Ah, now… this is one of those films that sounds worse
than it is; it’s a clumsy title and even the opening dedication "… to
those who are disturbed by today's lax moral codes and who eagerly await the
return of corporal and capital punishment"… doesn’t necessarily give the
game away, at least for some over-earnest reviewers. Director and story writer
Peter Walker was deeply opposed to the misuse of authority and what he saw as
an ever-widening gap between the establishment and most of (permissive)
society. Like many of his films, House of Whipcord was very successful and its
more sensational elements – frequent nudity, sometimes excruciating cruelty and
pretty women in prison – all but obscured its message.
The version I saw was probably an edited version and it
seems odd for a film featuring such actorly talent as Ray Brooks, Patrick Barr
and Barbara Markham in such sensationalist fare. Both Brooks and Barr were to
feature in Walker’s The Flesh and Blood
Show (which has far more of the former than the latter) and his films are
well made overall in spite of clear budget constraints. He creates real
atmosphere and tension with stories that are indeed more “terror” (his
preferred descriptor) than horror and more sin-full than sinning (just about).
They’re engaging and characterful even if not all of the performers are of the
quality of the aforementioned.
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| Sheila Keith |
The film’s structure is also quite unusual beginning not
quite with the end but with a pivotal moment in the narrative that we assume
could be the end – for good or bad. An exhausted young woman is running through
woods in a desperate search for someone to help her. She’s covered in bruises
and is wearing a thin blue dress… she’s picked up by a lorry driver (Ivor
Salter) who takes her in his cab and finding her almost unable to communicate,
heads off to get her help.
Then the story really starts as we find a group of young
adults who are enjoying a “permissive” existence. Julia (Ann Michelle – Vicky’s
sister) is having an affair with a man, Tony (Brooks) who is either married or
in a long-term relationship; he is weighing up leaving his partner for Julia.
Her flatmate, Ann-Marie (Penny Irving, famous for several Top of the Pops/Hot Hits LP covers as well as Are You Being Served) is French and a model who is not averse to
nude work (Irving herself made numerous appearances on page three of the Sun
and Mirror…).
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| Permissive society in action |
At a party to celebrate something, there’s a large black
and white shot of Ann-Marie topless being arrested by a policeman at a protest.
The others agree it’s a great bit of agitation but the model herself is less
impressed by their celebrations. She slinks off for some introspective browsing
and meets an intense young fellow called Mark (the unblinking Robert Tayman)
who appears attentive and agrees with her unease about the protest shots.
She agrees to see Mark again and whilst they have an
agreeable meal he plays a trick on her by getting her to close her eyes whilst
he pretends that an ice cube is the cold cutting edge of a knife. He laughs at
her horrified reaction but charms her over at the end… we’re not convinced.
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| Ann Michelle and Penny Irving |
The story focuses a lot more on Ann-Marie and Mark at
this point with Julia and Tony very much in the background – also atypical
working from Walker. Mark whisks Ann-Marie off in his smart sporty Aston Martin
to stay with his parents somewhere out West; he drives too fast and is pretty
mean and even when Ann-Marie spots a ring with the name Mark E. Desade on it,
she dismisses it… but we know. Well, we’ve read the film’s title for a start.
Eventually they arrive at Mark’s family pile and an
imposing pile of granite grey it is too. He leads his girl into the building
and leaves her with two officious women: Walker (Sheila Keith) and Bates
(Dorothy Gordon) quickly change the atmosphere for Ann-Marie and a few slaps
and being forced to strip soon make her realise that this is not quite the
weekend she’d been expecting… She’s locked up in a cell with another girl, Claire
(Judy Robinson) who is too terrified to speak and very weak.
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| An ice "slice" from Robert Tayman |
Next Ann-Marie is hauled up in front of the
establishment’s head Mrs. Wakehurst (Barbara Markham) and an old blind judge
Justice Bailey (Patrick Barr): this is a private prison and they have decided
to punish her for her crimes of lax morality. She’s quickly sentenced and told
that she will have three chances with punishment getting more severe each time.
It’s pretty horrible stuff and not at all titillating:
Walker’s lustful glances at her new young prey are unsettling and the
punishment beatings are grotesque all the more so for being heard more than
seen… it’s the atmosphere that Walker builds that creates the tension and this
film is more disturbing than many a more graphic modern horror.
Naturally Ann-Marie tries to escape and she, naturally,
gets punished for it. Mark re-appears and her last hope disappears as this is
no misunderstanding; he is part of it, sent out to lure “amoral” young things
into mummy’s deranged world. Still… she makes plans with the other girls
(including a young Celia Imrie) to escape the place for good.
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| Barbara Markham and Patrick Barr |
Meanwhile, Julia has finally realised something’s wrong –
despite Tony’s re-assurances and sets out to track down her friend… and that’s
when things start to ramp up and the pace changes more into action and some
quite shocking scenes.
Dusty verdict:
House of Whipcord is certainly no
generic “women in prison” film and has a lot to say about intolerance, man’s
inhumanity to woman and the hypocrisy of those who enjoy their vengeance on
young wrong-doers. The punishment just does not fit the crime and that’s the
point; today we see this more and more with social media junkies baying for
blood and relishing every twist and turn…
It's atmospheric and the unusual narrative keeps you anxious especially given strong perfromances from the jailors and captives - Penny Irving in particular.
The film is now available on Bluray after long years in the VHS dungeon. Available from Amazon of course.
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