THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED (1969)
(a.k.a. FINISHING SCHOOL)
Article #447 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 6-5-2002
Posting date: 10-29-2002

A girl’s school is the setting for a series of murders of girls trying to escape.

All right, it’s question and answer time.

Q. Is the school run by a sadistic and dictatorial headmistress?
A. Yes, it is.

Q. Does she have a sexually repressed son who is also a voyeur, and with whom she has a somewhat incestuous relationship?
A. Yes, she does.

Q. Are all the girls in the school also sexually repressed?
A. Yes, they are.

Q. Is there a secret coterie of lesbian girls who actually control much of what goes on in the school from behind the scenes?
A. Yes, there is.

Q. How long did it take you to read these questions and answers and absorb the information therein.
A. Probably no more than a minute and a half.

Q. How long does this movie dwell on all the above premises before anything happens that really gets the plot moving?
A. About three-quarters of its 100 minute running time; in other words, about seventy-five minutes.

Q. Is this inefficient?
A. I would say yes.

Actually, some of the scenes work quite well, taken individually. As a whole, I’d say it’s more for fans of sexual repression, the aspect of the movie that most of the running time is dedicated to showing.