Pledge Night opens with the sound of a toilet flushing; an apt metaphor for the 86 minutes that follow. Filmed in 1988 but not released until its VHS debut in 1990, the movie marries two cinematic staples of the 1980s: teen sex comedies and slasher movies. Director Paul Ziller’s (Back in Action, Bloodfist IV: Die Trying) feature debut hits all the trope of both subgenres but lacks many of the characteristics that make either one appealing.
Set during Hell Week, the film follows a group of hopeful pledges being initiated into Phi Epsilon Nu. As if undergoing hazing, pranks, and humiliation isn’t enough, Sid - an acid-burned hippie from Hell who was killed in the same house during a hazing ritual gone wrong two decades prior - inexplicably returns (via the toilet, no less) and begins killing off the fraternity brothers. It culminates in a laughably cheesy ending.
