Schoolgirls in Chains

Although this Grindhouse-era sleazer is the genuine article, and features enough griminess and mysogeny to merit its title, the film's relative tameness and tediousness made for a fatiguing watch. As such, this trash is recommended only to genre completists. The women are mixed, from very hot to rather plain, and they seem to be dispatched in order of their overall sexiness. That said, however, there isn't a lot of violence here, with the majority of the encounters relegated to generic harassment and lame-o psychological domineering. The story involves a pair of backwoods brothers, whose mentally ill, incestuous mother has twisted them into dementia. After years of abuse, the brothers eventually find solace in kidnapping young women and keeping them captive in a makeshift cellar, visiting them periodically for faux-childish "playtime," which involves anything from kiddie-style doctor scenarios, unwholesome "hide-and-seek" stuff, with the brother's shooting one girl as she runs away; and miscellaneous intimidation and humiliation. There is a decent amount of nudity, but no more so than your average grindhouse flick. The dialog and scene structures are repetitive, and the story is basically a joke. In the end, this one looks fugly and sounds fugly, and you'll spend the majority of the time just admiring the 70's skin. Been there, done that, friends, and I've seen it done a whole lot better than "Schoolgirls in Chains." Unless you just have to see every entry from the sleazier end of the Grindhouse front, you can pass on this one. ---|--- Was this review helpful?

"Schoolgirls in Chains" is a "Psycho" inspired low-budget slice of sleaze that chronicles the events of several young girls kidnapped by two maladjusted brothers named Frankie and Johnny who store them in a fruit cellar and routinely subject them to harassment.The films underlying theme of misogyny is primarily filtered through verbal intent rather than visual shocks.The film features Gary Kent as a brooding,incestuous bruiser,John Stoglin as his creepy retard brother and Leah Tate and Suzanne Lund.There is a decent amount of smut and perversity and plenty of nudity,so I wasn't disappointed.Unfortunetely there is not enough violence for my liking and the action is rather slow,but if you like grindhouse exploitation flicks you may give this one a try.7 out of 10.

A good entertaining movie with interesting characters It's not a masterpiece but it's worth watching. The thing that spoils it for me is the abysmal soundtrack!

Synopsis: Frank and his mentally underdeveloped brother live with their mother. They kidnap and hold girls that catch their fancy in a cellar for use in their sick games. Their controlling and incestuous mother has twisted them and now no woman in the is safe.

Thoughts: 'Girls in Chains' (original title: Schoolgirls in Chains) is actually above-average Grindhouse fare from the period. The script is relatively solid and although it borrows from Hitchcock's far superior 'Psycho' manages to build its characters with some pathos and detail. The crew did a pretty good job with limited means to give 'Girls' an interesting look with camera movement and shots not usually afforded to these type of films. The acting was above par as the women weren't your average horror movie bubble-heads and the brothers managed to generate some sympathy. As suggestive as the title may be 'Girls' does have the usual nudity and violent sexual debauchery but it is actual somewhat restrained and doesn't go too overboard. If you're a fan of Grindhouse features and/or 'Mother's Day' than 'Girls in Chains' may be for you.

Charming little thrust of misogyny concerning two psychotic brothers(one, a drooling, feeble-minded idiot, the other a more literate and functional idiot) who abduct random pretty girls off the interstate and imprison them in a filthy storm-cellar. The purpose for this is that the girls are regularly utilized as props for the brothers' sick, perverse "games". The reclusive mother of the boys, a strict, punctilious old broad, oversees these sadistic activities with loving but cautious approval.

A gleaming example of "only in the 70s" cinema, this lovably tactless little mud-wallow is a treasure-trove of trash-a-plenty. Incest, torture, nekkid gals, rape, and murder...all the requisite bases are covered, and there's even some almost-artful production qualities. Sure, the conceptual nuts-and-bolts of SCHOOLGIRLS IN CHAINS might be hackneyed and unoriginal, but this flick injects some pretty edgy nastiness into those worn-out ideas and shoves them straight up your nose.

Recommended to most, and mandatory for vintage trash-film zealots...7/10