can tell, the story is simple here, and has been done a few times before. I won’t fault this movie too much for being simple, given it was made on a $7,000 budget (at least, according to IMDB), but I will be a little critical on a few things here. First off, there were a few sub plots here that really serve little to no purpose, which is a bit frustrating. Also, the acting is a little rough around the edges, which will take you further out of the story.
But it’s not all bad. While this film could have benefited from more budget, what it does have going for it is that it’s a good time to watch. It’s laughably bad at worst, but even then it’s pretty fun. If you cannot sit through a cheesy B-movie and enjoy yourself, then you should probably skip this one over. But if you don’t mind that sort of thing, this one might be worth looking up if you like college girls getting slashed.
The Picture 1.5/5
Served up on a BD-R (as is often the case in these indie limited runs), Die Die Delta Pi doesn’t look so hot. As you can see in the screenshots, there is a lot of pixelation present. It’s quite a shame too, because for the most part, the blood and gore is fairly satisfying and would undoubtedly look good in a clearer presentation. Overall this disc looks like a DVD playing on too big of a TV.
The Sound 1.5/5
While slightly less disappointing than the video quality, the audio is nothing to write home about either unfortunately. Not only are the audio levels horribly mixed (the menu soundtrack is roughly three times louder than the films audio track), but there is practically no sound stage developed. Further, during several points of the film, the sound effects and screams rendered the dialog inaudible.
The Features & Packaging 2.5/5
Die Die Delta Pi comes in a cheap, generic black PS3 style case (think something GameStop would use for used games that come in without their original case) with pretty neat looking throwback art on the sleeve. This is a limited print run of 100, and they have hand numbered them on the back, which is a nice touch. Additionally, you get several stickers, a couple pins, and a Limited Edition card with your number hand written as well. The disc is a BD-R with printed art on it that has nothing to do with the film, but is satisfyingly 90s feeling.
There are two special features on the disc: the full trailer, and a short film. Neither of these are particularly interesting (the short was alright). The included short suffers from the same video and audio issues, but is nice that they included something here.
The Verdict 2/5
While I generally fall in love with the charm in low budget films, this one felt sorely limited by the lack of funds. Poor audio and video quality make it hard to really enjoy the film fully, but if you can get past that, there is a good time to be had watching this one. If you are a fan of cheesy B-movie horrors, this is likely worth a watch, but mainstream movie goers will likely find themselves dissatisfied.
