HORROR LIVES
ON VIDEO
BANNED
BUT NEVER
FORGOTTEN
Home › Films › The Dorm That Dripped Blood
VIDEO NASTY ARCHIVE ENTRY

The Dorm That Dripped Blood

Original / alternate title: Pranks; The Dorm That Dripped Blood
1982   |   USA   |   Slasher

Students staying behind on campus over Christmas begin clearing out a deserted dormitory, unaware that a killer is hiding inside the building and turning every hallway, basement and service tunnel into a death trap. The result is a grim, abrasive slasher with almost no humour and a very mean streak.

Film details

Original / alt titlePranks; The Dorm That Dripped Blood
Year1982
DirectorStephen Carpenter & Jeffrey Obrow
CountryUSA
RuntimeApprox. 88 min
Main castLaurie Lapinski, Stephen Sachs, David Snow, Woody Roll

UK status

DPP 72 — DROPPED / ACQUITTED

Dropped title on the DPP 72. The film also circulated under the alternate title Pranks, the name used on the list.

Current UK position:
Collectors often know it in both its video-nasty identity and its more straightforward campus-slasher reputation.
▶ WATCH / FIND TRAILER← ALL FILMS

Why it caused controversy

The film was placed on the DPP list during the panic because its unclassified VHS release and slasher content were considered potentially obscene. The case was later dropped, acquitted or not successfully pursued, so it did not become one of the final 39 successful prosecutions.

UK censorship / Video Nasties history

A quick status check first, followed by the film’s censorship timeline. A DPP prosecution was an obscenity case against a particular video publication — it was not automatically the same thing as a permanent nationwide “ban”.

DPP listYes — DPP 72
Prosecuted?Dropped / acquitted / not successfully prosecuted
Seized?DPP-listed title; the list was used operationally in police raids, but this archive does not claim every individual cassette was seized
Banned / cut / rejected?DPP-listed, but the case was dropped/acquitted; no permanent national ban follows from that listing alone.
Later BBFC certificateCollectors often know it in both its video-nasty identity and its more straightforward campus-slasher reputation.
Now uncut / restored?Collectors often know it in both its video-nasty identity and its more straightforward campus-slasher reputation.

Detailed censorship timeline & facts

1982Released in the United States as a holiday-set campus slasher.
UK video eraCirculated under the name Pranks as well as The Dorm That Dripped Blood.
1983–1984The DPP list included it in the dropped section.
Home-video cult phaseIt built a reputation among slasher collectors.
Later reassessmentNow often discussed as one of the nastier early-1980s slashers.

FACTS & TRIVIA

  • The picture is often listed under its alternate title Pranks.
  • The Christmas-break campus setting gives it a chilly isolated atmosphere.
  • The violence is harsher and more downbeat than many contemporary slashers.
  • Jeffrey Obrow later remained active in horror production and writing.
  • Original sleeve art is especially collectible because of the film’s alternate-title history.
  • Its DPP case was dropped, not successfully prosecuted.

Distributor / VHS label

Video release

Archive cover shown is the user-supplied scan. UK distributor / VHS-label attribution varies by edition and is not asserted here without a verified sleeve imprint.

Trailer

Open a search for the original theatrical / VHS-era trailer. This keeps the archive linking to publicly available trailer sources rather than hosting copyrighted film footage.

▶ FIND ORIGINAL TRAILER

Research sources

DPP 72 list ↗
Archive note: the DPP list changed during 1983–84. This site distinguishes the 39 successfully prosecuted titles from the 33 acquitted / dropped titles, and separately labels related censorship-era films.

Related films

I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses1978 • DPP — DROPPED 33
Inferno1980 • DPP — DROPPED 33
Killer Nun1979 • DPP — DROPPED 33
Late Night Trains1975 • DPP — DROPPED 33