Werewolf in a Girl’s Dormitory

Director - Paolo Heusch

Cast- Barbara Lass, Carl Schell

Country of Origin - Italy

Distributor - Severin

Number of Discs - 2

Reviewed by - Scott MacDonald

Date- 12/26/2019

    Werewolf in a Girls' Dornitory stars Carl Schell as Dr. Julian Alcott, a new teacher at a reform school run by Mr. Swift (Curt Lowens). One night a student named Mary sneaks off campus to blackmail a teacher, and finds herself the victim of murder. Everyone at the school is a suspect, and as suspects pile up in more unique and bizarre ways speculation begins to point toward a werewolf.

    Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory is a 1961 Italian thriller originally titled Lycanthropus. The film was re-titled, and given a quirky theme song for the American export market.  Though one might want to assume being Italian and of the period that brought us certain classics by Freda, Bava, and Margheriti we would have a film that is tonally similar. However, what we have here is a unique mashup of 50's teen horror such as I Was a Teenage Werewolf, mixed the German Krimi/Italian giallo. The film is only 85 minutes, but the early portions of the film until about the 40 minute mark tends to really drag, that being said the film has enough camp value early on to keep it going, and the last 40-ish minutes are a lot of fun.

    Severin Films presents Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory in a solid 1080p AVC encoded transfer. The transfer here is solid for the most part, there is some source related damage like speckling throughout, but they don't detract from the presentation. Detail is solid, contrast is mostly good, except for some blown-out exteriors, that go back to the nature of the production, and not the transfer itself.

     Audio is handled by an HD mono track in English and sounds quite good without obvious issues. Extras include an interview with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi, an audio commentary recorded for Retromedia with Curt Lowens with David Del Valle. The set is rounded off with trailers, and an alternate opening.   Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory is a lot of fun, looks great, and has some solid extras. RECOMMENDED.