Schoolgirls in Chains

A good entertaining movie with interesting characters It's not a masterpiece but it's worth watching. The thing that spoils it for me is the abysmal soundtrack!

Two very disturbed brothers kidnap women, take them to their secluded farmhouse and lock them in the basement. They seemingly do it for their mother (a la PSYCHO), who is only seen from behind, sits on a rocking chair and says, "Ah, it's good to have two fine boys!"

Johnny (John Stoglin) is the mentally adolescent one in overalls who bounces up and down, likes to be pushed around in a wheel barrow and, more importantly, likes to play "games." The sick games include doctor (where women are stripped naked, fondled and get a syringe stuck in their ass) and topless leap-frog (?!) John is also a voyeur who watches a young couple have sex, then kidnaps the girl.

The other brother is Frank (Gary Kent), who is depressed, impotent and sulks around a lot in deep thought. He seems fairly normal except during scenes where he rants about his mother, kills and tries to rape a captive. In one scene he relates an outrageous flashback to how his mom drove his fiancée away by telling her that "We make love! We make love like two lovers!".

The sickly chained up women in the basement have rats crawling on them while they sleep, are beat, sometimes killed and constantly humiliated and subjected to the sick games of brother Johnny. They're referred to as "pets", "toys" and "playmates" by their captors. Yes, this film (the video I picked up was titled LET'S PLAY DEAD) is very trashy, offensive and misogynistic, but cult/sleaze movie fans will love the depravity at work in this entertaining and mostly forgotten gem of the 1970s exploitation circuit.

This bizarre slice of "Drive-In" cinema takes obvious influence from films such as Psycho, and handles the graphic and unsettling themes of incest, rape, torture and necrophilia. The film wallows in its sadistic nature, and it's rather unsurprising that Schoolgirls in Chains has suffered banning in several countries, including the UK (although it's not an official Video Nasty). It has to be said, however, that it really isn't all that good; as while the themes comes across in a way that is as sick and as sleazy as possible; the whole piece is actually rather boring on the whole. If you go into this film expecting something along the lines of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre or The Last House on the Left, you will no doubt come out disappointed; as Donald M. Jones' film is as good as neither notorious film. The plot follows the antics of two deranged brothers who take delight in holding schoolgirls captive by chaining them up in their basement. However, they're not content with merely holding the girls; as the brothers' sick and sadistic nature means that they have to subject the girls to a number of humiliating games.

As you would expect from a film with a title like "Schoolgirls in Chains", the atmosphere is very sleazy; and shots that see the young, innocent girls wearing a collar pretty much sum the film up. Director Donald M. Jones (probably a pseudonym) stays away from making the film overly erotic, however, and it's probably a good thing that Schoolgirls in Chains doesn't depict the actions of its lead characters in a favourable light. Jones' direction is solid, but since this film was made for the drive-in, you can't expect any directorial brilliance - and this film doesn't have any. The acting is similar in that it's nothing to write home about, although both Gary Kent and John Stoglin get to have fun in their absurd roles. Stoglin plays the retarded side of the pair of brothers, but it's Gary Kent who wins most of the plaudits where the acting is concerned for his portrayal of the more subdued side of the pair. The locations are well used, and the house in which most of the film takes place is suitably rural and isolated. Overall, this film isn't bad and will no doubt appeal to exploitation fans; but it's not as great as similar seventies genre efforts such as The Last House on the Left and House on Straw Hill.

"Schoolgirls in Chains" is a "Psycho" inspired low-budget slice of sleaze that chronicles the events of several young girls kidnapped by two maladjusted brothers named Frankie and Johnny who store them in a fruit cellar and routinely subject them to harassment.The films underlying theme of misogyny is primarily filtered through verbal intent rather than visual shocks.The film features Gary Kent as a brooding,incestuous bruiser,John Stoglin as his creepy retard brother and Leah Tate and Suzanne Lund.There is a decent amount of smut and perversity and plenty of nudity,so I wasn't disappointed.Unfortunetely there is not enough violence for my liking and the action is rather slow,but if you like grindhouse exploitation flicks you may give this one a try.7 out of 10.

The term 'grindhouse' gets bandied about a little too much these days (thanks, QT), but Schoolgirls in Chains is the real deal, a sleazy, low-budget shocker aimed specifically at drawing in a crowd keen to see pure exploitation—in this case, beautiful women abducted and abused by a pair of demented brothers, who have been raised by their sick mother to believe that ALL pretty young females are evil (when, in fact, it's only about 90% of them).

Trapped in the grungy basement of a remote house, the captured women are kept as playthings for man-child John (John Stoglin), whose over-enthusiastic approach to his depraved games often results in his 'toys' being broken (and consequently buried in the family's vegetable patch). Meanwhile, big brother Frank (Gary Kent) is on hand to keep the ladies in control, under the ever watchful gaze of domineering, woman-hating Mother (Greta Gayland).

When John's game of hide and seek with his latest toy Sue (Merrie Lynn Ross) ends up with the gal receiving both barrels from Frank's shotgun, Mother agrees to the abduction of Bonnie, an attractive student who John has been spying on. After Bonnie goes missing, however, her lover—a professor at her college—sets out to find what has become of her...

With a dab of psychological drama (ala Psycho), a soupçon of incest (mother loves her lads a little too much), a smidgen of rape (Frank forces himself on pretty prisoner Ginger, played by lovely Suzanne Lund), a touch of torture (I want to play doctor!), and a whole lot of grubby, low-rent photography accompanied by a suitably discordant soundtrack (complete with an effectively unsettling nursery rhyme theme), Schoolgirls in Chains achieves exactly what it sets out to do—entertain its audience through a series of sensational and sordid scenes in which girls in peril are subjected to all manner of horrors.

It's not exactly art, but it sure is fun (but don't tell mama I said so: she doesn't approve of me watching filthy girls). 7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.