#629. Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-A-Rama (1988)

Directed By: David DeCoteau

Starring: Andras Jones, Linnea Quigley, Robin Stille




Tag line: "In a bowling alley from Hell, there's only one way to score..."

Trivia: The budget was too low to rent the bowling alley during peak daytime hours, so the cast and crew had to wait till the bowling alley closed at 9pm, then shot all night till 9am

Here's another film to add to the “Titles-So-Amazing-I-Just-Had-To-See-It” list, but will Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-A-Rama fare any better than Blood Orgy of the She-Devils or Oversexed Rugsuckers from Mars?

 Well, let's find out....

Three college losers: Calvin (Andras Jones), Keith (John Stuart Wildman) and Jimmie (Hal Havins), sneak their way into the Tri Delta Sorority house to watch the initiation of new pledges Lisa (Michelle Bauer) and Taffy (Brinke Stevens). The three are soon discovered by the Sorority's president, Babs (Robin Stille), and as punishment, are forced to accompany the pledges to the local bowling alley, where, to complete the last leg of their initiation, the two girls must steal a bowling trophy. Unfortunately, the trophy they swipe is no ordinary award; it houses an evil Imp (voiced by Dukey Flyswatter), which the group inadvertently sets free. Along with a beautiful thief named Spider (Linnea Quigley), who was in the process of ripping off the bowling alley when our heroes interrupted her, these five must recapture the Imp before he can unleash the full force of his sinister powers.

Sorority Babes from the Slimeball Bowl-A-Rama gives off a cool '80s vibe the moment the titles pop up, and that feeling continues right into the opening scene, where we're introduced to the trio of college buddies, relaxing in their dorm room. Calvin is busy watching a horror film on TV while Keith thumbs through the latest issue of Penthouse magazine and Jimmie downs a six-pack of beer. Right off the bat, this movie had me smiling; at the very least, I knew Sorority Babes was gonna be set in a time period I’m all-too familiar with. 

And then the fun begins as our “heroes” spy on the initiation ceremony, which involves lots of spanking and whipped cream. Cut to the obligatory shower scene (which lingers almost as long as the spanking sequence), then its off to the bowling alley for the next phase of the story, where we meet the gorgeous Linnea Quigley, playing a bad-ass thief who, after breaking into the cash register, tries to get at the quarters in the alley's video arcade. Sorority Babes is the kind of movie I relished as a kid, one that played on late-night cable TV well after I was supposed to be in bed. Had I seen this back In the day, I would have loved it.

No doubt I'm looking at Sorority Babes through the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia; the so-called comedy is on the lame side, and the Imp is little more than a hand puppet, shown only in close-up (to conceal the puppeteer). As for the plot, it features about 20 minutes worth of material stretched out to 78. If Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-A-Rama had been produced ten years earlier or later, I'd have probably found it intolerable.

But hey, it’s an ‘80s movie, with an ‘80s mentality and a whole lot of ‘80s style, which is more than enough to kick it up a few notches on the ratings scale.