The Roommates Movie Review
The Roommates Movie Review
The rent is a real killer.
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The Roommates, a 1973 jiggle-fest, starts off along the lines of a sex and coming-of-age romp as five feisty friends take off for a summer of sun and fun to… yes: The Lake. The lake is never, ever a good place to go on vacation when you're in a slasher flick — but fortunately most of the groovy cast stays around long enough to enjoy and, if you're so inclined, to ogle.
For at least a half an hour The Roommates sets up the modern girls' characters, showing us their trials, tribulations and tits. Pat Woodell is the top-billed star and she plays Heather, a sensitive camp counselor who tries to help the young boys through their burgeoning teen hormonal shifts. A bleached-blonde Roberta Collins is Beth, the romance-minded Beth who falls for a married man way too fast. Marki Bey is a standout as the plucky, mini-skirted librarian named Carla who is forever climbing the ladders to get just the right book for sex-obsessed cardholders. Laurie Rose is Brea, a naughty nurse, and Christina Hart rounds out the cast as the Lolita-like younger cousin of Heather. Actually, the ladies' interpersonal relationships are quite complex for the flick of this ilk and there is decent character development… but there's an emptiness to that whole aspect of the film. Which brings us to the murders.
To be honest, I just went to see The Roommates for the recently-late Roberta Collins, having no idea it was also a slasher — and a classic one at that, even better than many of its also-groovy contemporaries (The Centerfold Girls, co-written by Arthur Marks, comes to mind). Unfortunately, it's not on DVD yet so you will have to seek it out on the big, scratchy screen. (Dark Sky owns the disc rights, so if you want to own it you may leave a comment on their blog — http://www.darkskyfilms.com/Blog/)
Cheesy conversations, kooky clothes and whacky set-ups make the otherwise tame murders quite memorable. There's a crack gunshot to the temple of a bikini-clad babe while she's waterskiing, a lady laced with "over 100 stab-wounds" (as the local sheriff observes after a 2-second glance at the body), plus a rampage through the roommates' bedrooms as they sleep.
If you enjoy drive-in flicks from the 70s replete with arch dialogue, goofy one-liners, out of place drama and bloody babes, you absolutely cannot go wrong with these bosom buddies.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson
Latest User Comments:
| [url]http://gorgon-video.com/blogs/blog/15563459-roommates-wanted[/url] Great news... the long wait will soon be over! No release date set yet, but Gorgon Video just announced THE ROOMMATES is coming soon as part of a double bill DVD set (paired with A WOMAN FOR ALL MEN). If the sample clip is any indication, this is going to be a good one! | |
| 08-09-2014 by okcray | discuss |