Girls In Peril

THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED-1969-A boarding school for girls is run by the strict principal Mme. Forneau (Lilli Palmer). Of course she’s some power crazed disciplinarian who has a sadistic underling whip a girl who defied her. She also has a son Luis (John Moulder-Brown) who lives there and spies on the girls. Mom doesn't want him around any of the students (“These girls are poison”). She may have an unhealthy fondness for him. Luis and one of students Isabel (Maribel Martin) seem to be in love and secretly meet and he worries his mom will find out. Unfortunately a fake note from Luis leads to her being stabbed to death. A new girl Teresa (Cristina Galbo) is caught in the middle. Much time is wasted on a shower scene (very brief nudity) with Luis getting stuck in some kind of drain pipe while spying. Other girls are killed and in the end Luis is building his own girlfriend in the image of his mother. 

Tedious story line and non-action doom this production from Spain by Narciso Ibanez Serrador. 

The next year Moulder-Brown co-starred in the UK stalker film DEEP END. https://moviemeltdown.blogspot.com/2011/04/deep-end.html 

Thanks for reading 

Lucky Werewolf

WEREWOLF IN A GIRLS’ DORMITORY- 1961/1963-New teacher  Prof. Julian Olcott (Carl Schell) arrives at a girl's reformatory  school with a secret past that seemed to have gotten him in trouble with the law. One girl Mary (Mary McNeeran) seems to have some kind of blackmail/sex for favors thing going on with older man named Sir Alfred (Maurice Marsac) but she becomes the first victim of a werewolf attack. The school is run by Mr. Swift (Curt Lowens) and Leonor (Grace Neame). Another girl Priscilla (Barbara Lass) figures something's going on. A pipe smoking inspector (Herbert Diamonds) investigates. Caretaker Walter takes Priscilla to meet the person who's being blackmailed but instead she meets dirty old man Sir Alfred’s demanding wife (Annie Steinert) who tries to buy the girl's silence. Later she meets Prof. Olcott in the woods and they have a discussion. After they part Priscilla is attacked by a snarling werewolf but a guard dog drives the wolfman away. While Priscilla remains in shock, Swift questions Olcott who admits he’s trying to find and cure the werewolf though he seems a likely subject himself. Then Walter invades the place while the girls are sleeping to get Sir Alfred's incriminating letters but almost has to smother one girl to death to do it. He runs up a tower and falls to his death but Swift discovers the letters. Later on after the identity of the wolfman is revealed he terrorizes Olcott and Priscilla until he's shot and killed. 

This fairly tame black and white Italy/Austria co-production is drawn out and the dubbing isn't that great. In American prints director Paolo Heusch is credited as Richard Benson. 

Thanks for reading!

From Japan

HOUSE-1977-This whacky story from Japan begins with two school girls, Gorgeous and Fantasy who are best of friends. Gorgeous plans to spend her summer vacation with her father until she meets dad's new wife. She gets mad and decides to go and stay at her aunt's house in the country. She brings along Fantasy and 5 equally unusual named friends: Mac (who likes to eat), Professor (a nerd), Sweet (who likes cleaning), Kung-Fu (who likes martial arts) and Melody (who plays the piano).

The happy group meets the lonely wheel chair bound aunt but it's obvious this is no ordinary old lady. She actually likes to eat unmarried girls! This is a very bizarre but entertaining horror-comedy (with touches of fantasy) with wild special effects, a possessed cat, a killer piano, Shaw Bros. like fights, animation, a laughing skeleton and severed limbs. And unlike most "teens in a haunted house" outings I really felt bad seeing the cute little girls being terrorized! The music is great too!

Thanks for reading!