User reviews

Not particularly explicit and barely any blood, this is nevertheless packed with red herrings and starring Suzy Kendall, so the fact that this is pretty much a British giallo does not come as such a surprise. Sleazy subject matter, schoolgirls getting raped in the woods behind the school and poor old Lesley-Anne Down gets it twice, although I reckon they used the same footage twice. Even so this starts at quite a pace with not just one girl chased through those woods but almost immediately afterwards another. The rest of the film is more a who-dun-it but keeps the attention and if some are under performing, like the very poor offering from Frank Finlay (never knew he was that small!) the rest acquit themselves well enough.

What seems like a good size school of "Red Herrings" swim past the screen of this very British "who done it?" Although obviously marketed as a lurid school girls in trouble film, under such names as "The Creepers", "Satan's Playthings", "Tower of Terror", "Assault", and "In the Devil's Garden", the movie is not a horror, or sex film, but a fairly decent mystery thriller. By the rather stringent British decency standards, I suppose this pushes the envelope, but overall is very tame. This does not detract from the story, which maintains interest throughout. The acting seems good, however American audiences will struggle with the thick accents. One annoyance is the repetitive and blaring suspense music, but overall the film is totally watchable. - MERK

During the 60's and 70's – when Hammer Studios ruled the industry – the vast majority of genre movies that got released in the United Kingdom were either Gothic tales (practically all Hammer films), horror omnibuses (Amicus) or provocative exploitation films (courtesy of Pete Walker & Norman J. Warren). At the same time in Italy, a very different sub genre of horror was extremely popular and overflowing the market; namely the Giallo. This is basically a whodunit type of thriller, interlarded with sleaze, graphic violence and bizarre plot twists. Usually each country stuck to its own specialties, but "Assault" is one of the truly few films crossing the countries' borders of styles. What we have here is a British Giallo, containing all the rudimentary ingredients that define the genre: luscious under aged school girls, rape & strangulation, perverted elderly suspects and a grotesque climax. A vicious rapist dwells the forestry area surrounding an all-girls school building. With one girl dead and another one traumatized for life, the school courageous art teacher Julie (Suzy Kendall) volunteers to act as bait in order for the police to unmask the culprit. There are quite a number of suspects, including the headmistress' uncanny husband and maybe even the helpful police doctor who's friendly with Julie. "Assault" may perhaps feature all the trademarks of a genuine Italian Giallo, it still remains a "light" version of the real thing. The plot is extremely textbook, the red herrings are very transparent and the action sequences are unspectacular and soft. There's very few sex & violence and then still most of it takes place off-screen. Still, the atmosphere is a little disturbing because the girl victims are very young and clearly vulnerable. One sequence is particularly questionable & gratuitous, as it involves a sleaze middle-aged guy fondling a young girl whilst she climbs up a ladder in the library. The most interesting aspect about this film is to witness Italian styles mix with typically British characteristics. Even the most perverted blokes behave very British and talk with a sophisticated yet arrogant tone of voice. Suzy Kendall was probably the best casting choice imaginable, as she played in some actual Italian Giallo highlights such as "The Bird with Crystal Plumage", "Torso" and "Spasmo". It's a remotely interesting cinematic 'marriage' between two nations with solid reputations in the horror genre, but definitely not the best movie in its type.

The film is typical of its time, with the lighting, camera work and fashion giving a clear indication of 1969 to 1971 British cinema.

It is not scary, but there is reasonable suspense and enjoyment.

My main reason for commenting is has anyone else noticed the very strong similarities with the brilliant (but sadly never shown) "I start counting"?

There is the same fashion, the similar colour technique which is surprising given this is Eastman and "I start" is De Luxe, an emphasis on short skirts, an unknown serial assailant who is revealed at the end but throughout most of the film the viewers attention is diverted to other suspects. There is also the woods where the events take place; the atmosphere in the woodland scenes is very similar. Finally, there is a young and good looking central character in both, Lesley-Anne Down and Jenny Agutter

Watch the film if you enjoy late 60's, early 70's Britain and a bit of suspense.

Although any number of Italian gialli ("Nude Si Muore", "What Have You Done to Solange?", etc.) were set in Britain and/or were UK co-productions, this film is somewhat unique in that it seems to be a completely British giallo. We're definitely in giallo territory here: There's a vicious rapist-murderer on the loose at a girl's school. There are two witnesses to the murder--one who can't quite remember what she saw (a familiar plot-line in the Italian films)and a previous rape victim who is too traumatized to speak. The lead is Suzy Kendall, who two years earlier had starred in Dario Argento's seminal giallo "The Bird with Crystal Plumage." It's definitely a very British film, however. The cinematography is staid and workman-like compared to the more garish and stylistic Italian films. The plot is fairly linear and logical, at least until the end when the murderer-rapist goes to laughably ridiculous lengths to stop a psychiatrist from giving sodium pentathlon to the traumatized victim to help her recover her memory.

It's not surprising given the famed British aversion to violence (in movies that is)that most of the violence here takes place off-screen. Still it is pretty nasty violence, especially considering the rape angle and the age and gender of the victims. (It's interesting that these kinds of movies never take place at a MEN'S college or in an old age home). The sex and nudity is also pretty non-existent, but it doesn't exactly seem wholesome either the way they have cast sexy twenty year olds as fifteen year olds and dressed them in mini-skirts short enough to get any real schoolgirl expelled. The most lurid scene involves the headmistress's lecherous husband and a student librarian on a ladder. I don't know if it makes it more or less perverse that the "student" is played by Janet Lynn, a British sex star of the period (thus the obvious pseudonym)who had been featured the year before in Pete Walker's naked sex romp "Cool It, Carol". The only really recognizable star though, besides Suzy Kendall, is a young Leslie-Anne Down as the traumatized rape victim. (Despite what an earlier reviewer said, Jenny Agutter is NOT in this movie).

Still if you can get around the leering British hypocrisy, the relative lack of sex and violence, and the fairly low-wattage of the star power, this is actually a pretty entertaining little film, and, if nothing else, an interesting one.

I saw Saturn Productions Inc.'s video of this release, retitled The Creepers (the title doesn't make much sense).

It starts with young women leaving a school in uniforms of white shirts a short pinks skirts. One of them takes a shortcut through the woods, where she is chased and then raped underneath overhead electrical lines by someone we do not see. There are several shots from the stalker's point of view.

The woman is hospitalized, still ambulatory but mute and largely unresponsive. A doctor tries to nurse her back. A couple months later, another girl tries cutting through the woods, and she is chased, raped, and killed. A group of girls and an art teacher drive into the woods to look for her. They get stuck in the mud, and when the teacher looks out the back window, she catches a glimpse of someone in the red taillights. She then finds the body of the dead woman.

The teacher thinks the man she caught a glimpse of looked like the devil! She paints a picture of how she saw him. She works with the police to try to identify the man. Meanwhile, the first victim is becoming more responsive, but is still mute. A plan is concocted to flush out the killer...

This was an OK movie. It was hurt by the music. The action scenes all use the same piece of music, which is so inappropriate it almost makes those scenes comical, which is just wrong. While the version I saw was probably cut, I can't imagine what would have led to this movie getting an NC-17 rating. Perhaps the assaults were more graphic; little is shown of them on the video I watched.

After the movie on the video, there's a listing of Saturn Productions' videos, showing the boxcovers for this one and: Circle of Fear, Castle of the Walking Dead AKA Schlangengrube und das Pendel, Die (1967), Demon of the Lake AKA Creature from Black Lake (1976), Night of Horrors (1978), Sinner's Blood (1969), Blade of the Ripper AKA Strano vizio della Signora Wardh, Lo (1970), The Devil Walks at Midnight AKA Plus longue nuit du diable, La (1971), Christmas Evil AKA You Better Watch Out (1980). Several of these are little seen today! Curiously, the illustrated cover for Blade of the Ripper is the same used for the VHS for it still available from another distributor, Alpha. I'm not sure what movie Circle of Fear is; the cover shows a few women standing around a pentagram inside a circle chalked on a floor.

Suzy Kendall, another love of my youth and always! Admired in "To Sir, with Love" (1967), "The Penthouse" (1967), "Up the Junction" (1968), and especially in the fascinating role in "Fraulein Doktor" (1969) and in "Fear Is the Key"(1972). One of the most beautiful women ever and extraordinary actress in "The Penthouse", her best and most complex role in a movie. This "Devil's Garden"(1971)Assault (original title) is not bad but not great either. Frank Finlay is good as a cop, and Freddie Jones is even better as a journalist. Lesley-Anne Down, the later beauty from movies like "Brannigan" (1975), "Sphinx" (1981) and especially "Hanover Street" (1979), here very very young, just a teenager, is full of sexuality already.

Assault is apparently a British attempt at emulating the popular Italian Giallo sub-genre. If that is indeed what the filmmakers were aiming for, it has to be said that they've done a rather good job, as Assault incorporates many of the common Giallo trademarks. We've got a killer on the loose, a number of victims, a police investigation, an eyewitness, lots of red herrings and an unknown assailant, among other things. I'd even go as far as to say that if I didn't know better, I might have thought this was an Italian production, set in the UK. It's unfortunate, then, that director Sidney Hayers wasn't able to take the script and craft an exciting mystery out of it, as the film features far too much talking and not enough action, leaving it caught up in boredom for most of the running time. The plot follows the murder of a young girl in the woods outside of her school. When another is found dead in the same way shortly after, the police are brought in. Their only witness is a young teacher, who says the killer looks like the devil and puts herself on the line to catch the psychopath.

One common element of the Italian Giallo is a silly plot, and that has been copied for this film also. The idea regarding the capture of the killer is preposterous, and the murderer would have to be a complete and utter fool to fall for it. The film doesn't seem too keen on keeping itself away from complete farce either, as the climax is very silly and it's often hard to keep a straight face while watching the film unfold, and that's not what you want from a thriller that handles themes of murder and rape. The cast is distinctly British, and Derbyshire-born Giallo star Suzy Kendall, who has also worked with the likes of Dario Argento, Sergio Martino and Umberto Lenzi on Giallo thrillers, takes the lead role and is joined by a host of tea-drinking co-stars. Sidney Hayers' direction is a little turgid at times, although scenes such as the one in which we get an early glimpse of the murderer are well shot. The conclusion to the mystery is disappointing, as the identity of the killer just sort of comes out of nowhere. Overall, this film isn't all that good; but it may appeal to Giallo fans for the fact that it's a Giallo, but it's not Italian.

This was a surprisingly good movie.The plot and acting was good.Whoever composed the background music needs a few musical lessons..but the movie was worth 8/10.

If you like to see cute, cuddly schoolgirls getting raped in a special gentle way, then this is it! If you greatly admire a nice young Lesley-Anne Down being half-mute, then this is it! If you like obscure movies with acting that compares to an Orson Welles picture, then this is it! So what's not it? A movie that lures men into the seductive world of muddled mystery dramas like this one. Its B-budget production values and uninteresting clues won't deserve much further attention. The end is too predictable, to say the least. Real soft in a way, but overall, this one didn't hold my interest for long. Only if you like mini-skirts and knee-high socks. Also released as SATAN'S PLAYTHINGS.

I haven't seen this film in years, but from what I remember of it, it was a pretty good movie. The only thing that I think might be a little politically incorrect is the fact that the a few of the girls are pretty much seen as teases, especially in the scene in which the headmistress' husband fondles one of the girls as she stands on top of a stool. This scene is a little disturbing, especially when you consider the film was made in 1971. No wonder this film was mainly shown very late at night when the kiddies were asleep.

Too much talk and too little of the right kind of action, for me. But the talk is delivered capably; the sex is maximally restrained; and the gore is maturely, practically non-existent. The police in this story believably - albeit boringly - strive to come up with the identity of who, among a few possibilities, is the rapist? You're gonna hafta rent the movie to find out. That would be OK if it doesn't cost very much. But buy it only if that does not exceed the price of renting. My impression was: a little less than mediocre.

#227 Assault (also known as The Creepers, U. S. title: In the Devil's Garden) - 1971 (This Film Rates a D ) This 1973 British horror film follows Tessa, a traumatized student who falls silent after being brutally raped. Under Dr. Lomax's care, progress is slow. He seems to push a lot of pills. Meanwhile, another student is murdered, sparking an investigation. The art teacher, Julie West finds the dead body and sees the killer. He has "luminous" eyes and a twisted demon face."He looked exactly like the devil". In a bad next move, Julie uses herself as bait in an attempt to catch the killer. The story meanders through overly complicated plot twists, introducing multiple suspects. Sgt. Milton sets up a sting operation, but the narrative falters. The underwhelming storyline, the lack of any real action, the low body count, subpar script and acting (So British), are some big faults. The gore and effects are basic with no blood. The rape scenes are minor but still disturbing. The orchestral soundtrack is a tad over dramatic but does create some intensity for a film that lacks so much. There are brief, non-exciting nudity in photograph form. While attempting to tackle a serious storyline, the film falls short due to its convoluted plot, weak acting, and lack of any long lasting suspense. Despite some intense moments, the movie's numerous shortcomings overshadow its potential. Its just a bad horror film.

Little-seen (these days) British attempt at a giallo horror-thriller, starring Suzy Kendall (star of several Italian gialli), Frank Finlay, Freddie Jones, and introducing Lesley-Anne Down and James Laurenson. A schoolgirl is attacked and raped whilst taking a shortcut through woods after school. Soon after, a second girl is raped, and this time murdered. A police Chief Supt. (Finlay) teams-up with a psychiatric doctor (Laurenson), a local journalist (Jones), and the school's art teacher (Kendall) to find the killer before he can strike again.

The film's achieved a certain notoriety over the years, mainly due to its juxtaposition of sexual assault/murder, and nubile, innocent schoolgirl victims - although by today's standards it's pretty tame in its execution. The performances are good. Aside from those already mentioned, viewers of a certain age will recognise a host of reliable UK TV faces. Tony Beckley is especially noteworthy as the sleazeball husband of the school's headmistress, who isn't adverse to 'feeling up' the girls when opportunities arise. It's produced by Peter Rogers, better known as producer of the Carry On films. Director Sidney Hayers does a sound job - especially with two thrilling foot chases through the woods. The score is terrific, courtesy of Eric Rogers (no relation to Peter, but likewise better known for the Carry On series). The whole thing is well put-together. And whilst the reveal of the killer isn't exactly unexpected, it's an enjoyable ride getting there. 7.5/10.

Following the release of Sidney Hayer's beautifully restored, razor-edged 1971 thriller Assault, the relatively unheralded genre works of this talented British filmmaker has gradually, and wholly deservedly, come under closer scrutiny. A sharply executed exercise in Gialloesque terror finds resourceful Det. Chief Supt. Velyan (Frank Finlay) utilizing unconventional means to capture a demented erotomaniac haunting the woods frequently used as an increasingly precarious shortcut by many of the local schoolgirls.

Hayers notorious slasher certainly lives up to its blunt moniker, remaining a gritty, tautly-plotted psycho-shocker about a singularly savage schoolgirl slayer. Frank Finlay is at his charismatic best as the earnest copper, and, gorgeous Giallo gal Suzi Kendall final girls it like a flaxen-haired boss, and not for the first time, Tony Beckley steals the show as the tightly-buttoned head mistress's perma-lecherous husband! Sidney Hayers thrilling Assault provides exemplary adult entertainment, and the tortuously tense, spectacularly shock-stuffed finale has a grip like post-coital Mantis! Not to be missed, this twisted, sinisterly schoolgirl skewering, maidenhead flaying fright fest remains a gruesomely realistic Brit-Horror classic!

As this 1971 murder mystery opens a pupil at an all-girl school takes a shortcut through the woods; here she is attacked and raped by an unseen assailant. Left traumatised she can't speak let alone identify her attacker. There are no real suspects at this point but local psychologist, Dr Lomax, believes that the attacker will almost certainly strike again. Inevitably this is the case; the next time a student is raped and murdered. The attacker is seen by the school art teacher; although the lighting from her car's rear lights gives him a red, devilish appearance. She offers to help the police catch the killer by acting as bait. As the danger for her increases more and more suspects are introduced.

This is a decent enough mystery with enough suspects to keep one guessing till the final reveal. It starts well; the attack in the woods is made more disturbing as it is largely shown from the attacker's point of view. What follows is fairly routine although still enjoyable. It does feel somewhat dated, not surprising given that it is over fifty years old. Before it starts we see the old BBFC 'X Certificate' but the film is less violent than most modern murder TV dramas. There is no gore, no swearing and only very brief, minor nudity. The cast does a solid job. Overall I'd not call this a must see but do think it passes ninety minutes well enough.

Apart from the fact it is in colour and contains rather more flashes of thigh, this resembles a 50s black and white second feature from the likes of Butcher films A number of assaults and the murder of a schoolgirl in the woods surrounding a posh girls school throws up a number of suspects, an improbable plot, stilted dialogue and one of the worst pieces of overacting (by Freddie Jones, playing a rogue local newspaper reporter) that it has ever been my misfortune to witness.

Suzy Kendall plays the decorative school teacher enmeshed in the murders, Frank Findlay is the bemused investigating police detective. Most of the cast act as if they are reading directly from the script, the jazzy background music does not enhance proceedings and there is generally a lack of suspense.

Also known for some reason as In The Devil's Garden , this is not one to seek out.