Terrore al London College

During the 60's and 70's – when Hammer Studios ruled the industry – the vast majority of genre movies that got released in the United Kingdom were either Gothic tales (practically all Hammer films), horror omnibuses (Amicus) or provocative exploitation films (courtesy of Pete Walker & Norman J. Warren). At the same time in Italy, a very different sub genre of horror was extremely popular and overflowing the market; namely the Giallo. This is basically a whodunit type of thriller, interlarded with sleaze, graphic violence and bizarre plot twists. Usually each country stuck to its own specialties, but "Assault" is one of the truly few films crossing the countries' borders of styles. What we have here is a British Giallo, containing all the rudimentary ingredients that define the genre: luscious under aged school girls, rape & strangulation, perverted elderly suspects and a grotesque climax. A vicious rapist dwells the forestry area surrounding an all-girls school building. With one girl dead and another one traumatized for life, the school courageous art teacher Julie (Suzy Kendall) volunteers to act as bait in order for the police to unmask the culprit. There are quite a number of suspects, including the headmistress' uncanny husband and maybe even the helpful police doctor who's friendly with Julie. "Assault" may perhaps feature all the trademarks of a genuine Italian Giallo, it still remains a "light" version of the real thing. The plot is extremely textbook, the red herrings are very transparent and the action sequences are unspectacular and soft. There's very few sex & violence and then still most of it takes place off-screen. Still, the atmosphere is a little disturbing because the girl victims are very young and clearly vulnerable. One sequence is particularly questionable & gratuitous, as it involves a sleaze middle-aged guy fondling a young girl whilst she climbs up a ladder in the library. The most interesting aspect about this film is to witness Italian styles mix with typically British characteristics. Even the most perverted blokes behave very British and talk with a sophisticated yet arrogant tone of voice. Suzy Kendall was probably the best casting choice imaginable, as she played in some actual Italian Giallo highlights such as "The Bird with Crystal Plumage", "Torso" and "Spasmo". It's a remotely interesting cinematic 'marriage' between two nations with solid reputations in the horror genre, but definitely not the best movie in its type.

Little-seen (these days) British attempt at a giallo horror-thriller, starring Suzy Kendall (star of several Italian gialli), Frank Finlay, Freddie Jones, and introducing Lesley-Anne Down and James Laurenson. A schoolgirl is attacked and raped whilst taking a shortcut through woods after school. Soon after, a second girl is raped, and this time murdered. A police Chief Supt. (Finlay) teams-up with a psychiatric doctor (Laurenson), a local journalist (Jones), and the school's art teacher (Kendall) to find the killer before he can strike again.

The film's achieved a certain notoriety over the years, mainly due to its juxtaposition of sexual assault/murder, and nubile, innocent schoolgirl victims - although by today's standards it's pretty tame in its execution. The performances are good. Aside from those already mentioned, viewers of a certain age will recognise a host of reliable UK TV faces. Tony Beckley is especially noteworthy as the sleazeball husband of the school's headmistress, who isn't adverse to 'feeling up' the girls when opportunities arise. It's produced by Peter Rogers, better known as producer of the Carry On films. Director Sidney Hayers does a sound job - especially with two thrilling foot chases through the woods. The score is terrific, courtesy of Eric Rogers (no relation to Peter, but likewise better known for the Carry On series). The whole thing is well put-together. And whilst the reveal of the killer isn't exactly unexpected, it's an enjoyable ride getting there. 7.5/10.

I saw Saturn Productions Inc.'s video of this release, retitled The Creepers (the title doesn't make much sense).

It starts with young women leaving a school in uniforms of white shirts a short pinks skirts. One of them takes a shortcut through the woods, where she is chased and then raped underneath overhead electrical lines by someone we do not see. There are several shots from the stalker's point of view.

The woman is hospitalized, still ambulatory but mute and largely unresponsive. A doctor tries to nurse her back. A couple months later, another girl tries cutting through the woods, and she is chased, raped, and killed. A group of girls and an art teacher drive into the woods to look for her. They get stuck in the mud, and when the teacher looks out the back window, she catches a glimpse of someone in the red taillights. She then finds the body of the dead woman.

The teacher thinks the man she caught a glimpse of looked like the devil! She paints a picture of how she saw him. She works with the police to try to identify the man. Meanwhile, the first victim is becoming more responsive, but is still mute. A plan is concocted to flush out the killer...

This was an OK movie. It was hurt by the music. The action scenes all use the same piece of music, which is so inappropriate it almost makes those scenes comical, which is just wrong. While the version I saw was probably cut, I can't imagine what would have led to this movie getting an NC-17 rating. Perhaps the assaults were more graphic; little is shown of them on the video I watched.

After the movie on the video, there's a listing of Saturn Productions' videos, showing the boxcovers for this one and: Circle of Fear, Castle of the Walking Dead AKA Schlangengrube und das Pendel, Die (1967), Demon of the Lake AKA Creature from Black Lake (1976), Night of Horrors (1978), Sinner's Blood (1969), Blade of the Ripper AKA Strano vizio della Signora Wardh, Lo (1970), The Devil Walks at Midnight AKA Plus longue nuit du diable, La (1971), Christmas Evil AKA You Better Watch Out (1980). Several of these are little seen today! Curiously, the illustrated cover for Blade of the Ripper is the same used for the VHS for it still available from another distributor, Alpha. I'm not sure what movie Circle of Fear is; the cover shows a few women standing around a pentagram inside a circle chalked on a floor.

The film is typical of its time, with the lighting, camera work and fashion giving a clear indication of 1969 to 1971 British cinema.

It is not scary, but there is reasonable suspense and enjoyment.

My main reason for commenting is has anyone else noticed the very strong similarities with the brilliant (but sadly never shown) "I start counting"?

There is the same fashion, the similar colour technique which is surprising given this is Eastman and "I start" is De Luxe, an emphasis on short skirts, an unknown serial assailant who is revealed at the end but throughout most of the film the viewers attention is diverted to other suspects. There is also the woods where the events take place; the atmosphere in the woodland scenes is very similar. Finally, there is a young and good looking central character in both, Lesley-Anne Down and Jenny Agutter

Watch the film if you enjoy late 60's, early 70's Britain and a bit of suspense.

Not particularly explicit and barely any blood, this is nevertheless packed with red herrings and starring Suzy Kendall, so the fact that this is pretty much a British giallo does not come as such a surprise. Sleazy subject matter, schoolgirls getting raped in the woods behind the school and poor old Lesley-Anne Down gets it twice, although I reckon they used the same footage twice. Even so this starts at quite a pace with not just one girl chased through those woods but almost immediately afterwards another. The rest of the film is more a who-dun-it but keeps the attention and if some are under performing, like the very poor offering from Frank Finlay (never knew he was that small!) the rest acquit themselves well enough.