Pamela Ludwig

Dean Hamilton

Roy Thinnes

Donald Grant

Courtney Gebhart

John Donovan

David Denney

Todd Eric Andrews

Laura Burkett

Edward Rayden

Mark Clayman

Toni Lee

Johnna Johnson

Dominick Brascia

Kathleen Kinmont

Heidi Holicker

Gregg Allman

Ray Bickel

Dean Wein

Darrell Zwerling

Pamela Owen

Chantel Dubay

Pres Seckel

Addie

Eddie Battos

Francis McCaffrey

Tim Topper

Michael Corbin

Michael W. Leighton

Rita M. Saiz

Gregory James

Arthur Roberts

Mitch Watson

Jay Pickett

Michael Lindström

Bob Bralver

Russell V. Manzatt

Rick Tunell

Jeff Mart

Joel Hamilton

Murielle Hamilton

Lydia Shiferaw

Jeffrey Reiner

Ned Truslow

Brenda Moen

Susan Reiner

George H. Cook

R. Clifford Searcy

Gene Serdena

Jonathan Melvoin

Michael Powels

Michael Raby

David Brinton

Andy Gill

Matt McColm

Noon Orsatti

Horror

Mystery

Thriller

Rush Week

Noble Entertainment

United States of America

English

college

serial killer

slasher

axe murder

Watchable (just barely) but also highly predictable 1980s slasher that has some good-bad moments here and there, but nearly enough to make it a recommendation. The lead actress, Pamela Ludwig, was at least easy on the eyes and gives an okay performance, but everything else really doesn't work. Heck, the end feels like the culmination of a Scooby-Doo episode. **2.25/5**

**_Nancy Drew goes to college where there’s an axe-murderer_**

A journalism student (Pamela Ludwig) transfers to a university in SoCal during a notorious fraternity’s rush week ceremonies. When attractive female coeds go missing and are curiously underreported, she investigates, but this attracts the attention of the axe-wielding antagonist. 

“Rush Week” is a mystery/slasher that was released direct-to-video in the UK at the end of 1989, and not made available in the USA until early 1991. I point this out because it doesn’t have the ‘feel’ of a theatrical release. While there’s some nudity, there’s hardly any gore until the final ‘kill’ (not that I care personally; I’m just reporting). Despite being second tier, it should be enjoyed by fans of, say, "Happy Birthday to Me" (1981), “Zombie High” (1987) and the later “Class Warfare” (2001).  

Ludwig works well as the star with her distinctive, pretty face. She was 28 during shooting and left acting for good in 1990 after an 11-year career where breakout success was denied her. Also on the feminine front, Kathleen Kinmont, from “Halloween 4” (1988), has a noteworthy sequence in the opening act. Meanwhile Heidi Holicker is a highlight as Sarah in a small part; you might remember her as Stacey in “Valley Girl” (1983).

On the other side of the gender spectrum, Gregg Allman from the Allman Brothers, and Cher’s ex-hubby, has a notable cameo as an aged-hippie “faculty advisor.”

While this has a comic booky direct-to-video vibe, it’s colorful and a fitting choice if you’re in the mood for something Halloween-ish, like "Night of the Creeps" (1986), just not as good production-wise. I’d watch it any day over the overrated and ridiculously contrived “Scream” (1996). Sure, this is contrived and cartoonish too, not to mention predictable, but it’s more palatable and less eye-rolling. 

The film runs 1 hour, 36 minutes, and was shot in Los Angeles at the VA Hospital in Brentwood and the Higgins-Verbeck-Hirsch Mansion in Windsor Square. 

GRADE: B-

Rush Week( 1989)

There's a Killer on the Campus!

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A review by JPV852

Written by JPV852 on Thu Apr 08 2021

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