The House That Screamed

The Plot = A young girl joins a French boarding school for problem girls and soon feels that something's amiss with a sinister head mistress and nasty students, and girls begin to disappear and the teaching staff keep covering it up.

Despite being over 40 years old, this movie still holds up well in my opinion and is still effective and creepy by today's standards. The directing is both skillful and artistic and the suspense is spot on, with the murder sequences played out like a stylish nightmare and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Okay there is not a lot of blood and gore and this flick does rely on character development more, but that works because the cast are well acted and keeps you interested the entire way through. The killer's identity was easily figured out, but the motive when it's revealed is highly shocking and effective and will stick with for a long time afterwards.

The formats of this movie is nothing new but given the fact that this movie came out in 1969, it's pretty easy to see where a lot of these slasher movies get their inspiration and this proves that this movie is ahead of its time. The performances like I said before are excellent, Lilli Palmer who plays the head mistress simply steals to show, with a strong performance easily hold a film together single-handedly, and inject menace or compassion into a scene with a subtlety missing from many horror films of the period. Christina Galbo balances emotion and strength perfectly, as the new student.

All in this entire movie works well as a Gothic murder mystery filled with tension, a definite must see for any fans of European horror.

The story deals with a respected house (managed by Lilli Palmer and Candida Losada) of rebel girls (Mary Maude , Maribel Martin , Teresa Hurtado , among others) where arrives a new boarder (Cristina Galbo). There happens several astonishing murders with bloody and gruesome executions . Lilli Palmer has a teen son (John Moulder Brown) who looks for a girl just like his mother . Various suspects (Victor Israel) implicate about anybody girls are running away and dieing one by one. Meantime , the girls are escaping and someone originates a frightening massacre of the remaining wayward girls .

Chicho Ibañez Serrador's first great success is compelling directed with startling visual content . This frightening movie is plenty of thrills , chills , high body-count and glimmer color in lurid images with phenomenal results . This is a classic slasher where the intrigue , tension , suspense appear threatening and lurking in every room , corridors and luxurious interior and exterior . Agreeable performance from Cristina Gabo who played various Giallo and Horror movies such as ¨Sleeping corpses lie¨ , ¨What have you done to Solange¨ and ¨The killer must strike again¨ . This genuinely mysterious story is well photographed by Manuel Berenguer in location of Palace of Sobrellano (Comillas , Cantabria, Spain) with shades of ochre , translucently pale turquoises and deep red . Creepie and eerie musical score by Waldo De Los Rios.

This splendid movie belongs to Giallo genre . These Giallo movies are characterized by overblown use of color with shining red blood , usual zooms , and utilization of images-shock . The motion picture is well directed by Chicho Ibañez Serrador . Chicho directed another classic as ¨Who can kill a child ? ¨ and for TV , ¨Historias para no Dormir¨, being his last film an episode titled ¨Blame¨(2006) . Rating : Good, this is one of the more imaginative slasher pictures in which the camera stalks in sinister style . Well worth watching .

Generally speaking, the reviews on this film are in it's favor. After watching the movie I have to agree that this is a worthwhile older horror-thriller - it's good.

It's fairly easy to know whodunit and why but it's still interesting to watch how the film plays out. Knowing whodunit and why does not spoil the film.

Sexual repression, incest, murder, a sadistic boarding school owner/teacher, lesbianism, torture and mystery - this movie has all of that. It is reminiscent of the 60s/70s Hammer Horror films. If you like all that then you might enjoy this film. It's sorta a hidden gem.

8/10

The House That Screamed (1970)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

The setting is a French boarding school where Teresa (Cristina Galbo) arrives and soon realizes that there's just something that isn't right. The head mistress (Lilli Palmer) is an abusive woman who forces her will onto the girls of the school but she seems to be unable to control her young son (John Moulder-Brown). Before long some of the girls start vanishing.

Narciso Ibáñez Serrador's THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED is a rather interesting Spanish horror film that became a hit back when it was originally released. The film did well throughout the world including its release in America but then it pretty much fell off the map. For years it was hard to find and it really became known for its story apparently inspiring Dario Argento and SUSPIRIA. The film certainly isn't a great one but if you're a fan of the genre then it's certainly worth watching.

For my money the best thing about the film was the atmosphere. I thought the director did a really good job at building up an atmosphere that worked a certain magic throughout the running time. I thought it managed to make you feel as if you were in the middle of this location and it certainly benefited the film. Another plus are the performances by the three leads. All of them are quite good in their roles and I especially liked Galbo and Palmer.

For me, the biggest issue with the film was the actual screenplay. Some have called this an early giallo but I really wouldn't considering the film that. The problem I had with the screenplay is that it never really builds up the mystery aspect. I mean, all the girls start to disappear yet there are only a handful of possible suspects and the film doesn't even try to play it up. It's as if the director just wanted a visual style and the before mentioned atmosphere.

Another problem is that there's really not too much that happens. There's not much of a story here and the film is extremely slow-moving at times. With that said, there are enough interesting moments to make the film worth watching.

This rather rare film from the director of "Quien Puede Matar a un Niño" (better known as "Island of Death" or "Who could kill a child", see also my comment on that) tells an intriguing and uncomfortable story about sinister things happening in a French boarding school around 1900. The acting is thoroughly outstanding, especially by Lilli Palmer as the head of the school, and John Moulder-Brown, her seemingly weak teenage son.

It is said that this mix of classic and modern horror that undoubtedly was years ahead of its time was Dario Argento's inspiration for his own masterly "Suspiria", and although the two movies are quite different in style, this seems to be undoubtedly true. The creepy atmosphere of the school, the uncanny characters of the women in charge: it's all there already, only that Argento put the whole thing into a more extreme shape.

"La Residencia" is probably a little bit slow moving for today's standards, but no time is wasted: The careful development of the characters make the viewer involved in all characters very soon, so one really cares about them when they reach their grisly demise. The film's atmosphere is terrific, extremely creepy throughout the picture.

And there is also the topic of oppression: Palmer's character is leading the school relentlessly; she knows no mercy for girls that are disobedient. But the oppression also works (in a far more subtle way) towards her teenage son, who has learned to obey his mother a long time ago.

One more word about inspiration: It seems to be, without a doubt, Juan Piquer Simon too was inspired by some elements of "La Residencia" when he made his overtly gory chainsaw-killer-film "Pieces" ("Mil Gritos Tiene la Noche" in spanish), although you can't compare the two films.

This hard to find gem is highly recommended for all true fans of the horror film.