The House That Screamed Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "La residencia" or "The House That Screamed" or "The Finishing School" or "The Boarding School")

Directed by Narciso Ibáñez Serrador
Spain 1969

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 Mme 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 its director’s original full-length vision for the first time.

***

This stylishly and very eerie thriller stars Lili Palmer as Senora Fourneau, the severe headmistress of a French boarding school for wayward young women. The rigid constraints of 19th-century social conditioning have turned the school into a hotbed of uncontrolled sexual urges. Soon it is discovered that one by one, the young girls are vanishing. It is assumed they are sneaking away at night, so the school is securely locked down at night. But the young women continue to go missing, as it appears a mysterious assassin is stalking the dark hallways of the ghostly manor. Quite intense for its time, this film represented a new boldness in gothic style among European thrillers which would reach its zenith during the 1970s.

Posters

Theatrical Release: December, 1969

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Review: Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	Un-Cut Feature: 1:45:11.012 US Theatrical: 1:34:22.281
Video	2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 49,661,604,927 bytes Un-Cut Feature: 33,581,174,016 bytes US Theatrical: 30,449,109,312 bytes Video Bitrate: 32.23 / 33.60 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Un-Cut Feature Blu-ray:
Bitrate US Theatrical Blu-ray:
Audio	Export Feature: LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit LPCM Audio Spanish 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 320 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 320 kbps / DN -31dB US Theatrical: LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles	English (SDH) - both versions, English (Spanish audio), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Arrow 2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 49,661,604,927 bytes Un-Cut Feature: 33,581,174,016 bytes US Theatrical: 30,449,109,312 bytes Video Bitrate: 32.23 / 33.60 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Brand new audio commentary by critic Anna Bogutskaya • This Boy’s Innocence, a previously unreleased interview with actor John Moulder-Brown (24:20) • Archive interview with Mary Maude, from the 2012 edition of the Festival of Fantastic Films (11:51) • All About My “Mama”, a brand new interview with Juan Tébar, author of the original story (9:25) • The Legacy of Terror, a brand new interview with the director’s son, Alejandro Ibáñez (13:55) • 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 (20:23) • Alternative footage from the original Spanish theatrical version (6:09) • Original trailer (2:04), 2 TV and 1 radio spots (0:58, 0:27, 1:00, 0:30) • Image gallery (0:35) • 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 Blu-ray Release Date: March 6th, 2023 Transparent Blu-ray Case inside slipcase Chapters 12 / 12

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Arrow Blu-ray (March 2023): Arrow have transferred Narciso Ibáñez Serrador's The House That Screamed to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "Brand new 2K restoration from the original negative by Arrow Films". We reviewed the, now out-of-print, Shout! Factory Blu-ray of The House That Screamed in 2016 HERE. Both offer the the theatrical version and the 11-minute longer extended version. This new Arrow is quite a huge improvement in terms of the HD presentation. The Shout! Factory had separate transfers but this Arrow has 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. Where the Shout! Factory had a brown-ish, soft, unsatisfying looks - the Arrow is much brighter with an unusual heavy pinkish hue. The Arrow is sharper and definitely looks the best of the two and the 'inserts' are apparently of a slightly lesser quality.

NOTE: We have added 52 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Arrow use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the Spanish or English language option for the 'Uncut' version of just English for the US theatrical. It's a bit weak in the high end with obviousness in regards to the DUB'ing. It is authentically flat and probably sounded like this as a function of the production. The House That Screamed has plenty of tension. The score was by composer Waldo de los Ríos (Bad Man's River, A Town Called Hell, Who Can Kill a Child?, The Corruption of Chris Miller) supporting the odd does of the gruesome or perverse. consistent dialogue in the lossless transfer. Arrow offer optional English (SDH) subtitles for both and optional English subtitle translation for the Spanish audio. The disc is Region FREE Blu-ray playable worldwide.

The Arrow Blu-ray offers a new commentary (Uncut version only) by the London-based author, critic, freelance film programmer, podcaster and creative producer, Anna Bogutskaya. I enjoyed her audio commentary on the Indicator Road Games Blu-ray - and she is just as good here - with a few gaps but sharing solid information. She is the author of Unlikeable Female Characters: The Women Pop Culture Wants You to Hate released in May of this year (2023.) We also get Spanish horror and fantasy film scholar Dr. Antonio Lazaro-Reboll discussing the history of the film and its director for over 20-minutes - entitled 'Screaming the House Down'. Arrow include a 10-minute interview with Juan Mbar, the author of the original story of La Residencia. There is a dozen-minute archival interview with Mary Maude, from the 2012 edition of the Festival of Fantastic Films, also found on the Shout! Factory Blu-ray. This Boy’s Innocence, is a previously unreleased 20-minute interview with actor John Moulder-Brown who reminisces about his time filming with Narciso Ibanez Serrador in Spain. The Legacy of Terror is a brand new 1/4 hour interview with the director’s son, Alejandro Ibáñez. The House That Screamed was first released in Spain in 1969 under the title La Residencia. While the version shown in Spanish cinemas was broadly the same as the longer export version seen on this disc (except for the Spanish dub track and opening credits,) it also briefly contained some alternate angles, as well as censorship (primarily in scenes of a sexual nature) to appease local authorities. Included is a 6-minute highlight reel of the material exclusive to La Residencia, mostly presented from standard definition VHS and DVD sources. Lastly, on the disc are an original trailer, two TV and one radio spots and an image gallery. The package has a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Colin Murdoch and the first pressing gets an 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, also by Murdoch.

Narciso Ibáñez Serrador's The House That Screamed is a curious genre film - always hinting at the perverse Euro-sleaze but never venturing there with any blatant-ness. One sequence has a threaded needle with moaning representing sex with one of the nubile students. Ditto for gore that is conspicuous by its absence with edited flashes referencing the grisly. The atmosphere of a 19th-century French boarding school for troubled girls with an abusive and sinister headmistress played by Lilli Palmer - is enticing in itself. Throw in a twisted murder mystery and the combination is delightful for genre fans. There are echoes of Psycho. The Arrow Blu-ray is another of their complete packages with both versions, commentary, interviews, booklet etc. and vastly improved video from the previous 1080P edition. Absolutely recommended!