Director: Massimo Dallamano
Year: 1972
Country: Italy/West Germany/United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: Cosa avete fatto a Solange?; Who's Next; Blood Relations; Come Teach Me; Foul Play; Terror in the Woods; The Rah Rah Girls; The School That Couldn't Scream; The Secret of the Green Pins
Genre: Giallo
Plot:
After thinking he's witnessed a murder, the teacher at a posh London girls' school finds himself drawn into a savage murder spree involving the other girls at the school which forces him to start investigating the culprit while trying to stay out of his path.
Review:
This here is one of the finest and most enjoyable Giallo's ever made. One of the more engaging and enjoyable elements within this one is the fact that there's an engaging sense of style over this one that's utterly pleasing. There's a strong and pronounced sense of Catholic-laced guilt and oppression running throughout this one, ranging from the slow-burning realization of the killers' disguise to the use of the sacred confessional which incidentally launches several rather chilling stalking scenes using that set-up, which is all quite fun as this one utilizes the strong sense of guilt from that binding and constricting set-up.
That even extends beyond all the usual happenings to include the sense of voyeurism that's exceptionally pervasive throughout here, from the sleazy angles of spying on the girls in the shower to the scenes hidden from behind the point-of-view of other objects and obstructions in view of everything else makes for quite a strong, overwhelming connection here that makes for quite a thrilling set-piece to lay into that mind-frame as well as sets up the remainder of the film's strong themes of hiding behind the church for its motivations. This is aided along nicely by the strong twist in the finale where it's all given quite ample coverage that there's a strong religious undercurrent running through here in regards to the attitude of the killer and how the victims are chosen.
When that becomes apparent throughout here and the film embraces its Giallo mindset, there are some utterly incredible setups here from the opening stalking and chase through the woods that becomes the central starting point, the fantastic encounter in the bathroom where the victim is unaware of their visitor's true intentions and then is killed off through the killers' viewpoint and then features a mad-dash out of the room and out of the building which is a spectacular use of the camera-work utilized here and the frenetic finale works on so many levels which is what ends this one on a high note going from the abduction in the park to the final confrontation in the house and the revelations that come from that.
It's all enough to work so well here in conjunction with the other religious motivations unearthed from the striking investigation throughout this one. The manner in how this one brings out the clues and different identities of everyone who are wisely not overloaded with red herrings or useless trivia here which makes for a rather fun time that gets into some really twisting times as there's a lengthy, involved mystery at the center of this one which is fun to watch play out. Covered with copious nudity and some nice deaths, there's plenty to really like with this one although it does have a minor problem here. Due to the film's insistence on driving through the investigation from the police inspector rather than the exploits of the killer which means the body count is quite low for the genre. It really could've used a bigger one here with the exploits of the investigation taking up much more time here than the slashing, so even though it does have awesome work in that regard there's enough here to lower this one somewhat.
Overview: ****.5/5
Slick and stylish if slightly flawed Giallo that is just at the bottom of the great genre entries, this one manages to score incredibly highly while only being let down by those slight flaws that don’t even amount to much anyway. Those with a strong interest in the genre, who appreciate this brand of Eurohorror, or are fans of the creative crew will have the most to like here while only those with no interest in these factors should heed caution.
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