'The House That Screamed' (1969, La residencia)
Oct 13, 2017 19:38:52 GMT
mszanadu and teleadm like this
Post by petrolino on Oct 13, 2017 19:38:52 GMT
The gothic chiller 'The House That Screamed' is based on a story by Juan Tebar. In the 19th century, Senora Fourneaua (Lilli Palmer) runs a strict French boarding school for girls. She keeps her teenage son Luis (John Moulder-Brown) away from the students and allows them a minimal amount of relaxation time. Fourneaua promises appropriate punishments or spells in solitary confinement for any pupil who disobeys her command. Someone is watching them ...
'The House That Screamed' is an eerie period piece from the Golden Age of Spanish Horror Cinema. It's directed by the great Uruguayan Narciso Ibanez Serrador who'd go on to make the genre classic 'Who Can Kill A Child?' (1976); both of these scare pictures benefit from the expressive music of Argentine composer Waldo De Los Rios. The film was shot entirely in Spain - Serrador is the son of Spanish actor Narciso Ibanez Menta and Argentinian actress Pepita Serrador. I think one of the most striking aspects of 'The House That Screamed' announces itself 15 minutes into the movie when the girls have a sudden informal gathering, shattering the cold, restrained atmosphere that dominates the bulk of the picture. Serrador observes the Headmistress' cruel regime with remarkable detail which makes the shocks of the final third all the more startling. The relentless and oppressive nature of the storytelling also makes the students' occasional moments of blessed relief feel surprisingly real.
Lilli Palmer is convincing as Senora Fourneaua who submerges her compassion beneath a wall of invincibility. A remarkable international ensemble includes Spanish horror icons Cristina Galbo and Maribel Martin, English thespians Pauline Challoner and Mary Maude, Golden Age leading man Tomas Blanco, Argentinian starlet Candida Losada and ubiquitous character actor Victor Israel.
Lilli Palmer
'The House That Screamed' is an eerie period piece from the Golden Age of Spanish Horror Cinema. It's directed by the great Uruguayan Narciso Ibanez Serrador who'd go on to make the genre classic 'Who Can Kill A Child?' (1976); both of these scare pictures benefit from the expressive music of Argentine composer Waldo De Los Rios. The film was shot entirely in Spain - Serrador is the son of Spanish actor Narciso Ibanez Menta and Argentinian actress Pepita Serrador. I think one of the most striking aspects of 'The House That Screamed' announces itself 15 minutes into the movie when the girls have a sudden informal gathering, shattering the cold, restrained atmosphere that dominates the bulk of the picture. Serrador observes the Headmistress' cruel regime with remarkable detail which makes the shocks of the final third all the more startling. The relentless and oppressive nature of the storytelling also makes the students' occasional moments of blessed relief feel surprisingly real.
"When I was selecting the movies to highlight in my book, I tried to avoid including more than one from the same filmmaker. Just as I largely avoided selecting multiple entries from the same franchise, I wanted to make sure I was giving as much of a variety as possible, so when I was paring down my selections I chucked out a number of them for no other reason than the fact that their respective director had a different movie elsewhere. But in the case of Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, I actually managed to include his entire feature film output - because he only made two of them, as far as I can tell. In a career that spanned over forty years, he directed a number of television projects, but (unless the IMDb has made a mistake) only went theatrical for his evil children opus 'Who Can Kill A Child?' and the proto-slasher 'The House That Screamed'. As both are essential (yet relatively obscure) entries for their respective sub-genres, I had no qualms about breaking my "rule" to give each of them their due."
- Brian Collins, 'Collins’ Crypt : We Need More Narciso Ibáñez Serrador Movies'
- Brian Collins, 'Collins’ Crypt : We Need More Narciso Ibáñez Serrador Movies'
Lilli Palmer is convincing as Senora Fourneaua who submerges her compassion beneath a wall of invincibility. A remarkable international ensemble includes Spanish horror icons Cristina Galbo and Maribel Martin, English thespians Pauline Challoner and Mary Maude, Golden Age leading man Tomas Blanco, Argentinian starlet Candida Losada and ubiquitous character actor Victor Israel.