House of Whipcord is a 1974 horrorexploitation film directed by Pete Walker. It was his first collaboration with screenwriter David McGillivray, who went on to write a further three films for him. It also marked the horror film debut of actress Sheila Keith, who went on to star in six more films for Walker. "House of Whipcord" opens with the ironic credit: "This film is dedicated to those who are disturbed by today's lax moral codes and who eagerly await the return of corporal and capital punishment".
Plot
The film opens during a night-time thunderstorm when a frightened, confused and disheveled young woman runs down a country road and is picked up by a trucker. The film then shows through flashbacks how the young woman came to be in such a situation. While at a gathering in a London art gallery, naive French model Anne-Marie DeVernet is shocked to see that her photographer boyfriend is exhibiting a recently-shot photo where she is seen being arrested by the police for public nudity. Humiliated, Anne-Marie dumps the photographer but soon finds solace in enigmatic fellow partygoer Mark E. DeSade, who offers to take her to his isolated country estate to escape the scandal her now ex-boyfriend has caused her. Unfortunately, Anne-Marie soon discovers that Mark is a procurer of young girls for 'moral correction' by his sadistic mother, ex-reform school matron Margaret. Years earlier, Margaret was brought to trial when her corrupt reign over a girl's reform school led to the suicide of a young French girl under her charge. Found not guilty but dismissed from her job in disgrace, she seduced the High Court Judge who heard her case. The judge, critical of the 'permissive society' of the England of the 1960s and 70s, nevertheless left his wife for Margaret, who bore him a son who worked with her to turn their mansion home into a secret illegal prison for 'morally corrupt' and 'delinquent' young women, complete with a group of tough female wardens who administer a harsh regime of corporal punishment upon their prisoners. However Mark and the now retired, blind and senile judge are oblivious to the fact that Margaret is in fact using the prison to torture and ultimately execute these young women upon them gaining three 'demerits' during their incarceration. Anne-Marie soon falls foul of Margaret's cruelty as she reminds the evil matron of the charge she killed and whose death cost her her career and reputation. Meanwhile, Anne-Marie's concerned flatmate Julia and Julia's boyfriend Tony track down Mark, who has now discovered the full extent of his mother's murderous deeds at the prison after seeing her minions dispose of a prisoner's corpse. Anne-Marie makes multiple escape attempts, but is recaptured every time. Her friends eventually find the prison, but too late to save her - she has been hanged after earning a third 'demerit'. As the police arrive Mark confronts his mother and is killed by her. Margaret, knowing the game is up, then kills herself with the same noose she set up for Anne-Marie. The judge and his wife's henchwomen are arrested, and the surviving prisoners are freed.
Critical reception
called it a "disturbingly effective horror film", writing that "Many viewers will be offended by the film's repressive right-wing tone, but its genuine scares and creepy atmosphere will outweigh its philosophical offenses for most horror fans." Halliwell's Film Guide described the film as a "low budget psychological horror that stylishly achieves its object: to disturb", and quotes Derek Elley in Films and Filming: "Shows that something worthwhile in the entertainment-horror market can be done for the tiny sum of £60,000". David Pirie wrote in Time Out: "An above average sexploitation/horror that has been put together with some polish and care from a fairly original script. The film is dedicated ironically to all those who wish to see the return of capital punishment in Britain, and it's about a senile old judge and his wife who are so appalled by current permissiveness that they set up a gruesome house of correction for young girls. The only trouble is that the film undercuts its potentially interesting Gothic theme by some leering emphases, and the final result is likely to be seen and appreciated only by the people who will take the dedication at its face value."
