Werewolf in a Girl’s Dormitory (1961) starring Barbara Lass
Synopsis of Werewolf in a Girl’s Dormitory
Despite the lurid title, Werewolf in a Girl’s Dormitory isn’t as bad as you might expect. It’s an Italian horror/thriller movie. Where … something … is murdering your women in a girls reformatory school. It mixes comely, overage reform school girls with a murderous werewolf … And possible murder suspects.
Review
A series of deaths coincides with the arrival of a handsome, young professor at an all girl’s academy reform school. Is the young professor responsible? Is there really a werewolf on the loose? Or, is it the teacher who’s been … carousing … with the young ladies for money? The teacher’s wife, trying to maintain a facade of decency? Or are there other forces at work here?
Sadly, the local police are played as incompetents. So, it’s up to the professor and one of the girls to solve the mystery …. And they need to unmask the killer. Before they become victims themselves.
In all, Werewolf in a Girl’s Dormitory isn’t a bad werewolf movie. It’s not dreadfully original. Although at first the audience is guessing if a murderer is using the wolf as a cover story. The pacing is somewhat slow as well.
Cast of characters in Werewolf in a Girl’s Dormitory
- Barbara Lass (Mrs. Roman Polanski at the time). She stars as Priscilla, the sexy, intelligent, and resourceful heroine.
- Carl Schell (brother of actors Maximilian and Maria Schell) and Curt Lowens. Both are handsome, each bringing a brooding European charm to their roles as school officials.
- Leonor MacDonald (Grace Neame). The woman trying to cure the werewolf. She becomes one of the last victims. The human feels truly guilt-ridden for the deaths that he’s caused.
- Director Swift (Curt Lowens). The director of the school. And, the reluctant werewolf.
Editorial review of Werewolf in a Girl’s Dormitory courtesy of Amazon.com
Twisted Italian horror meets lurid German krimi in the 1961 EuroShocker fIlled with “Genuinely eerie scenes and rather graphic maulings” (DVD Drive-In), now restored like you’ve never seen or heard it before.
When an all-girl reform school is rocked by a series of grisly murders, it will unleash a nightmare of sexual corruption and lupine depravity. Carl Schell (THE BLUE MAX), Barbara Lass (aka Roman Polanski’s first wife Barbara Kwiatkowska) and Luciano Pigozzi (CASTLE OF THE LIVING DEAD) star in this infamous Italian/Austrian co-production – originally titled LYCANTHROPUS – directed by Paolo Heusch (THE DAY THE SKY EXPLODED) from a screenplay by giallo maestro Ernesto Gastaldi (ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK) with a classic score by Armando Trovajoli (STRANGE SHADOWS IN AN EMPTY ROOM), newly scanned in 2k from archival elements recently discovered in a Rome lab vault.
