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Strike Back Below!

Jason's on vacation this week, so here's a classic from the Awfully Good vault!

Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (1988)

Director: David DeCoteau
Stars: Dukey Flyswatter, Linnea Quigley, Andras Jones

Is there a plot?

Three horny nerds are caught spying on a spanktastic sorority initiation. As punishment, the house leader sends everyone to a local bowling alley to steal a trophy. But wouldn’t you know it…the trophy they snatch just happens to be the dwelling place of a mischievous demon imp.

What's the damage?

Sometimes a great title is all you need. As soon as I saw the words SORORITY BABES IN THE SLIMEBALL BOWL-O-RAMA I was completely sold on this movie. And amazingly enough, it didn’t let me down.

We found the imp’s weakness! Quick, turn in to teenage Christopher Reeve.

It may be absolutely awful (natch), but it’s just so much fun. Whatever you’re looking for—classic 80s nerds, beautiful (occasionally naked) women, cheap puppetry, a little girl-on-girl paddling action, bowling with severed heads—SORORITY BABES IN THE SLIMEBALL BOWL-O-RAMA has it all. By the title itself it’s obvious the filmmakers were shooting for classic camp, and it definitely shows (and is much appreciated). The whole production is deliciously cheap, from the rubber-made villain to the locations. The sorority even only has 5 members, assumedly because hiring additional extras would’ve been too expensive.

“You’re doing it wrong.”

You can also add to that some purposefully ridiculous characters. There’s a redneck janitor who exists only to spout off vulgar one-liners. There’s a scantily clad female thief who goes after the big money at bowling alleys and arcades. Even the main nerds themselves are constantly retarded. For example, they have a perfectly good outside hiding spot from which to watch all the sorority spanking action, yet they decide to sneak inside AND upstairs to the shower, presumably just to showcase gratuitous nudity. (Not that I’m complaining.)

‘Soon,’ thought Shere Kahn to himself. ‘Soon.’

And that brings us to the best character of all. About 70% of the fun of the SORORITY BABES is derived from the villain, the diminutive jive-talkin’ imp affectionately referred to as Uncle Impie. As executed, Impie is a thing of genius and truly one of the most underrated 80s horror villains. For one, he’s a cheap rubber puppet whose mouth barely moves. When the characters first meet him no one’s even scared of it, just confused. And then there’s the genius voicework by Michael Sonye, who is credited here as Dukey Flyswatter. (For no apparent reason other than to be exponentially awesome.) Sonye brings Impie to life with a foul-mouthed attitude and so many great one-liners and reaction shots that it elevates SORORITY BABES to must-watch status.

Why this movie was never nominated for an Oscar, I’ll never know.

"Best" Lines

A few examples of the janitor’s witty dialogue.

I love the guy’s final reaction to the imp.

"Best" Parts

1) You MUST watch this montage of Uncle Impie’s funniest lines and reactions. I actually spit out beer when he called that girl “Goofy!”

2) Wow, Molotov cocktails work fast. I like how quickly she catches fire, and then how abruptly it stops.

3) If bowling were actually like this, maybe I’d do it more.

Nudity Watch

What a great day for men! We get gratuitous shots of girls showering and a character who gets cursed and turned in to a busty nymphomaniac. Then of course there’s the erotic paddling:

Enjoyableness Continuum:

Get initiated...buy this movie here!

Play Along at Home!

Take a drink every time:

• The puppet talks jive
• Somebody’s wish goes terribly wrong
• You suspect the virginal teen may actually be gay
• Gratuitous nudity happens
• There’s a reference to the old classic Universal monsters
• The credits go too slow

Finish your drink:

• Whenever the nerd pukes.

Seen a movie that should be featured on this column? Shoot Jason an email and give him an excuse to drink.