Madame Fourneau (Lilli Palmer) runs a finishing school for girls in 19th century France. She lives at the school with her son, Luis (John-Moulder-Brown). Luis is a sickly child and can’t be sent to boarding school. The students are not allowed to associate with Luis. Many of the girls at the school have had troubled pasts and Fourneau believes that none of them are good enough for her son.
Fourneau is a strict disciplinarian. Corporal punishment in the form of whipping and solitary confinement are standard practices, not only in the school, but were also widely accepted during that time period. Madame Fourneau’s prize student is Irene Pupan (Mary Maude). Irene helps the headmistress discipline the girls. Irene has access to the school’s keys and reads all the girls’ correspondence before they are mailed. The school is a veritable prison.
Students begin disappearing. In the past four months four girls have gone missing from the school. Fourneau believes that they ran away. The authorities are never notified. New to the school is Teresa Garan (Cristina Galbo). Irene and a couple of the other girls bully Teresa. Teresa makes friends with Luis despite the fact that she isn’t allowed to talk to him. They become friends. The treatment from the other girls and the disappearances of the students serve to unnerve Teresa. She decides to run away from school. Teresa goes missing.
Irene saw Teresa sneak out of the barracks. She attempts to catch Teresa trying to go over the front gate but Teresa never shows up. Irene notifies Fourneau that Teresa is gone, but she also says that she never went over the gate which is the only way anyone can get off the property. Irene insists that whatever happened to the girls happened on school grounds. Irene decides she no longer wants to be part of the school and plans on leaving. Fourneau decides to follow Irene and ends up with a horrifying surprise.
“The House that Screamed” AKA “The Boarding School” AKA “The Finishing School” AKA “La residencia” or “The Residence” was released in 1969 and was written and directed by Narciso Ibanez Serrador. It is a Spanish slasher style gothic horror movie. The movie was based on the story “La Residencia” by Juan Tebar. It was the first Spanish film to be dubbed in English. This was in hopes of cashing in on the international market.
It took a long time to get into the movie but by the time you get to the end, you’re hooked. There isn’t a lot of blood and only a little gore. The main draw of the film is the build-up of tension. Some parts are slow but the slow motion close-up murders adds dimension to the story.
This is one of those films where the characters are all insufferable and you are happy to see everyone die. It is filled with sadistic influences and even some incestual suggestions. It’s a good movie but it can be a little tiresome to follow at times.
The film is sometimes compared to Hammer Films or giallo, only not as splashy as Hammer or as gory as giallo. There are a few versions of the film available, most notably a 104 minute version and a 94 minute version. The more complete version you have, the better the viewing experience will be.