"This is so f**king scary-movie cliché."
-Sorority sister in Delta Delta Dead!
I couldn't agree more, sister. That's not to say I didn't have a good time watching this sorority-sisters-in-peril horror movie. Pretty girls running around saying stupid things while a maniac is on the loose. What's not to like?There's plenty of eye candy to go around here, especially during the opening scene, which shows a bunch of bikini-clad sorority babes hanging out by the pool. Their names are Ivy, Lola, Kimber, Heidi, Cheri and Jasmine. Are those not, like, the cutest names you've ever heard?
As with most good horror movies, Delta Delta Dead! has a Final Girl, the one who sees the danger before everyone else and is thus able to survive. Here, the Final Girl is Ivy (played by Jessica Garcia). Ivy's ethnicity, and the cruel initiations she undergoes at the hands of the other Deltas, gives the film some needed subtext. Writer-director Kingslea Bueltel appears to be having fun with the exclusive (and often white) nature of the Greek system. That's not to say fraternities and sororities haven't made progress. For a more positive portrayal, I highly recommend you watch the terrific ABC Family show Greek.
Delta Delta Dead! is better than we initially think. Bueltel pulls the rug out from under us at the end, with a clever twist that shines new light on everything that's come before. The film is one scary-movie cliché after another, and there's a good reason for that.
