Frat House

Frat House is a 1998 documentary that explores the darker side of fraternity life.

This article is about the 1998 documentary. For the campus housing facility, see fraternity house.

Frat House
Title card
Directed byTodd Phillips
Andrew Gurland
Music byJ.F. Coleman
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducersTodd Phillips
Andrew Gurland
EditorSalamo Levin
Running time60 mins
Release
Original releaseJanuary 21, 1998 (1998-01-21) (Sundance)

The film is directed by Todd Phillips, director of The Hangover movie series, and Andrew Gurland, and was mostly filmed at the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Alpha Tau Omega's charter was revoked two years later, in 2000, though it has since been reinstated.[1]

The documentary also features scenes of the Beta Chi fraternity on the campus of SUNY Oneonta in Oneonta, New York. Beta Chi is an unrecognized fraternity in Oneonta and was kicked off the Oneonta campus after reports of severe hazing emerged. In January 2018, the fraternity was later recognized by SUNY Oneonta. Beta Chi was also recognized as chapter of the year in back to back years 2021 and 2022. Other unrecognized fraternities included in the documentary include Sigma Alpha Mu at SUNY Oneonta, also known as "Sammy", and Tau Kappa Epsilon, which was later recognized by the university in 2007 but subsequently had that recognition revoked.

Awards

Frat House was awarded "Grand Jury Prize: Documentary" at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival.[2]

Criticisms

The documentary was criticized by Muhlenberg College for including scenes that it contends were staged, saying "This was promoted as a documentary. Clearly, it is fiction. The scenes were staged, and people were paid to act out scenes."[3]

Responding to objections to the documentary by Alpha Tau Omega, HBO, the documentary's distributor, never aired it. But it was later released online.[4][5]

References
  1. Yang, Eleanor (June 24, 2000). "HEC News: Alpha Tau Omega Members Linked to Fights, Hazing, and More". Higher Education Center, US Department of Education. Archived from the original on February 13, 2009.
  2. Frat House at Sundance Film Festival website
  3. "Hazing shots in documentary were staged," The Morning Call, January 6, 1999
  4. "Like 'Project X'? Watch Todd Phillips Unaired NSFW HBO Documentary 'Frat House'". March 5, 2012.
  5. "Todd Phillips's Frat House".
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