Bei Vollmond Mord

Just last week, I finished reading Guy Endore's classic 1933 novel "The Werewolf of Paris," a highly intelligent, insightful look at this legendary creature of modern-day folklore. Last night I watched the 1961 Italian/Austrian coproduction "Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory," a film that is hardly classic, overly intelligent or insightful, but that did come as a nice treat for me anyway. To my great surprise, this is not the teenage lycanthrope panty raid that I had been expecting, or the camp fest that the title would lead one to anticipate. The film deals with a series of brutal murders in a young women's reformatory school in what is supposed to be the U.S. but feels distinctly European. To its credit, the movie boasts some pretty creepy atmosphere, effective music, very passable B&W photography, and very decent acting (although it's hard to tell for sure about that last with the terrible dubbing). It feels like a cross between a monster flick and an early Italian "giallo," with a dash of mystery thrown in. Who IS the werewolf? Is it the new, hunky blond professor with a secret in his past? The lecherous old teacher who's being blackmailed by one of the students? Or howzabout the Igor-like, handicapped handyman? Most viewers will never guess; I know I didn't! The Maltin book inexplicably gives this film its lowest "BOMB" rating, but I think the editors there are being way too harsh. Although "Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory" is nothing great, it still deserves some respect for the effective and well-put-together thriller that it is.

Everything is almost perfect in this underrated horror movie, except the stupid theme song, which was probably added for American distribution only. The scenes in the woods are atmospheric and thrilling due to competent cinematography. The main plot (who is the werewolf stalking a girls reformatory?)might be simple, but it is supplemented with an intriguing subplot of prostitution and blackmail centered around the reformatory. No surprise that the script is by Ernesto Gastaldi who wrote some of the masterpieces of Italian horror cinema in 1960s.

This early Italian horror mixes the werewolf horror film with a mystery story. Set is a reform school for wayward girls, there's a series of murders - could it be a werewolf? What do you reckon? It has a few pacing problems but it has some good sequences to make up for that. While its goofy title is a little misleading, as this one plays its horror fairly straight.

There is something bleak and disjointed about this film. First of all, I appreciate the fact that it has an interesting story and a few obstacles thrown in the viewers path. The movie is as much psychological as it is horrific. I don't like slasher movies and am bored with them, especially the ones out of the era where this movie appeared. It turned out to be kind of an atmospheric werewolf movie. It's deliberately misleading at times. Characters are there for no other reason than to confuse us. But it plays by the rules. The main female figure is quite pretty. The rest of the girls seem rather the same and there's a stuffy restraint all around. Nevertheless, there are some attacks, pretty good special effects, and an interesting conclusion.

Mystery ... intrigue ... actresses sounding like they're having an orgasm while being attacked by a monster ... this was what good film-making was all about in the fifties and sixties. Lycanthropus has all of this and more.

After murders begin to occur at a reformatory school, the students and indeed some of the teachers begin to suspect (rather randomly) that a werewolf is responsible. It quickly becomes a mystery to discover who the werewolf is, with several red herrings thrown in before the real killer is revealed to the audience.

This movie is notable as being probably the first Italian werewolf movie ever made. It was released as "Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory" in the US with the usual crappy dubbing, which is always good. The over-acting on screen coupled with the vocal over-acting will mean plenty of entertainment for fans of those awful old B-movies. However, aside from a couple of key scenes, it's not quite bad enough to be good. The guy who plays the creepy janitor reminded me a lot of Peter Lorre, so his performance was quite enjoyable, but basically there's not enough content here to fill the entire ninety minutes. There are large segments which are just plain dull.

It's pretty much an average B-movie, good for collectors and genre fans.