Overview: Spain’s first major horror film production, The House that Screamed is a stylish gothic tale of tortured passions and bloody murder that bridges the bloody gap between Psycho and Suspiria.

Thérèse (Cristina Galbó) is the latest arrival at the boarding school for wayward girls run under the stern, authoritarian eye of Mme Fourneau (Lilli Palmer). As the newcomer becomes accustomed to the strict routines, the whip-hand hierarchies among the girls and their furtive extra-curricular methods of release from within the forbidding walls of institutional life, she learns that several of her fellow students have recently vanished mysteriously.

Meanwhile, tensions grow within this isolated hothouse environment as Madame Fourneau’s callow but curious 15-year-old son Louis (John Moulder-Brown) ignores his mother’s strict orders not to get close to the tainted ladies under her ward.

Directed by Narciso Ibáñez Serrador (Who Can Kill a Child?), this landmark title in Spanish genre cinema has been restored to it’s director’s original full-length vision for the first time.

Blu-ray Verdict: Something is seriously amiss at a fancy French boarding school that’s run with the proverbial iron fist by strict head mistress Madame Fourneau (splendidly played to the steely hilt by Lili Palmer).

Several of the catty, bitchy, backbiting, high-strung problem girl students have mysteriously disappeared. Did they run away? Or have they been killed by some crazed psycho?

Writer/director Narciso Ibanez Serrador does an outstanding job of creating and sustaining a potently eerie and brooding atmosphere that practically seethes with pent-up carnal longings and deadly menace.

Moreover, Serrador stages the stunningly stylized murder set pieces with remarkable breathtaking skill and flair. Kudos are in order for the first-rate acting from a uniformly tip-top cast: Palmer excels as a most austere and formidable battle axe, the adorable Cristina Galbo makes for a highly charming and fetching heroine as the sweet innocent Theresa, John Moulder-Brown likewise impresses as Fourneau’s neurotic peeping tom son Luis, and ubiquitous character actor Victor Israel has a nice, yet small part as creepy handyman Brechard.

Manuel Berenguer’s fluid, polished widescreen cinematography gives the picture a gorgeously glossy look. Waldo de los Rios’ exquisitely lush ’n’ lovely orchestral score hits the bullseye as well. Better still, there’s a severely warped undercurrent of startling sexual perversity that runs the gamut from lesbianism to voyeurism to even incest.

The socko sicko surprise ending packs a very strong and lingering gut punch. This spooky and intriguing precursor to both Bob Clark’s Black Christmas and Dario Argento’s Suspiria, rates as absolutely essential viewing for hardcore aficionados of supremely skin-crawling fright fare.

Brand new 2K restoration from the original negative by Arrow Films
High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentations of the 105-minute uncut version titled The Finishing School (La Residencia), and the 94-minute US theatrical version titled The House That Screamed, via seamless branching
Original lossless English mono audio on both versions, and lossless Spanish audio on the uncut version
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing on both versions, and optional English subtitles for the Spanish audio
Brand new audio commentary by critic Anna Bogutskaya
This Boy’s Innocence, a previously unreleased interview with actor John Moulder-Brown
Archive interview with Mary Maude, from the 2012 edition of the Festival of Fantastic Films
All About My “Mama”, a brand new interview with Juan Tébar, author of the original story
The Legacy of Terror, a brand new interview with the director’s son, Alejandro Ibáñez
Screaming the House Down, a brand new interview with Spanish horror expert Dr Antonio Lázaro-Reboll, discussing the history of the film and its director
Alternative footage from the original Spanish theatrical version
Original trailers, TV and radio spots
Image gallery
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Colin Murdoch
+ FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Shelagh Rowan-Legg and double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Colin Murdoch

Official Trailer

www.arrowvideo.com