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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.

This is, as you might expect, a movie about a werewolf in a girl's dormitory (although technically the werewolf mostly hangs around in a forest outside the girl's dormitory). The "girls" actually look to be about twenty-five on average and resemble European fashion models of the era much more than the "delinquents" they're supposed to be. And this was made in 1962 so you're not going to get any nighties or plaid mini-skirts, let alone any nude shower scenes. Still this is an entertaining little movie that serves to show the potential "beast" that lurks within the heart of all respectable men when they get around nubile young women. The first murder especially, while tame by today's standards, was no doubt quite a taboo-breaker at the time. The werewolf attacks his victim "missionary style" and the screams and cries that she makes as he ravages her off-screen could easily be taken for something else entirely. The other murders and attacks are less lurid, but generally pretty effective.

The movie also provides a plethora of great suspects and red herrings including a new professor who left his old job after a mysterious scandal, a benefactor of the school who is paying various girls for sexual favors (and finds himself being blackmailed), the creepy and very bestial-looking groundskeeper, and the very refined headmaster who nevertheless bears a striking resemblance to the werewolf. The movie really keeps you guessing to the end.

It's in black-and-white, of course, and it's dubbed (although the European cast does seem to be speaking English most of the time). Not a great movie perhaps, but not a bad way to waste 80 minutes either.

This isn't Jack Nicholson or Benicio Del Toro's wolf-man. it isn't even close to Paul Naschy's beast. This one doesn't even have a werewolf face, and only scratches the victims. Maybe that is why they changed the title from Werewolf to Ghoul.

But, to see one of the early classics is still worth the time.

It is more of a mystery, as Mary (Mary McNeeran) is blackmailing a professor (Maurice Marsac) with some old letters. She is the first victim. Is the professor the killer, or the new teacher (Carl Schell) in school?

Priscilla (Barbara Lass) comes into possession of the letters and tries to find out who killed her friend. (NOTE: Lass was briefly married to Roman Polanski, and, believe it or not, this is one of her best roles in a long career.)

Several murder and several suspects. Who is the ghoul in the girl's dormitory?

Unless your taste runs to blood and gore I wouldn't get too exciting over the titillating title Werewolf In A Girl's Dormitory. Even though this is a special school for girls with behavioral problems they're all quite respectably clothed. There isn't even that much blood in the film although the usual screaming quotient is there.

This film also illustrates the fickleness of careers even in one family. Around a time when Maximilian Schell got a Best Actor Oscar for Judgment At Nuremberg and sister Maria Schell was doing things like the big budget remake of Cimarron, brother Carl was busy doing Werewolf In A Girl's Dormitory.

He's a new faculty member who actually is experimenting in lycanthropy when bodies start popping up around the school. Naturally suspicion falls on him.

All kind of dumb, only for the most addicted horror and gore fan.

I just finished this movie for the first time and found it entertaining. I personally enjoy old black and white horror films since I grew up with them. This one keeps you guessing and is certainly worth watching if you get the opportunity.

Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory was scripted by Ernesto Gastaldi, and anyone who knows that name won't be surprised to find out that despite being a werewolf film, this is also a clear precursor to the entire Giallo sub-genre. The film features themes that would go on to become the staple of the Giallo; including a setting full of attractive young girls, and an unknown killer who is picking them off. It has to be said that this film was ahead of it's time, and as the title suggests, the killer in this film is a werewolf, and it would seem that the main inspiration for the scriptwriter was the Universal classic 'The Wolf Man', although themes from more wayward titles such as 'Psycho' definitely shine through. The plot focuses on a dormitory for tearaway girls. When one of them is murdered, apparently by a werewolf, suspicion falls on the new science teacher at the school. Naturally, the crime is attributed to some wolf-like creature, and when the murders continue; the detective on the case ends up getting a surprise!

The film is shot in black and white, and looks very cheap throughout. This is certainly a reflection on the budget restraints, although they don't harm it too much as the mystery plot is often enough to pull it through. The scriptwriter would certainly improve as his career went on; with his collaborations with ace director Sergio Martino representing his best work. As you might expect, there isn't a great deal of violence and murder in the film; a reflection on the time the film was made, although this doesn't hurt the film too much as a plot like this doesn't always need blood and guts to succeed. The cast doesn't shine too much, and it's not hard to see why many of them didn't go on to receive cult status, although Carl Schell does stand out; mostly because he looks a bit like Peter Lorre. The conclusion to the story doesn't contain much in the way of surprise, as it's always obvious what the murderer is; although the way that the ending plays out is good in that it inspires some thinking. Overall, while this isn't a particularly good film; it deserves extra plaudits for its influence and frankly bizarre plot, and is definitely worth seeing for Italian horror aficionados!

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.

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.

The new science teacher Dr. Julian Olcott (Carl Schell) with a mysterious past arrives in an institutional boarding school for troublemaker girls. Along the night, the intern Mary Smith (Mary McNeeran), who is blackmailing another teacher - Sir Alfred Whiteman (Maurice Marsac) - with some love letters, is slaughtered by a werewolf. The detective in charge of the investigation attributes the crime to a wolf, while her mate Priscilla (Barbara Lass) believes she was killed by Sir Alfred. On the next days, other deaths happen in the school, reducing the list of suspects.

"Lycanthropus" is a surprisingly good werewolf movie in spite of the appealing Brazilian title ("The Werewolf in the Girl's Dormitory"). The screenplay constructs the plot with many false leads, and the viewer may suspect of the most different characters, since all of them may be the monster. The acting and the direction are also good and therefore I recommend this flick for fans of the genre. I regret only the low quality of the DVD released by the Brazilian distributor Fantasy, with some minor problems, skipping parts of some scenes. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Lobisomem no Dormitório das Garotas" ("The Werewolf in the Girl's Dormitory")

Why, in the girl's dormitory of course! My thoughts exactly! The creators of this low-keyed European horror production had one luminous idea and immediately processed it into the title. Unfortunately, they put all their of their ingenuity in the title and the setting and the rest of the film is dreadfully soporific, unexciting and infuriatingly dull. The plot isn't your average werewolf tale but a murder-mystery and, with a slight bit of imagination, you could even call it a predecessor for the later (and much superior) Italian Giallo sub genre. Several of the elements in the story would later grow out to become fundamental key aspects in nearly every Giallo-effort, like a school full of wayward girls, the likable teacher character investigating, blackmail, sex for money and – of course – vicious murders in the woods. A new teacher arrives in the secluded boarding school for 'naughty' girls and barely one day later, the police are already investigating the peculiar death of a student, whose body got barbarically ripped to pieces. It looks like the work of a wild animal, like a wolf, but her gorgeous roommate Priscilla discovers the victim was involved in a sex-and-blackmailing game with the school's resident and respected head teacher. Since all suspicion falls on the new guy, he's eager to help Priscilla out with her investigation. All I can conclude is that "Werewolf in a girl's Dormitory" was made at least a decade too soon. The subject matter isn't necessarily ahead of its time, mind you, but the film could have been a modest classic if only it could have benefited from gorier make-up art and sleazier undertones. In the 1970's, the setting of a school for wayward girls would be the ideal excuse to show nudity, perverted characters and explicit bloodshed. But because it's an early 60's film, the 'wayward' girls are sweet and obedient and the horror is reduced to showing a couple of bodies with their eyes wide open. Sleaze and gore might not have improved the quality, but at least the film wouldn't have been so boring.

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.

(AKA): Bei Vollmond Mord (Austria) / The Ghoul in School / Ghoul in a Girl's Dormitory (USA) / I Married a Werewolf / Monster Among the Girls (USA). The original title was "Lycanthropus."

This is supposed to be a disease brought on by a full moon but for those in the know, Lycanthrope is just another name for "werewolf."

Expecting a hairy James Belushi in Technicolor, I was surprised to find that this is a dubbed biting Italian film dredged up from the golden age of Italian horror films to be a pretender to today's cult classics.

The film is B&W and takes place in an Italian castle that is being used as a girls' reformatory. The girls picked for this film were chosen for their tasty looks and include Barbara Lass who was Roman Polanski's first wife (1959-62). There are many other well and not so well known actors. Joseph Mercer known as the Peter Lorre of Italian horror films plays the part of "Tommy the porter". Carl Schell is the brother of Maximilian Schell.

The title song "The Ghoul in School" was written by Marilyn Stewart, Frank Owens, and sung by Adam Keefe. However, most of the music is by Armando Trovajoli; Armando composed over 200 films and videos, many of them were Italian horror films.

The story opens up with Dr. Julian Olcott (Carl Schell) and is greeted at the gate by the limping sneaky looking Tommy the Porter (Joseph Mercer) and the porter's German Sheppard that does not appear too friendly. A young girl swoons at the sight of the Doctor. From here we are introduced to a bevy of babes (each with some sinister past) and a staff of extremely strange people in their way. Girls are being lured to the woods by cash. But shortly after the arrival of Dr. Olcott, one girl is dispatched. This, of course, is attributed to stray wolves. So did the girl go astray or the wolf or the supplier of cash or any of the other mysterious characters? It is up to her girlfriend Priscilla (Barbara Lass) that thinks her friend was murdered, and with the sometimes help of Director Swift (Curt Lowens) that wants to protect the school's reputation, to find if there is a perpetrator before someone else is dispatched.

Oops, too late.

I was punched in the gut so hard it dropped me to the floor. Writhing in pain, I was suddenly kicked in the genitals. As the intense pain overcame me I blacked out thinking "What have I done to bring this punishment upon me?" At least that is how I felt as I watched disk 3, side A of Mill Creek's 50 Chilling Classics collection. After laboring through Haunts I turned my glazed over eyes to Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory a.k.a. Lycanthropus. With a title like that it leaves little mystery concerning the plot.

A new professor arrives at a reform school for girls the very same time a student, prisoner, whatever the hell they are is murdered. When the campus faculty that is staffed by morons find the body they note how the wounds seem to be from a "vicious animal". Let me pause in query as I ponder what could possibly be the culprit. Could it be said werewolf in the title? Maybe. Do I care. Absolutely not. Barbara Lass is hot in an early sixties way and definitely poke worthy for a smelly deadbeat hippie of that time.

This is an Italian-Spanish production of the typical American werewolf movie of the fifties. At times you can see the characters speaking English and in other scenes the lines are clearly foreign. The ending is a head-scratcher as it is never explained how or why the culprit became a werewolf to begin with or the motivation for the attacks. You can probably guess who the werewolf is within fifteen minutes anyway. Do yourself a favor and put this foaming dog to sleep.

This Italian horror flick was released in the U.S. in 1963 as WEREWOLF in a GIRLS' DORMITORY. Filmed in black and white for the atmosphere helped some. But you can tell this project had a 'shoe string' budget. The story line sustains suspense although the special effects are lacking. The acting is horrible and is so inept that this is a fun watch instead of hide your face horror. A bad girls' reformatory is terrorized by a werewolf.

Cast members of note are: Barbara Lass, Curt Lowens, Carl Schell and Luciano Pigozzi. The brief theme song is retro cool "Ghoul in School".

Most of this story is like a murder mystery and people are killed not by a werewolf. There is a werewolf but they do a fairly decent job keeping the audience guessing who it may be. It isn't a great movie but I've seen much worse horror movies from Italiy.

Except for the inspired transformation scene from man into beast, which I found metaphysically beautiful -- hey, only a horror aficionado can comprehend such a seemingly contradictory attribution -- this dreary piece of schlock artfully demonstrates to what dismal depths of tedium a film can sink, given the right combination of ineptness on the part of its clumsy direction, brainless script and a bargain-basement assortment of mannequins posing as actors. The ludicrous background music -- the worst ever composed (and performed, I suspect, by an "orchestra" of one) -- vividly calls to mind a constipated Peter Cottontail stalking (something or other) down the Bunny Trail.

But listen: For high camp...for sneering hoots of derision...for a film that rivals PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE and NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST -- in a nutshell, for a lesson on how NOT to make a horror film, WEREWOLF IN A GIRL'S DORMITORY is indispensable.

Own it at all costs! (BIG GRIN)

Joel Kovacik

Dr. Julian Olcott (Carl Schell, "The Blue Max") is a disgraced doctor who assumes a new position as science instructor at a home / school for troubled girls. His arrival coincides with a number of gruesome murders by a savage, bipedal werewolf in the woods outside the dormitory grounds. Naturally, he falls under suspicion, but so do some of the other dubious characters on the premises: a fellow teacher (Maurice Marsac, "King of Kings"), a shady caretaker (Luciano Pigozzi, "Blood & Black Lace"), etc.

Although ultimately the film delivers few surprises, there is at least one twist that makes something of a difference. The script, by the prolific Ernesto Gastaldi ("Torso"), does not hold up to a lot of scrutiny, but the story is still basically entertaining, and in general "Lycanthropus" is definitely good for some chills and some solid atmosphere. That first attack is especially noteworthy, as we can see the beast really hauling ass while it pursues initial victim Mary Smith (Mary McNeeran, in her only film credit); the actual attack is pretty savage, too. The crisp black & white photography is by Renato Del Frate, and the excellent music, by Armando Trovajoli. The acting is on point from much of the cast. Curt Lowens ("Angels & Demons") plays the director of the dormitory, and the lovely young Barbara Lass ("Eva Wants to Sleep") is our top-billed damsel in distress, who probes the mystery of Mary's extracurricular activities as well as her death.

"Lycanthropus" really is a better film than its American title of "Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory" would indicate. While it may not stack up as one of the great films in this sub-genre, it's worth a look for people who are fans.

Directed by Paolo Heusch ("Violent Life").

Seven out of 10.

The movie (aka Lycanthropus) is not downright horrible - it's kinda interesting in it's own way and to be honest it's the mystery aspect of this film that really fairly good. I had a bad copy of the movie to watch and had to miss some of the film because of it - but I did see enough of it to talk about it and to tell you if you like older lesser known B-rated horror and mystery films then you might like this movie.

The English voice dubs are good - and you really do not notice all that much that the movie is dubbed from Italian to English.

Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory is aka in English as Ghoul in a Girl's Dormitory, Monster Among the Girls, I Married a Werewolf, The Ghoul in School and by it's original title Lycanthropus. So if you want to watch the film you have all the English titles to look up to find the film.

4/10

Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory is one of those old drive in type movies which is actually a pretty good film. They acting is good by the cast but it seems like all of them were dubbed. This is a very unusual movie and the werewolf is different looking which he actually resembles the Werewolf of London of the Universal Monsters. Its amazing how some of the characters looked in the film. One actor had a bleach blonde hair style, another actor looked and acted like Walt Disney, the lead actress resembled Kim Cattrall, and the care taker looked like a ghoul without trying to be! Its just something I noticed. This film isn't bad at all. This is part of a double feature which the other on the tape is called Blood Creature which is also a good oldie! For horror and werewolf fans don't miss this one!

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.

"Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory" surprised me by actually being kind of a good movie, with a nice creepy atmosphere reminiscent of the classic Hammer films of old.

I say it surprised me because it was part of a 50 movie DVD collection I bought for $15 and which contains mostly lamentable movies copied to DVD with the worst quality imaginable. But as I've been working my way through them, I every so often come across one that's half-way decent, and this film was one of those. It's part monster movie, part murder mystery. A new teacher arrives at a school for troubled young women around the same time that mysterious and brutal deaths begin occurring on school grounds. There are far more characters than such a short film needs, but they're introduced to be nothing more than suspects and distractions, filling time with plot until the true lycanthrope is revealed at the film's end. I do have to say that the identify of the werewolf did truly surprise me, and happened to be the last character I suspected, so in that sense the movie delivered quite nicely on its murder mystery promise.

The film looks like it was made for about $3, which it probably was, and you'll have to make do with dubbing, at least if you see the same copy I did. But the low budget actually helps a bit to add to the atmosphere, especially the eerie black and white photography.

Make no mistake -- this is still very much a bargain bin movie, and there are a thousand films I would recommend before this one, but if you happen to come across it know that it's not a waste of your time.

Grade: B-