Werewolf in a Girls Dormitory
3.4 /10 1 Votes
19% Rotten Tomatoes Genre Horror, Mystery Screenplay Ernesto Gastaldi Country Italy | 4.8/10 IMDb Director Paolo Heusch Music director Armando Trovajoli Duration | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date November 9, 1961 (1961-11-09) (Italy) Writer Ernesto Gastaldi (US prints: as Julian Berry) Cast Barbara Lass (Priscilla), Carl Schell (Dr. Julian Olcott), Curt Lowens (Director Swift), Maurice Marsac (Sir Alfred Whiteman), Luciano Pigozzi (Walter Jeoffrey), Michela Roc (Sandy)Similar movies Underworld: Awakening , The Wolfman , Turkey Shoot , The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones , The Howling , Ginger Snaps Tagline A new high in horror! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Authorities scramble to locate the phantom behind a series of grisly murders at a detention school for girls.
Contents
Werewolf in a Girls Dormitory (Italian: ) is a 1961 Italian horror film directed by Paolo Heusch.
The new science teacher Dr. Julian Olcott with a mysterious past arrives in an institutional boarding school for troublemaker girls. Along the night, the intern Mary Smith, who is blackmailing another teacher - Sir Alfred Whiteman - with some love letters, is slaughtered by a werewolf. The detective in charge of the investigation attributes the crime to a wolf, while her mate Priscilla believes she was killed by Sir Alfred. On the next days, other deaths happen in the school, reducing the list of suspects.
Synopsis
Wolves have been seen roaming around a girls reformatory, and when the girls begin to get murdered, suspicion focuses on both the wolves and on a newly hired science teacher who might be a werewolf.
Production
Werewolves in a Girls Dormitory was shot in 1961 around Cinecitta Studios and Rome. In the film, director Paolo Heusch is credited under the name Richard Benson. Heusch explained that it was mandatory to give yourself an English name in Italian productions of the time because "thats the way the producers wanted it."
The German actor Curt Lowens plays the werewolf in the film.
Cast
Release
Werewolf in a Girls Dormitory was released in Italy on November 9, 1961 where it was distributed by Cineriz. The film grossed a total of 115 million Italian lira on its theatrical run. The film was shown in the United States on June 6, 1963 where it was distributed by MGM.
The American version of the film adds the rock song "The Ghoul in School" to the opening credits written by Marilyn Stewart and Frank Owens. The song had vocals by Adam Keefe and was released on a 45 RPM record distributed by Cub Records.
It was released on DVD in the United States by Retromedia and Alpha Video.
Similar Movies
Werewolf Woman (1976). The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973). Face of the Screaming Werewolf (1964). Moon of the Wolf (1972). Werewolf: The Beast Among Us (2012).
Reception
The Globe and Mail stated that the film was "disfigured by bad dubbing and a silly attempt to establish the locale as the United states, it might have been a very respectable specimen of the horror school"
Danny Shipka, author of Perverse Titillation: The Exploitation Cinema of Italy, Spain and France, 1960-1980 stated the film "wont convert any fans to the genre" due a slow pace and poor dubbing in the English-language dub.
References
Werewolf in a Girls Dormitory WikipediaLycanthropus IMDbLycanthropus Rotten TomatoesWerewolf in a Girls Dormitory themoviedb.org