Learning of his work from watching Mark Gatiss very good doc Horror Europa,I've been wanting to see a title by auteur Narciso Ibáñez Serrador,but have always struggled to find a good starting place. Taking part in an ICM exchange,I was thrilled to get recommended a Serrador creation,which led to me listening in on the screams inside the house.
The plot-
19th century France:
Sent to a boarding school for troubled girls,new student Teresa Garan feels that there is someone constantly watching her within the school walls. Noticing strange disappearances of fellow students,Garan finds any questions she asks are met with punishment from headmistress Fourneau. Who wants to keep all the girls in line. Believing that they are not good enough for him, Fourneau locks her son Luis up away from the girls,which leads to Luis soon planning a special lesson for them all.
View on the film:
Attending the school when General Francisco Franco still had his grip on Spain,co-writer/(with Juan Tébar) director Narciso Ibáñez Serrador gives the screenplay some allegorical bite,from the "disappearing" students being something that the teachers and fellow students decide to never openly talk about,to any lesbian feelings (with people getting killed for being gay/lesbian under Franco) being forced to remain suppress. Setting the school grounds in France,the writers stir up a rich Gothic Horror brew on Garan's arrival,with the sudden disappearances of her classmates,and the prescient of unseen figures haunting within the walls.
Whipping all the girls into shape,the writers take mischievous delight in unleashing the S&M side of Fourneau,who gives the movie a kinky edge in handing out punishment to the students,whilst Fourneau paying little attention to her son,allows the writers to hit Fourneau with a macabre final lesson. Striking out as the first Spanish movie to have an on-screen stabbing,director Serrador and editors Mercedes Alonso & Reginald Mills look towards the oncoming black gloves era Giallo,via the murders taking place in shadows lit by a red pen of blood darting across the screen.
Keeping the lust in the school suggestive, Serrador and the editors slice and dice dazzling extreme close-ups with sensual noises to bring the sexual tension to the surface. Joined by the sexy Cristina Galbó as new schoolgirl Teresa, Lilli Palmer gives a blistering performance as Fourneau. Never cracking a smile,Palmer makes Fourneau a ruthless battle axe,who looks at any "misbehaving" girl with hate,and wheels out punishment to any who question her powers,in the house that screamed.
The plot-
19th century France:
Sent to a boarding school for troubled girls,new student Teresa Garan feels that there is someone constantly watching her within the school walls. Noticing strange disappearances of fellow students,Garan finds any questions she asks are met with punishment from headmistress Fourneau. Who wants to keep all the girls in line. Believing that they are not good enough for him, Fourneau locks her son Luis up away from the girls,which leads to Luis soon planning a special lesson for them all.
View on the film:
Attending the school when General Francisco Franco still had his grip on Spain,co-writer/(with Juan Tébar) director Narciso Ibáñez Serrador gives the screenplay some allegorical bite,from the "disappearing" students being something that the teachers and fellow students decide to never openly talk about,to any lesbian feelings (with people getting killed for being gay/lesbian under Franco) being forced to remain suppress. Setting the school grounds in France,the writers stir up a rich Gothic Horror brew on Garan's arrival,with the sudden disappearances of her classmates,and the prescient of unseen figures haunting within the walls.
Whipping all the girls into shape,the writers take mischievous delight in unleashing the S&M side of Fourneau,who gives the movie a kinky edge in handing out punishment to the students,whilst Fourneau paying little attention to her son,allows the writers to hit Fourneau with a macabre final lesson. Striking out as the first Spanish movie to have an on-screen stabbing,director Serrador and editors Mercedes Alonso & Reginald Mills look towards the oncoming black gloves era Giallo,via the murders taking place in shadows lit by a red pen of blood darting across the screen.
Keeping the lust in the school suggestive, Serrador and the editors slice and dice dazzling extreme close-ups with sensual noises to bring the sexual tension to the surface. Joined by the sexy Cristina Galbó as new schoolgirl Teresa, Lilli Palmer gives a blistering performance as Fourneau. Never cracking a smile,Palmer makes Fourneau a ruthless battle axe,who looks at any "misbehaving" girl with hate,and wheels out punishment to any who question her powers,in the house that screamed.