Haus der Todsünden

The charming story of a priest.....who murders people! Meet Father Xavier Meldrum from the Church of the Sacred Heart. He uses religious means to bump off his enemies such as a poisoned wafer, incense burner and rosary beads. Splendid performance by Anthony Sharp (remember him as the government minister in A Clockwork Orange?) as the obsessed vicar and a good turn by Pete Walker regular Sheila Keith as a one eyed housekeeper. A well done musical score by Stanley Myers is also featured. Remember this movie the next time you go to confession!

Coming hot on the heels of the sleazy HOUSE OF WHIPCORD and the outrageously gruesome FRIGHTMARE, veteran exploitationer Pete Walker and his puckish screenwriter David McGillivray decided to stir up some more mischief, this time aiming their vitriol at the hypocrisy of the Catholic church, with a blackmailing killer priest who uses the tools of his trade (incense burners, rosary beads and communion wafers) to deal out death to non-believers. Given the hoo-hah the Monty Python team caused with LIFE OF BRIAN four years later, you'd have expected the controversy to rage as Pete and David had hoped it would, but HOUSE OF MORTAL SIN barely raised a murmur - most likely because it's a rather dull and restrained affair compared to their earlier exercises in wonderfully hideous terror. Anthony Sharp is fine in the lead as the crazy cleric, alternating between pompous bumbling and trembling mania at the drop of a hat, whilst Susan Penhaligon makes a memorably vulnerable victim, but the film feels too much of a cut-and-paste catalogue of borrowed elements (the mother fixation from PSYCHO, Sheila Keith basically reprising her WHIPCORD role as Sharp's demented housekeeper, the dysfunctional family business from FRIGHTMARE) to really ring true. The set-piece murders are impressive, and the ending is as bleak and as desolate as you'd expect, but the film contains more padding than a cheap mattress and Walker seems to have confused tension with tedium in several scenes. Still, it's entertaining enough for a slow evening.

The church is corrupt, that's what director Walker seems to be saying in a rather clumsy way with this exploitation effort. Elements of "Psycho" are mixed uneasily with "Rosemary's baby", about a mad priest who tapes his confessional sessions and keeps his bedridden mother in the attic. There is extortion, murder (by religious symbols like a rosary and an incense-burner) and an accomplice with a disfigured face (eye-patch and all!). Some scenes, ie the ones with the bedridden mother, border on the tasteless, but I somehow think that that was the point. Surprisingly good performances from a largely unknown cast, with Sheila Keith as a standout in a (too) minor role. Boy, can she give a murderous glance! It's not a stunning tour-de-force like "Frighmare" by the same director, but still manage to pack a punch or two, despite some dreary bits (most of them involving the hero-priest who is too goody-goody to be interesting). For those who is familiar with Pete Walker and his movies, the ending will come as no surprise, but to others it will be shocking/frustrating in about equal measures.

This is another decent directing effort by Pete Walker with a captivating premise that is well executed and maintains a dark & macabre interest throughout (mostly), although the pacing does lag in a few places, but the brooding atmosphere & intriguing performances does enough to keep you interested until the chilling climax. The film's tone is relentlessly bleak and grim, yet the effective and really quite compelling, with some decent & chilling death scenes throughout.

The cast here are pretty-stellar with standout performances by Anthony Sharp as the demented and fantastic performance as the unhinged and repressed Father Meldrum with his layered performance that's well-written for his tortured character. Pete Walker's mainstay Shelia Keith also gives a standout performance as the overbearing housekeeper with a sinister presence. Norman Eshley & Stephanie Beacham adds some much-needed warmth with their blossoming relationship & both have decent chemistry together, despite the movie's overwhelming gloom. Then there's Susan Penhaligon who plays the troubled Jenny who becomes the object of the priest's obsession. She does a fine job, but could have been given more to do, as she's pretty much absent from the climax.

On the whole this a really cracking and tense horror/thriller with some cool Giallo elements that although the pace may drag a bit at times, its still worth a watch.

A very fine Walker effort. Not really a horror film nor a giallo but very British. Must have upset as many as it pleased upon release with it's uncompromising attack upon the Church in general and the Catholic Church in particular. Excellent central performances and it is these performances that helps the film over the odd script shortcomings. Not for the easily offended but for everyone else quite a treat and who is to say accusations of wrong doings by priests and cover ups by other self righteous members of society is so far fetched? Begins well and although gets a bit lost halfway through, there is a full powered body strewn build up to a surprising ending.