Directed by Jack Bravman, whose other credits include directing Adam West in 1987’s Zombie Nightmare and working as a producer on 1976’s Snuff (“The Film that Could Only Be made in South America… where life is cheap!”). Life isn’t cheap in The Dribbler, but just about everything else is. 

Released in 1990, after the zenith of the ‘80s slasher boom and before Scream ushered in an age of self-aware teenage fright flicks, Dribbler is not so much a forgotten gem as it is…. well.. forgotten. It is the story of Stanley, a waterboy with ambitions of joining the basketball team. Members of the team have a bad habit of turning up dead, and a killer in a basketball-headed mascot costume is to blame. Is Stanley the killer? Before the audience can find out, we will be subjected to numerous sub-Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker wordplay gags. I will admit, some jokes do land for me (“the last time I saw faces like yours… was on the court, about 51 seconds ago.”). But you already know if you are the kind of person who will appreciate humor exemplified by a basketball team having the unlikely moniker of The Watergate Plumbers. 

It is a rather bloodless affair, although not an unpleasant viewing experience. Gregory Calpakis, the actor portraying Stanley, would have a longer career in television, but he isn’t really memorable here. His love interest, Becky, portrayed by Flavia Carrozzi, is cute, vaguely goth, and unrelentingly supportive in a way that undoubtedly appealed to the sort of teenage boy that comprised the film’s target audience. Ultimately, she doesn’t have a lot to do other than spout out After School Special cliches. The true star of this show is TV’s Fred Travalena, playing a dual role as both the coach and the basketball announcer. It is not entirely clear if Travalena is playing two characters or if the school district is underfunded. Either way, movie seems designed as a bit-delivery vehicle for Travalena. You can decide for yourself if that is a good thing or a terrible one.

For years, this movie was a holy grail for me. While attending a slasher movie festival at the Mahoning Drive-In, I overheard another patron reference Night of the Dribbler as an example of the genre that no one else had seen. Of course, that meant I had to seek it out. When I finally found it, I was confused who this movie was honestly made for. The humor isn’t funny enough for the film to be considered a spoof in the tradition of Alfred Sole’s 1982 Pandemonium. There is not enough suspense in the kills to placate the slasher fans. There is hardly any sleaze to speak of to titillate that audience in other ways. It may be the sort of film that is most enjoyable as an oddity to inflict upon friends. There is a Code Red DVD floating around for slasher completionists. For the merely curious, the film can be found on YouTube.