Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory (1961)

Sadly Over-hyped

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Lycanthropus is worth watching on several counts. It is first of all a relatively early example of what might be called the Italian assault on Hollywood genres, which, despite the evident elements of pastiche, but pastiche that is perfectly assumed and does not pretend to be otherwise, would end up by producing two distinctive genres that have been enormously influential in the history of cinema. The Spaghetti western is far better known and appreciated while the giallo (its "horror film" equivalent) has never attained quite the same acceptance except amongst aficionados or those critics sufficiently cinema-literate (Scorsese for example) to appreciate the importance of a tradition that includes such figures such as Mario Bava and Dario Argento.As regards the bad dubbing, this goes to some extent with the terrain. It is noticeable that people will complain of it here but find it quite acceptable in Spaghetti Westerns, where, apart from the swisher films of Leone himself, it is generally understood to be to some extent a trope associated with the genre and might even be regarded as one of its dubious charms..Now Heusch is no Bava, it is true, although the two men would work together; they effectively co-directed the 1958 science fiction film La morte viene dallo spazio although Bava was only credited as cinematographer (another assault on a Hollywood genre that did not really lead anywhere and later rather merged with the giallo). Perhaps one of the reasons for the giallo's comparative lack of penetration was that, whereas the Spaghetti Western was largely unrivalled (the old Hollywood western was dead and the later US revisionist westerns were often a homage to Spaghetti Western rather then a response), the Italian giallo had to compete with an already well-established British tongue-in-cheek horror tradition (mainly associated with Hammer Films) that had the advantage of English as their first language.British horror and Italian giallo are not however the same, the latter excelling by its cinematography (not too apparent in this early example) and by a greater whimsicality or even reflectiveness (oddly for Italian films, less "bums and tits" than their British equivalents). To call that reflectiveness intellectual would sound ridiculous but is does have something of the quality of an intellectual exercise, a quality that becomes more marked as the genre progresses (very apparent in the films of Argento) and is later quite closely related to the growth in importance of what might be called the "puzzle" film or even the "popular pretentious" film (such as, in reverse order of pretension, Greenaway - at its best - Aronofsky, Nolan, Anderson, or even - at its worst - Ang Lee).While most of this still lay in the future in 1961, there are some playing with the tropes of the horror genre that are interesting here. As several reviewers have pointed out, there is the obvious resemblance of one of the actors (Luciano Pigozzi not Carl Schell)to Peter Lorre but, as interesting is the resemblance of Schell, the German actor who plays the hero, to Karlheinz Böhm who had played the lead in Michael Powell's notorious but remarkable film Peeping Tom just the year before. This British film proved too shocking for the British public of its time and well nigh ruined Powell's career. Now very much a "cult" film, it bears little relation to the conventional British horror and is in many ways closer in style to the giallo.Also interesting is the appearance in the film of another German actor, Curt Lowens, who plays the school's director. This was the first major part Lowens had played in a film and he was principally known as a man who had spent the war in hiding, rescuing fellow-Jews deportation and death and who had emigrated to the US immediately after the war (he would subsequently have a long and undistinguished film career mainly playing caricatural Germans, often Nazis). It is interesting because of the way the film is tied in with a genre of great importance throughout the world in the post-war period - delinquency and reformation. Lowens is here playing the typically humanitarian reformer who appears in nearly all such films. The English title which renders the setting of a girl's school purely a matter of titillation (although of course it is that too) seriously misrepresents the film.This "reform school" element is allied to the central horror theme by the discussion of lycanthropy as curable illness rather than as simply some kind of crudescence of evil. This relates obviously to the equivalent debate about the treatment of criminals and delinquents, a connection which is made very clear (perhaps even too clear) in the film. This all belongs within the scope of the monster horror genre but is perhaps more associated with the European tradition (going back to Murnau's Nosferatu and, even more clearly, Lang's M. the film in which of course Peter Lorre made his name and a film which the Nazis would attack as typically Jewish and "soft on criminals". The US tradition, with its firm belief in the existence of good and bad, was more inclined to emphasise the "kill the beast" element.In this context the presence of Lowens in the film assumes a particular importance. To hear from the mouth of a celebrated Holocaust survivor the sentiment that "judgement lies with God alone" gives, to say the least, food for thought.....

"Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory" surprised me by actually being kind of a good movie, with a nice creepy atmosphere reminiscent of the classic Hammer films of old.I say it surprised me because it was part of a 50 movie DVD collection I bought for $15 and which contains mostly lamentable movies copied to DVD with the worst quality imaginable. But as I've been working my way through them, I every so often come across one that's half-way decent, and this film was one of those. It's part monster movie, part murder mystery. A new teacher arrives at a school for troubled young women around the same time that mysterious and brutal deaths begin occurring on school grounds. There are far more characters than such a short film needs, but they're introduced to be nothing more than suspects and distractions, filling time with plot until the true lycanthrope is revealed at the film's end. I do have to say that the identify of the werewolf did truly surprise me, and happened to be the last character I suspected, so in that sense the movie delivered quite nicely on its murder mystery promise.The film looks like it was made for about $3, which it probably was, and you'll have to make do with dubbing, at least if you see the same copy I did. But the low budget actually helps a bit to add to the atmosphere, especially the eerie black and white photography.Make no mistake -- this is still very much a bargain bin movie, and there are a thousand films I would recommend before this one, but if you happen to come across it know that it's not a waste of your time.Grade: B-

If you like low budget B&W horror films from the 50s and 60s, you'll probably like this movie.Overall,, it's decent for one of those cheapy foreign fares.It's well directed and the story good.The real issue is how slow the film moves.Some would fine it moody, but I find it a bit boring.And of course, being done in the 60s, it's not too provocative, despite taking place in a girl's dorm!Some people commented on a cheesy soundtrack.I didn't have a problem with it.Oh, and BTW, I'm not 100% sure the monster is a werewolf. He sure doesn't look like one.

I buy yesterday a 10 films pack about gore for the very good price of 7 dollars. Is not common to find this type of films in Mexico so i'm really happy for this pack.Werewolf in a...... is the first film that i have seen of the pack and i like it.The plot is simple and very direct so i like that because the plot never goes down or have a break and go straight to the point.Is about the mystery of some murderers in a girl's reformatory. Quickly the new professor who use to be a doctor becomes the biggest suspect.The cast is nothing special (whit the lovely Barbara Lass) and the makeup of the werewolf is just for laugh.As a conclusion: I see this not as a gore film, i think is more like a mystery film; is not a very special film and in other words is just another werewolf film but for the low budget is really good and of course is better than IMDb says.And for me as a film collector it was really nice to find the DVD and watch this type of films.PS: i like more the US title for this film: "Werewolf in a girl's dormitory", is better than the original and is a really good title for a film.