House of Whipcord

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Tim P Unoriginal and sterotypical it may be, but it sets out to thrill and titillate and is quite watchable, the story was good enough that Iveanted to know the conclusion. Another interesting role for Ray Brooks Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Audience Member It's 1974. A French starlet who isn't averse to modelling with no clothes on is seduced by an enigmatic young man who asks to take her home to meet his parents. However, his home appears to be some kind of old institution like a long forgotten prison. And this is exactly what it is. His mother is the sadistic Governor of her own prison where her son takes flagrant examples of the new ‘permissive' society so that they can be punished and even executed because of their lax ways. This is Within These Walls on steroids. I love the fact that there is a notice at the start of the film that reads "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." This is obviously a film that is parodying and sticking up two fingers to the puritanical types who didn't like that the society of the time was becoming more permissive and free, the ‘Bring Back Hanging' brigade. Britain was moving away from it's more conservative ways and some weren't happy about this as they flocked to fill the letters pages of every national newspaper. Precedents were falling and were set to fall even further as during the 70's. One prime example of this movement that directly affected film was Mary Whitehouse and her Caravan of Light both of which would try to get exploitation films like House of Whipcord banned. Whitehouse was massively active during the Video Nasties furore that would occur during the next decade. But within the film's duration there are currents of dissent as prisoners held at the institution secretly plan to overthrow the evil wardens and hopefully escape this kangeroo prison. This film adheres to but also subverts the conventions of prison genres but especially the ‘women in prison' genre and only excludes lesbianism which maybe for the time in Britain would have been a step too far for that still conservative time. Had it have been included then the film may have fallen foul of the BBFC. The theme of an uprising is one of the prime tropes of this genre and I love that this was so brilliantly depicted. But I also love the result of this which ironically delivers back to the prison the woman who had successfully escaped. Special mentions go out to Barbara Markham as the deranged Governor and Sheila Keith as one of the sadistic wardens. House of Whipcord was called Flagellations abroad. Quite. Another Pete Walker masterpiece. Now, can we have a Blu Ray boxset of his back catalogue please? Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Disgustingly terrible, but... Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review delysid d this is my favorite pete walker movie, its a paranoid film about a private prison run by psychopaths... there is no escape! Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/20/18 Full Review Audience Member An effective British horror film. It contains echos of Pasolini's Salo in its shocking imagery and depection of a far right regime. By way of the moral 'justice' carried out of the establishment in question the film actually says a lot about general decency and is indeed greater than it seems to get credit for. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review anthony p Another 1970s exploitation film from genre master Pete Walker. In this film yet more elements of society and positions of high authority (at the time) are questionned. Here the British justice system, the right wing views of some mainly Conservative politicians to 'throw away the key' a retired judge and sadistic wardons are used. The pretext this time is some private female correctional facility not controlled by the state, its laws and rules. The film is very darkly shot at times which judging by the subject matter can be understood I suppose. The cast includes Pete Walker veteran Sheila Keith (now deceased) and a young Celia Imrie. The sadistic 'wardon' played by Barbara Markham was meant as a parody of TV clean up champion (and nuisance in many respects!) Mary Whitehouse. The director/producer sticking his fingers up at the establishment again. Because these films are some forty years old many of the cast and members of the establishment mentioned are now deceased. I wouldn't rate it as highly as another Pete Walker film of the period Frightmare that I reviewed yesterday but this is still essential film for any discerning film watcher. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

House of Whipcord

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