Young French model Ann-Marie, living in England, is duped by her new boyfriend Mark E Desade (a bit of name play on the infamous French sadist) into meeting his crazy parents who have a morbid house of "correction" based on their strict religious beliefs. When Hammer horror movies effectively died director Pete Walker pretty much took on the continuation of British horror in the 1970's, this being perhaps his most well know film. It is basically a women in jail flick, I think more exploitation than horror, though there are certainly elements of the latter present. Penny Irving plays Ann-Marie, spending much screen time nude. Robert Tayman plays her creepy boyfriend, he also played the Count in Hammer's excellent Vampire Circus. I will always associate Ray Brooks as the narrator of the kids' TV animated series Mr Ben, seeing him in bed with a half naked woman was quite funny (for me). The star of the movie is undoubtably Sheila Keith as Walker, a very cruel warden at the "clinic". She appeared in several of the director's movies, always giving great performances. Much of the movie was filmed in The Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, very local to me. I have visited Littledean Jail, the old building used here, several times as a museum. Well made horror/exploitation that is nasty enough to still shock but at the same time is nowhere near as nasty as some of the similar European movies from this period.
Review of House of Whipcord
