House of Whipcord (1974)

Director:

Pete Walker

Writers:

David McGillivray (writer)
Pete Walker (story)

Release Date:

March 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Many young girls have entered these gates--none have yet come out!

Plot:

An old man that lives in an old house conducts a correctional institute for girls. But he does not realize...

Plot Keywords:

House | Torture | Beating | Whipping | Murder

Cast

Barbara Markham	...	Mrs. Wakehurst
Patrick Barr	...	Justice Bailey
Ray Brooks	...	Tony
Ann Michelle	...	Julia
Sheila Keith	...	Walker
Dorothy Gordon	...	Bates
Robert Tayman	...	Mark E. Desade
Ivor Salter	...	Jack
Karan David	...	Karen
Celia Quicke	...	Denise
Ron Smerczak	...	Ted
Tony Sympson	...	Henry
Judy Robinson	...	Claire
Jane Hayward	...	Estelle
Celia Imrie	...	Barbara

Also Known As:

Photographer's Models (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

USA:102 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | Norway:18 (video premiere) | USA:R | UK:X (original rating) | UK:18 (video rating) | Norway:(Banned) (1977-2003) (cinema release)

Filming Locations:

Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, UK

Company:

Peter Walker (Heritage) Ltd.

Trivia:

Originally Alfred Shaughnessy had written a treatment for 'House of Whipcord' but left as he was in full writing commitments on "Upstairs, Downstairs" (1971). Then Pete Walker decided to have David McGillivray write the screenplay.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Out of this World Super Shock Show (2007) (V)

Genuinely shocking exploitation classic

A young French model (Penny Irving), resident in London having just completed a controversial photo shoot for a men's magazine, is approached at a party by a charismatic oddball calling himself Mark E. Desade (geddit?) whose dating techniques are strange, to say the least. He invites her to meet his parents, and she foolishly agrees - turns out the old couple (he's blind and senile, she's a sadistic retired prison warder) are running their own private prison in the middle of nowhere with the aim of punishing 'immoral' behaviour with beatings, solitary confinement, humiliations and compulsory Bible lessons. A couple of equally deranged guards are on hand to guide these wayward young things back onto the straight and narrow, along with several menacing rats. Don't ask. HOUSE OF WHIPCORD poured napalm on troubled waters with its original release in 1974, when the hang-'em-and-flog-'em brigade were at their most vocal and the likes of Mary Whitehouse and Lord Longford ("Lord Porn", according to Private Eye magazine) were keeping a beady eye on the increasing amount of sex, violence and bad language on television and in the movies. Pete Walker's bleak and disturbing take on vigilante justice gets the flesh crawling and the nerves jangling like precious few British horror flicks before or since, offering little comfort to the viewer as a series of ghastly coincidences, shocking deaths and unexpected twists take us ever closer to the resolutely downbeat ending. Ironically (hopefully) dedicated to the vocal minority who find sentencing too soft and the law largely impotent, WHIPCORD isn't for everyone - the faint of heart should steer well clear - but offers an upsetting glimpse into the heart of darkness for the curious. Ann Michelle and Penny Irving are surprisingly good in their dramatic roles, but the film is stolen by Barbara Markham, Patrick Barr and Sheila Keith, chewing the scenery as the governess, the helpless judge and the most zealous warden respectively. Ray Brooks (the voice of MR BENN) has a few good scenes as Michelle's sex-mad boyfriend.