Drop out of this school

SATAN'S SCHOOL FOR GIRLS (1973)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Maybe including Satan in the title of anything, especially a semi-adequate TV movie of this nature, is asking for trouble, the kind where nuance and implication has no rightful place. "The Omen," "The Exorcist" and "Rosemary's Baby" sound like decent demonic titles where Satan's name was not required for horrific effect. "Satan's School for Girls" is a moronic title for a listless, undernourished horror picture, the kind where a little subtlety in its title and in its overall direction could have been used. You'll be straining to stay awake.

A frightened female student, Martha Sayers (Terry Lumley), is running away though it is unclear from what or whom. She locates her sister's house but her sister, Elizabeth, is not home. After entering the house thanks to an eerie-looking neighbor, Martha suddenly sees something horrifying and her high-pitched scream carries us over to the next scene where she is found hanging from a noose. The film had me interested at that moment because we never see what made her scream and it gave me a nice jolt. Elizabeth (Pamela Franklin) finds Martha dead after the police burst through the door and her emotional reaction is the kind I have when I have to wake up early to go work - emotional indifference. It was at this point that "Satan's School for Girls" lost me. Nevertheless, Elizabeth ventures to the school her sister attended, enrolls in several classes and discovers that other students have committed suicide. Who is to blame? One student has a painting that resembles a dungeon (and the girl in the painting suspiciously looks like Martha, but that point is never raised). This student also commits suicide. The professors include one sadistic S.O.B (Lloyd Bochner) who is irritated when his students can't figure out his mice in a maze lessons. This one professor, known as Delacroix, might also be up to some questionable business in the cellar of the school, which of course resembles the dungeon-like atmosphere of that one painting. Is the school actually a coven of witches with Satan as their leader? Which professor is Satan? And are all the girls witches or are some more innocent than others?

"Satan's School for Girls" is adequate horror fare for those who enjoy watching women entering dark cellars with candles and flashlights, searching for devilish clues to a mystery. This would have made a nifty Nancy Drew mystery, and it turns there was one such book from the 1950's called "The Witch Tree Symbol." With the exception of Kate Jackson as a student named Roberta who has her own growing suspicions about her school, the movie never quite comes alive. I can only stand so many shots of women running through the woods or entering and exiting dark rooms. Pamela Franklin seems more apathetic than scared by anything and she is not allowed a single truthful emotional reaction - from the start, I thought she might be a witch or Satan herself. "Satan's School for Girls" lacks urgency and it is more likely to induce occasional boredom unless you find the prospect of entering and exiting dimly-lit rooms an exciting proposition.