Lycanthropus - El terror de los lobos

Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory was scripted by Ernesto Gastaldi, and anyone who knows that name won't be surprised to find out that despite being a werewolf film, this is also a clear precursor to the entire Giallo sub-genre. The film features themes that would go on to become the staple of the Giallo; including a setting full of attractive young girls, and an unknown killer who is picking them off. It has to be said that this film was ahead of it's time, and as the title suggests, the killer in this film is a werewolf, and it would seem that the main inspiration for the scriptwriter was the Universal classic 'The Wolf Man', although themes from more wayward titles such as 'Psycho' definitely shine through. The plot focuses on a dormitory for tearaway girls. When one of them is murdered, apparently by a werewolf, suspicion falls on the new science teacher at the school. Naturally, the crime is attributed to some wolf-like creature, and when the murders continue; the detective on the case ends up getting a surprise!

The film is shot in black and white, and looks very cheap throughout. This is certainly a reflection on the budget restraints, although they don't harm it too much as the mystery plot is often enough to pull it through. The scriptwriter would certainly improve as his career went on; with his collaborations with ace director Sergio Martino representing his best work. As you might expect, there isn't a great deal of violence and murder in the film; a reflection on the time the film was made, although this doesn't hurt the film too much as a plot like this doesn't always need blood and guts to succeed. The cast doesn't shine too much, and it's not hard to see why many of them didn't go on to receive cult status, although Carl Schell does stand out; mostly because he looks a bit like Peter Lorre. The conclusion to the story doesn't contain much in the way of surprise, as it's always obvious what the murderer is; although the way that the ending plays out is good in that it inspires some thinking. Overall, while this isn't a particularly good film; it deserves extra plaudits for its influence and frankly bizarre plot, and is definitely worth seeing for Italian horror aficionados!