Livestonth
I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible
Ezmae Chang
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Lela
The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.
Scott LeBrun
The tongue-in-cheek opening text definitely lets us know what we're in for right off the bat. This is incredibly grim, very pointed, and packs a wallop. Lovely Penny Irving plays Ann-Marie, a dim & naive French model who'd been fined for public nudity. At a party she meets a mystery man named Mark E. De Sade (subtle, huh?) played by the striking Robert Tayman. Well, as it turns out Mark is a "procurer", a man who collects supposed moral degenerates such as Ann-Marie and transports them to a hellish prison located in the English countryside. It comes complete with stone faced guards, played by Dorothy Gordon and Walker regular Sheila Keith, a warden (Barbara Markham) and a presiding judge (Patrick Barr) who's gone fairly senile but who is not too far gone. The atmosphere in this thing is simply overwhelming; admittedly, this production could have been lit a little better, but as it is, it maintains a constantly gloomy mood, also enhanced by sinister music composed by Stanley Myers. As this plays out, we do get little doses of the kinds of things we come to expect in W.I.P. cinema, namely nudity and at least one shower scene, as well as assorted scenes of sadism. For one thing, the guards in this place do tend to favour flogging as a punishment. Yet, dwelling on these matters is never Walkers' principal aim. Walker creates an interesting dynamic here in that the view comes across as rather anti-feminist, even as the female characters are mostly the entire show. The acting is generally very good; Irving is convincing as a none-too-bright but more or less innocent type, while the equally ravishing Ann Michelle (who fans of low budget horror can also see in the American production "Haunted") is credible as Ann-Maries' friend who in a subplot tries to track her down. If you're a fan of Keith, she's in typically fine form, and is genuinely intimidating. (Be on the lookout for Walkers' cameo as the man riding his bike in the rain.) Overall, "House of Whipcord" is the kind of thing that succeeds in its intensity. It may not be to all tastes, but is quite compelling in the way it portrays a certain mindset. If the viewer is looking for a W.I.P. flick that provides more than titillation, they may find it to be a rewarding experience. Eight out of 10.
minamurray
Written by David McGillivray, clearly talentless porn and horror vet, whose career outside sexploitation was total flop, this trash is very much like the screenwriter himself: grimy, nasty and oozing with sleazy, slimy hypocrisy. Those bad mad old people - the film is even dedicated to the advocates of "better old days" - keep private prison for kidnapped young women and then torture and murder them. Lot of whipping of nude young women - apparently some bored critic called this "feeble flogging fantasy" - and lot of melodramatic acting from Penny Irving. Production values are suitably trashy to suit such boring garbage. Highly recommended to the horror fans... or flogging fans. No wonder the British cinema - as well as McGillivray's career - died in 1970's.
Scarecrow-88
Naive, young, gentle-hearted, beautiful French model, Ann-Marie Di Verney(Penny Irving)is drawn to a dark and mysterious "writer", Mark E Desade(Robert Tayman)after meeting him at a party, later(..after a date)agreeing to meet his mother outside of London, despite knowing little about him. Ann-Marie's pal and roommate, Julia(Ann Michelle)doesn't like the idea of leaving with a man she has just met and these worries come to fruition when Mark takes her to an abandoned institution which works as a cover for a hostile prison for "immoral girls not fit for society who must be punished into submission". Mark's mother, Mrs Wakehurst(Barbara Markham)was once a prison governess who lost her job after her aggressive torturous methods towards a French inmate ended in death. The elderly, blind Justice Bailey(Patrick Barr), whose mind is slipping into senility, once holding a prominent position, is now operating as the secret prison judge, having left his wife for Wakehurst after getting her off for her previous misdeeds regarding the murder of the girl(..the penalty being the loss of her license, and the source of her deep rooted, and thriving bitterness and hatred for "loose women"). Their marriage has worsened substantially over the years, and we discover that Mark is their illegitimate son(..there are also disturbing incestual undertones eluded to later on) Forced against her will into an illegal imprisonment, Ann-Marie notices other girls that have met these particular circumstances as well..it seems Mark's job is to lure women to this place so that they can be tried and convicted in some sort of bogus sentencing, a ceremony so ridiculous(..Wakehurst must now inform of her husband of the lines he's supposed to say due to his forgetfulness)it borders on parody. You can only imagine how shocking and surreal such a situation can be. Told not to speak unless spoken to, given very little to eat, and a penalty system for bad behavior(#1:Solitary confinement, #2:A flogging, & #3:Death by hanging), Ann-Marie will have to figure out some way to escape or else face the dire consequences of her current predicament. Working with fellow prisoners who have had enough of their cruel mistreatment at the hands of Wakehurst and her unpleasant guards, Walker(Sheila Keith)and Bates(Dorothy Gordon), Ann-Marie will attempt to break free from the harsh confinements of such a bleak and unfriendly environment. Meanwhile, Julia confides in her lover, Tony(Ray Brooks)regarding Ann-Marie's whereabouts setting out to find her if she can, attempting to discover just who Mark is and his location.Appropriately grim women-in-prison film throwing a young lamb into a den of wolves. Barbara Markham is quite impressive as the diabolical(..with homicidal tendencies and a yearning to see the pretty deteriorate)warden who hides behind this cloak of morality, wielding her power as if chosen by God to reform those deemed unfit to exist, when in reality she enjoys making girls suffer. The unbridled sadism, buried underneath this cold and calculating execution by the warden and her staff, really has you pitying poor Ann-Marie, who really is a sweet-hearted teenage girl who isn't ashamed of her body. Penny Irving positively glows in the opening scenes, a very vulnerable, somewhat bubbly girl whose modeling career is seen as a blight on society(..Walker obviously wishes to, along with writer David McGillivray, create a film exposing authoritarian types who use their power and code of ethics as a tool to discriminate, as the hypocrites they are)by certain people who really wish to punish and harm because of the thrills that such methods provides. Sheila Keith is particularly memorable as Walker, an obvious lesbian who harbours a lust for Ann-Marie, but hates her at the same time for the type she represents. Through facial movements and specific gestures, Sheila Keith is also able to show her attraction to Ann-Marie, but, at the same time, we see the conflicting repulsion that soon overcomes her. It's a very convincing performance that can elicit chills. The film doesn't actually dwell too much on the whip flogging, although Walker establishes the potency of it's use very well showing whelps and bruises on those victimized. There's a certain hopelessness that permeates throughout Walker's film for Ann-Marie as she is constantly on the verge of escape only to be ensnared right back into the snake pit by unforeseen circumstances. Thanks to cinematographer Peter Jessop's lighting and the miserable aura of the institution setting, Wakehurst's prison is quite a morose and unforgiving place and you can do nothing but feel for those trapped within it's cells. Walker really wishes to keep the indelible image of the hangman's noose in our minds, knowing that this method of execution has been used(..we witness a prisoner sentenced to hanging for attempting to steal a piece of bread, and the failed operation to sneak her away from the death chamber)before and could be Ann-Marie's fate if Wakehurst has anything to say about it. Walker alternates between Ann-Marie's plight and Julia in London growing more concerned about her friend's condition and reasons for not communicating somehow. It's a form of manipulation, of course, allowing the framework to advance regarding Julia being Ann-Marie's only hope(..another form of manipulation is Walker establishing Ann-Marie's potential getaway thanks to a truck driver nearby the Wakehurst estate). Stanley Myers score exceptionally conveys the mood of the film's plot all too well. Robert Tayman has quite a malevolent presence, despite his handsome allure which draws women like Ann-Marie to their doom. Jessop has a way of lighting Tayman that gives off a sinister intent, and you can just sense that this poor girl, under his spell, is like a fly caught in the spider's web. Penny Irving is quite uninhibited in this film, not afraid to show her gorgeous naked body, including a rather uncomfortable disrobing scene where she's forced to remove her clothes by Walker and Bates before being taken to her cell.
world_of_weird
A young French model (Penny Irving), resident in London having just completed a controversial photo shoot for a men's magazine, is approached at a party by a charismatic oddball calling himself Mark E. Desade (geddit?) whose dating techniques are strange, to say the least. He invites her to meet his parents, and she foolishly agrees - turns out the old couple (he's blind and senile, she's a sadistic retired prison warder) are running their own private prison in the middle of nowhere with the aim of punishing 'immoral' behaviour with beatings, solitary confinement, humiliations and compulsory Bible lessons. A couple of equally deranged guards are on hand to guide these wayward young things back onto the straight and narrow, along with several menacing rats. Don't ask. HOUSE OF WHIPCORD poured napalm on troubled waters with its original release in 1974, when the hang-'em-and-flog-'em brigade were at their most vocal and the likes of Mary Whitehouse and Lord Longford ("Lord Porn", according to Private Eye magazine) were keeping a beady eye on the increasing amount of sex, violence and bad language on television and in the movies. Pete Walker's bleak and disturbing take on vigilante justice gets the flesh crawling and the nerves jangling like precious few British horror flicks before or since, offering little comfort to the viewer as a series of ghastly coincidences, shocking deaths and unexpected twists take us ever closer to the resolutely downbeat ending. Ironically (hopefully) dedicated to the vocal minority who find sentencing too soft and the law largely impotent, WHIPCORD isn't for everyone - the faint of heart should steer well clear - but offers an upsetting glimpse into the heart of darkness for the curious. Ann Michelle and Penny Irving are surprisingly good in their dramatic roles, but the film is stolen by Barbara Markham, Patrick Barr and Sheila Keith, chewing the scenery as the governess, the helpless judge and the most zealous warden respectively. Ray Brooks (the voice of MR BENN) has a few good scenes as Michelle's sex-mad boyfriend.
