House of Whipcord (1974)

An old man who lives in an old house conducts a correctional institute for girls. But he does not realize that the date is the present as he's been cooped up in the house. He is assisted by... See full summary »

Director:

Pete Walker

Writers:

David McGillivray, Pete Walker (story)

Stars:

Barbara Markham, Patrick Barr, Ray Brooks

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

An old man who lives in an old house conducts a correctional institute for girls. But he does not realize that the date is the present as he's been cooped up in the house. He is assisted by a matron who likes to get the girls into trouble and present them in front of the old man who thinks he is the law and passes out punishment. Afterwards the girls are tied to a cross and whipped. Meanwhile the matron's son falls in love with a girl at a party and brings her to the house.

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Plot Keywords:

erotica | erotic 70s | female frontal nudity | female rear nudity | female nudity | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

March 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stag Model Slaughter

Filming Locations:

Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Peter Walker (Heritage) Ltd.

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Penny Irving receives an "introducing" credit.

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Goofs

When Karen is hanged, it appears she has been executed by the "long drop" method in which the victim is allowed to fall several feet in order to break her neck. This is apparent in the way Karen's body disappears entirely from the frame when the trap door is sprung. Having matron Walker weigh Karen beforehand is consistent with the procedure for long drop hangings so that the executioner can calculate the slack needed to ensure a quick death without decapitating the victim. However, the rope we see attached to the gallows is far too short for a long drop hanging. It has hardly any slack at all and would have resulted in a "short drop hanging" in which the victim would have fallen less than a foot and remained completely in view at almost the same level as her executioners while she slowly strangled. The absence of slack in the rope had already been confirmed when Mrs. Wakehurst inspected the gallows the day before and tugged on the rope. If there had been more rope above the frame than we could see on screen, Wakehurst would have released it when she pulled. The rope was clearly only as long as it appeared to be with the knot at about the level of Wakehurst's chin. In short, it is physically impossible for the gallows rig shown to produce the effect displayed in the film where the rope grew several feet in between edits.

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Quotes

Jack: [looking at back of newspaper] Osgood rocks Spurs, eh?
Customer seated in cafe: Two in the first half, and another five minutes from time.

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Crazy Credits

This film is dedicated to those who are disturbed by today's lax moral codes and who eagerly await the return of corporal and capital punishment.

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Connections

Featured in Sheila Keith: A Nice Old Lady? (2005)

User Reviews

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.