The Brotherhood Series: Exploring Themes, Films, and Alumni Connections
The Brotherhood series is a collection of films, primarily released straight to home video, that explore themes of fraternity, magic, and the supernatural. While the series has garnered a cult following, it is also known for its homoerotic undertones and low-budget production style. The series, directed by David DeCoteau, has a unique brand of filmmaking that some find charming.
Overview of the Series
The premise of each film in The Brotherhood series typically involves a young man who is either interested in or approached to join a fraternity. Along the way, he discovers the existence of magic and the supernatural.
Key Elements of the Series
- Fraternity Life: The films often depict the secretive and sometimes dangerous aspects of fraternity culture.
- Supernatural Elements: Magic, dark rituals, and the occult are recurring themes.
- Homoeroticism: Many of the films feature homoerotic undertones, with some including explicit gay scenes.
- Low-Budget Production: The films are generally low-budget, resulting in a distinct B-movie aesthetic.
Notable Films in the Series
The Brotherhood (2001)
The first film in the series, released as a Blockbuster Video exclusive. In this film, Chris Chandler and his new roommate Dan are students at Drake University, home to the secretive fraternity Doma Tau Omega. While he's uninterested in fraternities, Chris is convinced to attend a party at the DTO house by his new friend Megan. At the party Chris is mesmerized by the fraternity's leader, Devon Eisley, and goes off alone with him. Chris's personality changes as he takes part in more parties at the DTO house and continues consuming the blood of others. This worries Dan, who breaks into the house to investigate. He discovers decades old photos of Devon, showing that he has been part of the fraternity since its early beginnings and has never aged. Back at the fraternity home Devon reveals that he is capable of eternal life as long as he places his soul in a new body every century and that Chris has been chosen as the new host body. Megan and Dan arrive at the house to save Chris, successfully battling their way through several fraternity members. However just as they reach the ceremonial room Megan turns on Dan, revealing that she was a decoy that has been working for Devon and has been for the past 70 years. She then threatens to kill Dan if Chris doesn't participate in the ritual. While everyone is focusing on the ritual Dan manages to break free and kill Devon. This in turn results in the deaths of Megan and the other fraternity members, leaving Chris alive as he had never actually joined the fraternity.
The Brotherhood V: Alumni (2009)
The Brotherhood V: Alumni is more like The Brotherhood III, although thankfully it’s more entertaining than that bottom-of-the-barrel film. In this film, a nerdy teenager on prom night is stalked through the impossibly blue, locker-lined halls by perhaps the least urgent stalking killer in film history. The nerd is tracked into the girls’ locker room, where he undresses, showers, and is ultimately murdered. The sound of a heartbeat plays the entire time. The brotherhood of this film is a completely down-to-earth group without a shred of the supernatural to be found. They bond over their shared promise to never speak of what happened on prom night in the girls’ locker room, not from any altruistic ideal, but because their prank on the nerd kid went wrong and someone stole the video tape that recorded it for posterity. One year later, the friends all receive a blue envelope containing an invitation to a school reunion, or to a one-year prom reunion or something.
The Brotherhood VI: Initiation
The heartbeat is on the soundtrack, there’s a lumberjack killer, and nearly the entire cast spends most of the movie in their underwear! The film doesn’t take place in one of his trademark thunderstorms, but DeCoteau makes up for this by hosing down his underwear-clad actors, all in the name of fraternity initiation.
Read also: Legacy of Fordham University
David DeCoteau's Influence
David DeCoteau, the director of many films in The Brotherhood series, has a distinctive style that has garnered both praise and criticism. His films are often characterized by:
- Low-Budget Aesthetics: DeCoteau's films are typically made on a shoestring budget, resulting in a distinct B-movie feel.
- Homoerotic Themes: Many of his films feature homoerotic content, sometimes explicitly.
- Recurring Actors: DeCoteau often works with the same actors across multiple films.
- Quick Production: His films are often shot quickly, sometimes in a matter of days.
LGBT Representation in DeCoteau's Horror Films
Brotherhood Alumni V, along with The Raven (2007), House of Usher (2008) and The Pit and the Pendulum (2009), are the only horror films made by David Decoteau to feature gay characters and gay sex scenes.
According to Decoteau, the main characters Randall and Ted are "essentially heterosexual characters who decide to have a little moment together." However, this seems to contradict the dialogue in the film which states that Randall and Ted had a past relationship and the former could not decide between Ted or Amy, making most believe he was bisexual.
DigiPen Alumni and the Game Industry
While The Brotherhood series focuses on film, the world of entertainment extends to video games, where DigiPen Institute of Technology alumni have made significant contributions.
DigiPen: A Launchpad for Careers
Earning a degree at DigiPen can set a career in motion. DigiPen alumni are equipped to pursue any number of exciting career opportunities in games, technology, animation, and more. Some join the ranks of top companies, lending their skills and expertise to major brands and media franchises, while others choose to launch their own businesses.
Read also: Baylor's Notable Alumni
Collaborative Environment
The collaborative environment that we had on our game teams at DigiPen is something that is very easy to translate into the real world. Knowing how to communicate across disciplines - from art, design, and engineering - is incredibly valuable.
Alumni Network
While our graduates are spread far and wide around the globe, many of our alumni go on to work at the same companies as their peers, creating communities of DigiPen graduates within certain major game studios. In all my years, I have almost never run into something that I did not feel like I could do.
Notable Alumni and Their Contributions
- Devin Brom: Dungeon Designer, Blizzard Entertainment.
- Andy Kibler: Principle Gameplay Designer, Squanch Games.
Alumni Game Credits
DigiPen alumni have worked on more than 2,150 professional games as artists, designers, programmers, and more, including:
- Batman: Arkham City
- Battlefield series
- BioShock series
- Borderlands series
- Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Dead Space
- Destiny
- Elden Ring
- Fallout series
- FIFA series
- Final Fantasy series
- Forza Horizon series
- Fortnite
- Gears of War
- Halo series
- Madden NFL series
- Mass Effect series
- Minecraft
- Mortal Kombat
- NBA 2K series
- Overwatch
- Pokémon series
- Red Dead Redemption
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- The Last of Us
- The Legend of Zelda
- Tomb Raider
- Watch Dogs
The Portal Connection
In 2005, after meeting the student developers of Narbacular Drop at the DigiPen Career Fair, representatives from Valve hired the entire team of graduating seniors to re-develop their student project Narbacular Drop into the 2007 smash hit Portal. Four years later, at another Career Fair, history repeated itself when Valve met with and later hired the student developers of Tag: The Power of Paint. That game’s inventive paint gun would go on to inspire the gel mechanics used in Portal 2.
Read also: Columbia University Legacy
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