"La Residencia", a.k.a. "The House That Screamed", is written and directed by the well regarded Narciso Ibanez Serrador, the man who also gave us "Who Can Kill a Child?", one of the best entries in the killer kiddie genre. Here he visits the classic "old dark house" variety of film, with pretty good results. He spins a yarn of a French boarding school for girls in the 19th century. It's run in strict fashion by a repressed principal, Sra. Fourneau (Lilli Palmer). She has a son, Luis (John Moulder-Brown), on the premises, who isn't supposed to intermingle with the girls, but does. (He's a lonely, sex-starved, pathetic soul.) The newest arrival to the school is Teresa (lovely Cristina Galbo). As we shall see, there is a problem plaguing this school: girls are "disappearing" every so often.
While in one sense this isn't a hard twist to figure out, at least the film isn't completely predictable. The story is entertaining but nothing particularly great - it's what Serrador does with the material that matters. It plays like a "black & white film in color", with a de-emphasis on strong primary colors, yet it's very attractively photographed in widescreen. Serrador seems right at home in this genre, and does wonderful things with atmosphere, mood, and suspense, especially in the final quarter. The unaware should know that despite the presence of a murderer, we don't see very much actual killing, or get a high body count. We do get to see an artfully gory murder set piece early on, but that's the most striking violence that the film can boast.
The acting is good and believable, with Palmer, Moulder-Brown, and Galbo well supported by Maribel Martin, Mary Maude, Candida Losada, and Victor Israel. Galbo is convincingly upset when the females around her confront her with what they've learned about her.
One good twist is what the killer is actually doing by offing these young ladies; that is at least one thing that the viewer might not see coming. It leads to a conclusion that is somewhat chilling in its lack of real resolution.
Seven out of 10.
While in one sense this isn't a hard twist to figure out, at least the film isn't completely predictable. The story is entertaining but nothing particularly great - it's what Serrador does with the material that matters. It plays like a "black & white film in color", with a de-emphasis on strong primary colors, yet it's very attractively photographed in widescreen. Serrador seems right at home in this genre, and does wonderful things with atmosphere, mood, and suspense, especially in the final quarter. The unaware should know that despite the presence of a murderer, we don't see very much actual killing, or get a high body count. We do get to see an artfully gory murder set piece early on, but that's the most striking violence that the film can boast.
The acting is good and believable, with Palmer, Moulder-Brown, and Galbo well supported by Maribel Martin, Mary Maude, Candida Losada, and Victor Israel. Galbo is convincingly upset when the females around her confront her with what they've learned about her.
One good twist is what the killer is actually doing by offing these young ladies; that is at least one thing that the viewer might not see coming. It leads to a conclusion that is somewhat chilling in its lack of real resolution.
Seven out of 10.