"Schoolgirls in Chains" is a "Psycho" inspired - make that VERY "Psycho" inspired - sordid melodrama about two brothers, Frank (Gary Kent), a brooding creep, and John (John Parker), a simple minded man-child. They're dominated by their overbearing mother (Greta Gaylord), and this woman is a true twisted piece of work. Frank and John kidnap various unlucky, lovely young women to serve as "playthings" to keep John amused. The trouble starts when they snatch Bonnie (Cheryl Waters), a woman who is going to be missed, at least by her boyfriend Robert (Stafford Morgan), a psychology professor. This is enjoyably sleazy stuff, although, truth be told, it might not be quite depraved enough for some exploitation fans. Also, the movie does suffer from sluggish pacing; it would have benefited from more of a sense of "Hurry up and go". Still, they should be entertained by not one but two scenes of playing "doctor" and an impromptu game of topless leap frog. The movie also proves to be worth watching for mom's priceless revelation just past the halfway point, which drove away a young woman who'd wanted to marry Frank. If the old lady is telling the truth, then one can hardly blame Frank and John for being so messed up. Doses of female skin help to raise the sleaze factor, while the acting from all concerned gets the job done, especially from exploitation veteran Kent, whose performance is mostly nicely understated, and the very believable Parker. In fact, these guys are so good one can easily feel sorry for them by the time the movie wraps up; their characters are far from being truly malicious. Also worth watching are the lovely Suzanne Lund as Ginger, T.R. Blackburn as the sickly Stevie, and Merrie Lynn Ross (in her film debut) as the feisty Sue, who learns the lesson of running away. Writer / producer / director Donald M. Jones comes up with some good ways of staging scenes, and the camera-work is reasonably impressive. The original music by Josef Powell is often hilarious, especially when it's far from suspenseful, and the cinematography is courtesy of Ronald Victor Garcia, who started out in exploitation and eventually gravitated towards TV, also shooting the "Twin Peaks" feature film. All in all, this is a decent diversion & bag of trash that can be recommended to fans of the genre. Seven out of 10.
Review of Schoolgirls in Chains
