Fraternities are something I never got. Like gay sex in prison. What's cool, or badass about it? They both make no sense. If you want to be popular in school, why go through ridiculous, embarrassing hazing to join a lame ass, drunk jock fraternity. If you want to be considered tough in jail, why become a gay rapist. Now, I'm sorry folks, but those things just don't add up for me. The premise of this film The Hazing, however deals with one of these topics, so I will have to swallow my concerns (not in the prison sense, of course), and just tell myself that some people will do anything to be accepted by people they think are cooler, or more connected than they are. These shameless, spineless people are usually the ones that pledge fraternities. Now, I sound like I hate fraternities or something. I went to a trade college for film, so I did not have the pleasure of experiencing fraternity shenanigans. Needless to say, I would have passed on it if I had the opportunity. I just don't get it, but I'll tell you what I did get...this movie.

Directed by Douglas Curtis in 1977 and starring Jeff East, who is better known as Clark Kent in Richard Donner's Superman The Movie, this slice of college life starts out innocently enough. Young Craig leaves his farming town and heads to the big state college, which his brother once attended but was summarily discharged from for leading peace rallies (really!). Craig, a wide-eyed country boy on an athletic scholarship for track, is approached by Rod and Phil, the head brothers of the Delta fraternity. They need more jocks in their frat and would really like Craig to pledge (Rod is played by Brad David of The Candy Snatchers fame). Craig is unsure until he buddies up with Barney, played by Charles Martin Smith who is best known as Mr. Smith from the Travolta classic The Experts. Barney is the new brainy kid in school, and the Delts want him in as well, so he convinces Craig to join him and team up to pledge.

As pledge weekend begins, they all take a drive up into the woods to begin their first task. Rod and Phil instruct Craig and Barney to strip naked and put on a jock strap. They do as told, and are sent hiking through the freezing woods and down a mountain to the frat's cabin 6 miles away. Okay, fair enough, but Barney, being the clumsy nerd that he is, trips and falls down the side of the mountain, breaking his leg. He begs Craig to leave him and go get help, but Craig must hurry, or Barney will freeze to death. Craig hauls ass to the cabin, and arrives late into the night. He tells Phil and Rod what happened, and they immediately head back out to find Barney and save him. But they arrive to late, and find him frozen to death! Oh, oh! What follows from then is a sort of morbid Weekend at Bernie's, as the three guys decide what to do with Barney's corpse. They don't want to go to the cops, because they'll get in trouble, but Craig is conflicted about the whole thing, feeling responsible for the event. Rod and Phil come of as cold-hearted preppy bastards, more concerned with image than doing the right thing. It was an accident after all, but no one wants to go to jail for it (and eventually get ass raped, too!)

Produced by two theater owners in Des Moines, Iowa, this film is extremely tame compared to the standards of the day. Hell, this thing was tame for the seventies! There's never any blood or true horror, except for the tension of keeping a body on ice and trying to keep the death a secret until they can figure out what to do with it. This film has been lost for a while, but is finally available on DVD again. This could be both a good and bad thing. The film sports a killer surprise ending, which I am sure most of you will see coming. I won't ruin it here for you guys, but I must warn you that this film plays more like Weekend at Bernie's than Hitchcock's Rope. I also cannot stress this enough...THIS IS NOT A HORROR MOVIE! I was disappointed by how trite the movie was, but that did not make it a bad movie. Sure it was light, and moderately suspenseful, but it was a good time, and sports one hell of a kick in the balls at the end (kind of like prison)!

- Jose Prendes