Leofwine_draca HOUSE OF WHIPCORD is a cheap and sleazy women-in-prison flick from that purveyor of low-budget '70s trash, Pete Walker. Amid the dodgy fashions, cheesy dialogue, and masses of big hair, this is actually a pretty effective and frightening shocker that makes fantastic use of its setting, a remote and decrepit old jail. Much of the horror is down to one woman, Sheila Keith, whose prison warder is undoubtedly the best character of her career. Cold, twisted and utterly evil, Keith is the kind of woman who reminds you of your old granny on the outside – but inside she's a twisted psychopath and far more chilling than stock horror villains like Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers.The plot pretty much follows the typical formula for a WIP flick. The young, innocent heroine – here sporting a rubbishy French accent – is betrayed and led to an institution presided over by a barmy judge who sees fit to uphold Britain's laws by incarcerating the people he feels have got away with their crimes. Said judge is played by Patrick Barr, and is obviously mad. Barr gives the film's most sympathetic performance, as his associates exploit both his blindness and weakness to trick him into committing atrocity after atrocity.Most of the film is set inside the jail as our heroine attempts to escape and is invariably recaptured. These scenes are dotted out with padding showing the investigation into her disappearance, and of course these two plot strands converge at the end. There are some very suspenseful scenes – the girl's escape is perhaps the best – which are combined with more predictable '70s vicious as we witness innocent girls being whipped and hanged by the cruel warders. This being an exploitation movie, there's plenty of nudity from the attractive female cast, although most of it is cast in an ever-so sleazy light. Heroine Penny Irving is the weak link when it comes to her acting, but she's nevertheless a very pretty lead.Despite the low budget, production values are pretty high and there's plenty of style on hand from director Walker, who delivers exactly what audiences are looking. Fine claustrophobic use is made of the genuine jail setting and effective lighting and camera-work adds to the experience. Most of the cast are very good, from Barbara Markham's dotty governess to Robert Tayman's trickster villain, whose silly name references the Marquis de Sade. Along with Partick Barr, supporting actress Dorothy Gordon is the most experienced of the cast, and her prison warder is an intriguing creation – especially the scene where we see her cuddling a child's toy! The hero is played by Walker staple Ray Brooks, better known today for his role as the killer Joe in EASTENDERS, and he's fun to watch in a dated way. Popular British actress Celia Imrie turns up in a tiny role as a fellow prisoner. All in all this film isn't bad at all, far better than you would expect from the title and genre, and a nice precursor to the (possibly even more terrifying) FRIGHTMARE.

Nigel P 'This film is dedicated to those who are disturbed by today's lax moral codes and who eagerly await the return of corporal and capital punishment ….' Penny Irving plays Ann-Marie Di Verney, a gullible French model living in London. She is picked up by Mark E Desade (Marquis Desade?), who shows absolutely no sign of being anything other than a wrong 'un. As he drives her to meet 'his mother', she is frightened by his wayward driving and he tells her to go to sleep – which she does! Her innocence is over-played, but Irving nevertheless convinces as someone who truly does not deserve all the truly appalling, and unlikely, things that happen to her ('First we will kill your vanity, then the rest follows of its own accord,' she is told at one point).Of the Pete Walker directed 'sexploitation' films I have seen, this is my favourite. It is focused, features some great central performances (stalwart Sheila Keith is horrifyingly realistic as sadistic warder Walker) and contains a truly disturbing sense of growing hopelessness – a feeling that turns out to be mostly justified.She is taken to a private prison, a secret place run by Margaret (Barbara Markham) who was fired from her earlier job running an all-girls' school after one of her pupils - a French girl - killed herself (in truth, it was Margaret who murdered her). She and her warders are dangerously and passionately insane, and now run what they call this 'private clinic' away from the eyes of the public. As latest inmate Di Verney (guilty of flaunting her body) is also French, Margaret is intimidated by her presence and determines to have her killed.To have people imprisoned and punished for lack of morals by 'respectable' authorities who turn out to be offenders on a far greater scale is too perverse to be taken seriously as a wholehearted statement ... or is it? It did cause some offence for its 'oppressive right wing tone' on its release. As a horror film, though, it all works terrifically well and superbly played by all. Having said that, Di Verney's friends (including 'The Flesh and Blood Show's Ray Brooks) – who are desperately trying to track her down throughout – are dwarfed by the larger than life prison staff.Although the death toll is shocking, and the location throughout stiflingly austere, I maintain the most frightening thing is the sound of creaking stretched rope that accompanies each of the successive hangings.A highly recommended low-budget feature.

BA_Harrison An elderly ex-judge and his wife set up a kangaroo court to pass 'proper' sentence on wayward young women who they consider have been treated too leniently by the law. Those convicted are forced to serve time in their private house of correction, where any misdemeanours are dealt with most severely: one strike gets a trip to solitary confinement; two strikes results in a flogging; three strikes and it's the hangman's noose!In dedicating House of Whipcord to 'those who are disturbed by today's lax moral codes and who eagerly await the return of corporal and capital punishment', director Pete Walker and writer David McGillivray take a wry swipe at the self-appointed moral guardians of the day, people whose ultra-conservative values made them more dangerous than those they seek to persecute.The undoubtedly deranged individuals who operate the prison in Whipcord are clearly intended to represent the religious right, the older generation, and the establishment—exactly the sort of people who would object to this kind of immoral entertainment; the result is a whole lot of sleazy Sadean fun, as Walker and McGillivray go out of their way to rile the easily offended, their liberal young females being stripped, degraded, tortured and killed by their crazy captors (whose number include Walker regular Sheila Keith) for the most trivial of transgressions.Unsurprisingly, the film delivers lots of female nudity (scrumptious Penny Irving as sexy French inmate Ann-Marie Di Verney regularly gets naked, and Ann Michelle goes topless), although the film is remarkably reserved when it comes to depicting the actual violence, preferring to suggest its nastier acts rather than wallow in gore. Despite the lack of graphic nastiness, the film still possesses the ability to shock and upset, delivering a cruel twist and an unexpectedly powerful emotional wallop in its closing moments.

phillindholm "This film is dedicated to those who are disturbed by today's lax moral codes and who eagerly await the return of corporal and capital punishment". So reads the foreword at the beginning of "House of Whipcord". With a title like that, it's pretty obvious what the viewer is in for. Right? Wrong. Although this film was promoted as a standard women's prison sleaze-fest, there is much more to it than that. In a way, the dedication (which is very tongue-in-cheek) is as good a description of the plot as any. Young French model Anne-Marie Devernay (Penny Irving of "Are You Being Served?" fame) is nominally fined for posing nude in a public place. At a party, she meets a charismatic stranger named Mark E. Dessart (Robert Tayman) who takes more than a passing interest in her. Because Our Heroine is rather dim-witted (to say the least), not only does she disregard his oddly familiar-sounding name and puts up with his very weird mind games, she agrees to accompany him out of town to meet his parents. No sooner is she in the car than he takes off like a bat out of (or headed for) Hell. Upon arriving at his parent's VERY ominous country home, he disappears, leaving Anne-Marie at the mercy of two formidable middle aged women, Walker and Bates (Sheila Keith and Dorothy Gordon) who appear to be prison guards. And indeed, it's not long before the girl is thrust in front of Mark's father, retired Justice Bailey (Patrick Barr) and his mother (Barbara Markham) a former prison warden dismissed for her cruelty to the inmates. These four demented individuals (and Dessart, their "procurer") take it upon themselves to punish any young women whom they feel have escaped the law, and have set up their own "House of Corrections" for that purpose. Anne-Marie is promptly sentenced and thrown into a cell, where she is informed by another luckless inmate that nobody ever leaves and three strikes against you and you're dead. Things quickly get tougher from there.Meanwhile, Anne-Marie's roommate Julia (Anne Michelle) and her boyfriend Tony (Ray Brooks) are searching for her. This serves as the premise for an atmospheric and chilling British film which is also a parody of the repressive former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (the warden's name is Margaret Wakehurst) and her ilk. Producer/director Pete Walker, known for his string of low-budget horror/suspense films, does an excellent job invoking the nightmarish prison and he has gotten fine performances from his cast, especially Keith, (a Walker regular) as the creepiest guard. Unfortunately, Irving, sporting an incomprehensible French accent(a plot device which could easily have been dispensed with), tends to be more laughable than sympathetic. Nevertheless, the grim story and pervading atmosphere of doom render the picture eerily convincing. The film was originally released in England in 1974, and it was spottily distributed in the US by American International Pictures a year later. But, other than a few television showings in the late '80's, it has gone largely unseen in the States. "House of Whipcord", which was previously available on a DVD from Image Entertainment, has been recently re-released by Media Blasters/Shreik Show. Their DVD not only adds trailers, a photo gallery and a truly fascinating commentary from producer/director Walker (who has a cameo as a bicyclist) but a greatly improved anamorphically enhanced print. Though the prison scenes are still dark, this is the way the picture was made, and the bigger the screen it is viewed on, the better it probably looks. The score by Stanley Myers ("The Deer Hunter", "No Way to Treat a Lady") perfectly matches the brooding visuals and the title theme is memorable. Sadly, no subtitles have been added which really would have been a plus when listening to Irving babbling in Faux-French. Nevertheless, the picture is highly recommended and if it's still regarded as a "women's prison movie" it's one for a more discriminating viewer.