The House that Screamed is sort of a proto-Giallo horror film. Dario Argento has said this was an influence in his work, and given he was a forerunner to the genre, this is a major Italian horror influence in general. I can see why. The House that Screamed was a wonky and slightly uneven horror film, and when the deaths and creepiness happens you can really see the influence others drew from this film.
The film plot revolves around a boarding school of some sort for young girls. They are tortured by a cruel headmistress, getting whipped and subjected to degradation at her hands. While this is a major plot point, I believe I must've been watching an editing for TV version because there was clear cuts-to-black many times throughout the entire film, and the nudity is avoided. That really sucks, cause I think this would have been a really sexy movie. Another influence right there, nudity and S&M influence in the film.
The cruel headmistress has a son that lives in the boarding school and he is seeing one of the girls. They are having a little romance and the mother has a creepy incestuous desire for him, as we see in one scene. As this goes on, a few different girls decide to try and escape the boarding house. They end up getting killed by an unseen, unknown assailant. Hence, the horror.
I liked this. With enough kills, enough cool editing, and enough characters, this felt well defined. To be honest, it has all the ingredients of what would later be called a "slasher" except in the later interpretation of that, we usually knew who the killer was. Isn't that interesting, the 80's slashers we all known and love usually show us exactly who the killer was. Albeit behind a mask, but still, interesting to think about when it comes down to it.
This is probably essential for Italian horror film buffs, but also for 80s slasher fans. I would say it's a four star, great film.
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