If I'm going to watch a movie about frat life, it's probably going to be a film about the wacky misadventures of a likeable bunch like Delta Tau Chi in ANIMAL HOUSE or Lambda Lambda Lambda in REVENGE OF THE NERDS. But now director Daniel Robbins is bringing a very different sort of frat story to the screen, one which seems like it will make even ANIMAL HOUSE and REVENGE OF THE NERDS villains Omega Theta Pi and the Alpha Betas look nice.
Robbins' film PLEDGE is described as a college frat horror-thriller. Written by Zachary Weiner, the story follows
three nerdy college freshmen, who have been rejected and ridiculed by just about every fraternity on campus, are invited to an off-campus to a party at a secluded mansion. There they are treated like princes by the resident brothers and the party is everything they dreamed college would be—beautiful women, drinking, and most importantly, a cool group of guys willing to accept them as one of their own. When the friends are presented with an opportunity to pledge the elite social club, they accept without hesitation. However, as the gruesome, dehumanizing hazing progresses, a more sinister picture of the club emerges.
The film stars Weiner, Zachery Byrd, Aaron Dalla Villa, Phillip Andre Botello, Cameron Cowperthwaite, Jesse Pimentel, Joe Gallagher, Jean-Louis Droulers, and Erica Boozer.
PLEDGE made its U.S. premiere at Screamfest last weekend, but if you weren't in attendance for the screening there you might still have a chance to catch the film on the big screen soon. IFC Midnight has acquired the U.S. distribution rights and they're planning to give PLEDGE a theatrical release in January.
Keaton Heinrichs, Akiva Nemetsky, and Stag Pictures' Mark Rapaport produced PLEDGE, with BoulderLight Pictures' JD Lifshitz and Raphael Margules serving as executive producers.
If you'd like to get a glimpse of the sort of sinister activities are going on at the film's fraternity, check out the trailer below.