La résidence

This rather rare film from the director of "Quien Puede Matar a un Niño" (better known as "Island of Death" or "Who could kill a child", see also my comment on that) tells an intriguing and uncomfortable story about sinister things happening in a French boarding school around 1900. The acting is thoroughly outstanding, especially by Lilli Palmer as the head of the school, and John Moulder-Brown, her seemingly weak teenage son.

It is said that this mix of classic and modern horror that undoubtedly was years ahead of its time was Dario Argento's inspiration for his own masterly "Suspiria", and although the two movies are quite different in style, this seems to be undoubtedly true. The creepy atmosphere of the school, the uncanny characters of the women in charge: it's all there already, only that Argento put the whole thing into a more extreme shape.

"La Residencia" is probably a little bit slow moving for today's standards, but no time is wasted: The careful development of the characters make the viewer involved in all characters very soon, so one really cares about them when they reach their grisly demise. The film's atmosphere is terrific, extremely creepy throughout the picture.

And there is also the topic of oppression: Palmer's character is leading the school relentlessly; she knows no mercy for girls that are disobedient. But the oppression also works (in a far more subtle way) towards her teenage son, who has learned to obey his mother a long time ago.

One more word about inspiration: It seems to be, without a doubt, Juan Piquer Simon too was inspired by some elements of "La Residencia" when he made his overtly gory chainsaw-killer-film "Pieces" ("Mil Gritos Tiene la Noche" in spanish), although you can't compare the two films.

This hard to find gem is highly recommended for all true fans of the horror film.

"The House That Screamed," better known in Spain as "La residencia" ("The Residence"), focuses on a remote girls' boarding school in nineteenth-century France. The school is run by the stone-cold Mademoiselle Fourneau (Lilli Palmer), whose methods of punishment border on sadism. New student Thérèse (Cristina Galbó) arrives, and almost immediately notices something is not right with the headmistress, her wayward son, or her female peers—which becomes increasingly clear as students begin to disappear into the night.

Let's be honest—a film with a title like "The House That Screamed" doesn't exactly generate high expectations, and the plot summary on IMDb would further lead one to assume this film is in the ranks of the sleaziest of Euro-sleaze. I went into the film with such expectations, but about an hour through it, realized there was a huge chasm between what I'd anticipated and what I was getting.

This is not to say that "The House That Screamed" is necessarily a masterpiece—but it's damn good. The film operates almost more as an astute period piece than it does an outright horror film; the isolated school setting and multitude of sexual repression themes would recall "The Beguiled," though "House" predates it—and this is another reason the film seems to have garnered more interest in recent years. Given that its production took place in 1969, it begins to look more and more like a predecessor of the contemporary slasher film.

It is supremely Gothic in its aesthetics, with the majority of the film taking place within the confines of the castle-like school. The costumes and sets are historically accurate and elaborate, and the film captures the era successfully. Apparently pioneering (at least in Spanish cinema) slow-motion shots of murder sequences add a grim layer to the film. There is not much in the way of violence, but the lingering murder scenes are effective. The film has often been criticized for being too slow, and those claims are somewhat fair; it does begin to drag its feet in the second act, but the production values and performances are enough to keep most audiences chugging along with it. The performances are all above-average, with Lilli Palmer leading the cast as the stone-faced headmistress, and "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie" star Cristina Galbó as the newcomer who seems to stir up the school's dynamics.

The conclusion is effective in spite of the fact that it seems in retrospect quite obvious, but in any case, I was taken by surprise. All in all, "The House That Screamed" truly outdoes its title, which is something of a rare occurrence in the genre. It's a semi-cerebral, moody, and atmospheric film with a handful of great scare scenes (the conclusion in the attic is genuinely nail-biting). Given its 1969 production, its influence seems fairly obvious, whether it be on the likes of Argento or even "Black Christmas"—but even in spite of those conjectures, the film succeeds on its own as a Gothic murder mystery that functions as well as a period piece as it does a horror film. 8/10.

The Plot = A young girl joins a French boarding school for problem girls and soon feels that something's amiss with a sinister head mistress and nasty students, and girls begin to disappear and the teaching staff keep covering it up.

Despite being over 40 years old, this movie still holds up well in my opinion and is still effective and creepy by today's standards. The directing is both skillful and artistic and the suspense is spot on, with the murder sequences played out like a stylish nightmare and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Okay there is not a lot of blood and gore and this flick does rely on character development more, but that works because the cast are well acted and keeps you interested the entire way through. The killer's identity was easily figured out, but the motive when it's revealed is highly shocking and effective and will stick with for a long time afterwards.

The formats of this movie is nothing new but given the fact that this movie came out in 1969, it's pretty easy to see where a lot of these slasher movies get their inspiration and this proves that this movie is ahead of its time. The performances like I said before are excellent, Lilli Palmer who plays the head mistress simply steals to show, with a strong performance easily hold a film together single-handedly, and inject menace or compassion into a scene with a subtlety missing from many horror films of the period. Christina Galbo balances emotion and strength perfectly, as the new student.

All in this entire movie works well as a Gothic murder mystery filled with tension, a definite must see for any fans of European horror.

In the Nineteenth Century, in France, the teenager Teresa Garan (Cristina Galbó) is the daughter of a single mother, who is a cabaret singer. She is brought to the boarding school owned by the headmistress Ms. Fourneau (Lilli Palmer) by a friend of her mother that pays one year tuition for her. Soon Teresa learns that the boarding school is also a prison for the girls since Ms. Fourneau keeps everything locked. Her protégé, the wicked student Irene Tupan (Mary Maude), keeps watch over the other girls and uses her power to bully and torture them. Ms. Fourneau has a teenager son, Luis (John Moulder Brown), who is a peeping Tom, and his mother secludes him from the girls. Ms. Fourneau tells that he needs to meet a girlfriend "like his mother" and that the students of the boarding school are worthless. Meanwhile the runaway students are vanishing and their school mates believe they are fleeing from the boarding school. What they do not know is that a serial-killer is killing them. When Irene discovers that Teresa is secretly meeting Luis, she tortures Teresa that decides to flee from the school in the middle of the night. What will happen to her?

'La residencia", a.k.a. "The House that Screamed", is a stylish Spanish horror film. The cinematography, lighting and art direction are impressive and gives a scary atmosphere. The screenplay keeps the attention of the viewer until the very last scene when the surprising identity and motives of the serial-killer are disclosed. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Internato Derradeiro" ("Ultimate Boarding School")

An authentic bold and disturbing thriller for its time, during General Franco reign in Spain. And, we can see here many elements that we can find now in today's cinema, especially the Spanish gnre, involving teenagers.. Some lines may remind the Italian Giallo, but don't expect to see here a kind of SUSPIRIA; I recommand this awesome atmosphere, not very usual for this decade that will stick you to your seat.