Customer Reviews

Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm probably in the minority on this, but I think Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory (1962) is a darn near excellent film (and probably the best non-Universal werewolf movie I've seen). I think some horror fans are a little disappointed in it because the story doesn't really revolve around the werewolf himself, which means it's comparatively short on beastly action. Truly, this is more of a mystery thriller than anything else, but that's one of the reasons I like it. Let's face it; a traditional werewolf movie doesn't require the viewer to think at all. You know who the werewolf is, you see how he struggles (or not) against his cursed affliction, and you wait to see if he will be killed or cured. Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory isn't like that at all. Here, you aren't shown the identity of the werewolf until the end (even though it's pretty obvious all along), you have a number of suspects to weed through, and the werewolf's struggle to be free of his condition isn't particularly compelling.

The original name of this Italian/Austrian movie is Lycanthropus. For the American release, the film was dubbed in English (the dubbing really isn't that bad), and the name was changed to the more eye-catching Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory. The girls' dormitory in question is a sort of school for wayward girls - made possible by the school's benefactor, Sir Alfred Whiteman (Maurice Marsac), who turns out to be a rather pathetic creature who sees the school as his own private brothel. His main squeeze, who was threatening to let his little secret out of the bag, quickly ends up dead - apparently killed by a wolf. No one seems all that upset about the girl's death - except for her best friend Priscilla (Barbara Lass, a Polish actress who would later marry Roman Polanski). Priscilla is convinced that her friend was "assassinated" and sets out to discover the truth. It's a dangerous game she is playing, as her friend is only the first of several characters to wind up dead as events unfold. The obvious suspect is the school's new professor, Dr. Julian Olcott (Carl Schell). All we know about him is that he used to be a doctor and that the jury found him innocent of some crime in his past. Of course, there are several other strong suspects as well. Some viewers seem to tire of all the story's false leads and red herrings, but I see this aspect of the story as a real strength - of course, it would be much more effective if the killer's identity isn't so obvious early on.

The script of this film impressed me. While it may not answer all of the questions some viewers like to ask, it weaves a number of sub-plots together most effectively, thus maintaining the viewer's attention and interest from start to finish. I also have no problem with the presentation of the werewolf. The makeup looks just fine to me, and I think the werewolf transformations are also pretty good - nothing fancy, not even any time-lapse photography magic, but certainly effective. Opposite the beast, you have great beauty in the fair Barbara Lass, a talented actress blessed with an extraordinary pair of eyes.

There you have it: a strong script, quite good acting, a gorgeous female lead, more than adequate werewolf makeup and effects, and an actual murder mystery. If the killer hadn't been so easy to finger early on, I would have given this film five stars. The verdict is by no means unanimous, but I personally think that Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory is an excellent, memorable entry in the werewolf movie genre.

"Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory" was also released in the United States as "Ghoul in a Girls' Dormitory," "Monster Among the Girls," although its original title as near as I can determine was "Lycanthropus." Now, you have to admit from the title that appears on the DVD that we are talking about a werewolf running around a dormitory filled with half-naked young girls, but that is not the case. Yes, European films got to more explicit nudity and gore earlier than their American counterparts, but this film still predates that point in cinematic history. Besides, the idea that you a werewolf and ghoul could be interchangeable is not a good sign either and when you see the art that goes with the title card of this film you might be tempted to just turn it off right then and there.

For the sake of argument, let us say you continue. It turns out this particular girl's dormitory is not at a college but a private institute for wayward girls, which makes it pretty much a high class reform school. Or at least, a version of what this badly dubbed Italian production thinks would be an American reform school, which means they are mostly bad girls, but with one good girl, Priscilla (Barbara Lass) for us to root for. The plot is basically that Dr. Julian Olcott (Carl Schell) is the academy's new teacher and becomes the target of chief bad girl, Mary (Mary McNeeran). It seems Julian used to be a real doctor, but there was some sort of scandal. He was cleared in court, but his career was still ruined and now he is starting over as a teacher. As for Mary, this is one troubled kid and before we can clearly number all of her sins she is killed by a creature of the night. Everyone things there are wolves on the loose, but we know better because we have seen the title of the film.

So, basically "Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory" is a mystery thriller that asks who oh who can the werewolf and/or ghoul possibly be? (actually when we see it in action it is clearly a German shepherd). The problem is that although everybody (and I mean EVERYBODY) in this film acts suspiciously and eerie music accompanied just about every scene in the early part of the movie, if you do not know who the werewolf really is you should be punished by not watching MST3K for a period of not less than two months. That means the final tally on this one is that there is no nudity, the transitions of the monster are laughable, and there is no mystery at all to whodunit.

Still, this is an entertaining bad movie, which has some sense of style even if the acting is pretty bad. A couple of the attack sequences are actually staged well, so maybe director Paolo Heusch or somebody there knew what they were doing. It is enough to get you to perk up for a moment and pay attention. Actress Barbara Lass was actually married to Roman Polanski (1959-62) before she left Poland to make movies in Italy, so there is some cache to her presence. She is not really an actress, but even in black & white you can tell she clearly has great eyes. Bottom line is that there are enough decent moments to go along with the deliciously bad parts to make this worthwhile if you like to enjoy bad movies.

Well with a title like this, there are those who just have to check this movie out. Like others have said, it's more a reform school than a dormitory, all the better!!

OK so the plot is a werewolf is killing girls at a reform school. Pretty obvious huh? Well here's the kicker, it's a mystery movie. I won't give it away, but you will NOT guess who the werewolf is! So who are the list of suspects?

1. The new professor who is really a doctor that had his license revoked for accusations of homicide.

2. The groundskeeper who will remind you of Peter Lorre at his creepiest

3. An unknown dude who actually looks like a werewolf

4. A teacher who pays money to the girls fro sexual favors and gets caught.

5. The dean

The story is clever, the acting is above par for a movie from this genre, and the girls are BABES!!!! Sure you have to put up with a little hokieness, like a one armed man with a knife can hold off twenty grown men in a bar, but go along with it. The werewold effects and makeup job are pretty good too. This is not a schlock movie, it's actually a decent flick. I was a little disappointed because I'm a schlock fan, so that should gie you an idea what to expect.

For those of us who can't get enough of low-brow horror flicks. The girl's dorm is actually a reform-school for girls, perched on a high Alpine-type mountain. A werewolf stalks the night. The movie is a horror-mystery combination that conceals the identity of the monster until later in the film. The B&W photography is appropriately moody. The emphasis on female pulchritude recalls the Hammer horror cycle of the 1950s and 1960s, without Hammer's rich color photography. (Where's Christopher Lee when you need him?) The werewolf make-up is unfrightening enough for the local PTA "Haunted Forest" at Halloween. This little chiller-thriller can be taken as a harmless time-waster, or as unintentional humor. Good Halloween party tape!

Except for the inspired transformation scene from man into beast, which I found metaphysically sublime -- hey, only a horror aficionado can comprehend such a seemingly contradictory attribution -- this dreary piece of schlock artfully demonstrates to what dismal depths of tedium a film can sink, given the right combination of ineptness on the part of its clumsy direction, brainless script and a bargain-basement assortment of mannequins posing as actors. The ludicrous background music -- the worst ever composed (and performed, I suspect, by an "orchestra" of one) -- vividly calls to mind a stumbling Peter Cottontail stalking something or other down the Bunny Trail.

But listen: For high camp...for sneering hoots of derision...for a film that rivals PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE and NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST -- in a nutshell: for a lesson on how NOT to make a horror film, WEREWOLF IN A GIRL'S DORMITORY is indispensable.

Own it at all costs! (BIG GRIN)

This movie is set in a kind of reform school for wayward young women. Of course, with all the pretty girls running around there must be a wolf, or in this case, werewolf, running around somewhere. You know the drill. The werewolf waits until someone is alone, but preferably with someone close by, but not close enough to save the victim, and then the werewolf attacks! Pretty scary stuff, eh?

Well, this movie is not all that scary. This movie is more like a soap opera with a cheesy werewolf in it. We have some illicit making out by an older married guy with one of the reform school girls. We have some mysterious comings and goings. We have all sorts of strange things happening in this movie. Then there is the mystery of who is in which grave?

For a while, I thought there was some hope for this movie. When the werewolf attacked and we saw claws and blood, even though it was obvious that the skin was unbroken, I thought things might turn out to be interesting. Then it turned out that the variation on a theme was not about werewolves so much as about who is in love and making out with whom, and who is not making out with anyone. Then, there is the new teacher who killed someone, but the court acquitted him. It seems like the killings did not start until he got there. Strange, hmmm?

If you must have all the movies with werewolf in the title, you probably have to get this one. The original title was "Lycanthropus," so you know you are dealing with a bona fide werewolf movie as opposed to something with Lassie or Cujo in it. Another title for this movie is "Ghoul in a Girl's Dormitory," but there are no ghouls in this movie, so I have no idea where the ghoul enters. Of course, there is the mystery regarding who is in which grave and that is somewhat ghoulish. Random thought here, ever thought how much ghoulish is like goulash? No? Never mind then.

I find it difficult to recommend this movie when there are many really good werewolf movies around. "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" is better. So are "An American Werewolf in London," "Wolf," the original werewolf with Lon Chaney, Jr., and "The Howling." I even liked "Cursed" better than this movie, and that movie gets a bunch of negative reviews. So, if you buy this movie and wonder why you did, just remember what I said about the movie.

Good luck! Arooooooooo...

Uh-Oh! A werewolf is loose, terrorizing a girls' reformatory! Can the new professor get to the bottom of things before there are no nubile, young girls left? WEREWOLF IN A GIRLS DORMITORY is a silly, yet surprisingly enjoyable lycanthropic yarn from 1961. Filled w/ gorgeous girls, odd characters, and an entire school of red herrings, WIAGD also has some mystery and mad science to go along w/ the overall fun. Well worth a late night watch or two...

ok, this is a werewolf movie; so we know some bad things are going to happen to innocent people. For some reason, I think of werewolf movies as metaphors... in a "when bad things happen to good people" kind of way.

What I liked about the film: I liked that it was filmed in black and white; it gave it a good "suspense" atmosphere. The lighting and the blocking of the actors and framing was really good. Unfortunately, the story was a little thin.

Since it was made in the 60's, the language (verbage) is dated, and the dialogue was not interesting.

The cinematography alone makes it a film worth watching.

Originally released as LYCANTHROPUS and renamed WEREWOLF IN A GIRL'S DORMITORY for the American market, this 1961 "B" horror flick is much better than most films in the genre. For while it cannot compete with "A" productions in terms of production values, it is nonetheless stylish, atmospheric, and often quite clever in terms of plot.

When new professor Dr. Julian Olcott (Carl Schell) joins the staff of a girl's reform school, he soon finds himself caught up in two shocking situations: blackmail and a student's death from what seems to be a wolf attack. Both Dr. Julian and reform-school girl Priscilla (Barbara Lass, the original Mrs. Roman Polanski) have their suspicions about both, and join forces to ferret out the truth. In the process they must cope with corrupt school employees, horny professors, and jealous wives--not to mention a werewolf!

Now, there are several things that will make a close observer of the film cackle, but this is much to imaginative and neatly done to be a "so bad its good" movie. The transformation sequences are hardly up to Hollywood standards, but they are reasonably well, and the film has a truly creepy atmosphere that serves it well. Yes, it is most certainly a "B" movie, but it is a good one, and recommended to fans of the genre.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Despite the lurid title, "Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory" is neither as terrible nor as campy as one might expect. It's a straightforward horror thriller mixing comely, overage reform school girls with a murderous werewolf, and other agents of quirkiness and mayhem. The surprise is that it isn't half bad.

A series of deaths coincides with the arrival of a handsome, young professor at an all girl's academy (read: reform school). Is the young professor responsible? Is there really a werewolf on the loose? Or are there other forces at work here? The local police, played as complete idiots, are baffled, so it's up to the professor and one of the girls to solve the mystery and unmask the killer before they become victims themselves. There are certain elements suggestive of later work of both Mario Bava and Dario Argento, though the sexuality and level of violence in "Werewolf" are considerably tamer. The director of "Werewolf" is another talented Italian, Paolo Heusch, with whom I'm not familiar. Here he does an excellent job of creating atmosphere and building suspense, while drawing mostly good performances from an attractive cast.

Barbara Lass (Mrs. Roman Polanski at the time) stars as Priscilla, the sexy, intelligent, and resourcesful heroine, while Carl Schell (brother of actors Maximilian and Maria Schell) and Curt Lowens are handsome, each bringing a brooding European charm to their roles as school officials.

The biggest drawback is the quality of the Alpha DVD. It's cheap and after watching the movie, it's easy to see why. Certain portions of the first half are so jumpy and faded that it actually does interfere with the enjoyment of the film, so I hope that someone (maybe Kino?) will clean this film up and give it a proper restoration. Until then, be advised that it's rather like watching a film on late night TV with an antenna on the roof.