House of Mortal Sin

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House of Mortal Sin
House of Mortal Sin.jpg
Original release advert
Directed by Pete Walker
Written by David McGillivray
Story byPete Walker
Produced byPete Walker
Starring Anthony Sharp
Susan Penhaligon
Stephanie Beacham
Norman Eshley
Sheila Keith
CinematographyPeter Jessop
Edited byJohn Black
Music by Stanley Myers
Production
company
Pete Walker (Heritage)
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date
February 1976 (UK)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

House of Mortal Sin (also known as The Confessional and The Confessional Murders) is a 1976 British horror slasher film directed and produced by Pete Walker. It was scripted by David McGillivray from a story by Walker. [1] Its plot concerns a deranged priest who takes it upon himself to punish his parishioners for their moral transgressions. [2]

Contents

Plot

Hearing that her friend Bernard has become a Catholic priest, Jenny attends church to seek him out but finds that the man taking confession is not Bernard, but the elderly Father Meldrum. She quickly leaves, but not before telling Meldrum that her on-off boyfriend Terry recently pressured her into having an abortion. Outwardly a kind-hearted counsellor of troubled youth, Meldrum is in fact a fervent believer in "divine justice" who freely resorts to emotional abuse in his obsessive efforts to redeem those he views as sinners. That night, while Jenny is out, Meldrum gains entry to her flat and assaults her friend Robert, believing him to be Terry. The unconscious Robert is taken to hospital.

The next day, Meldrum invites Jenny over to his presbytery, which he shares with his frail, bed-bound mother and his housekeeper, Miss Brabazon. During the meeting, Jenny is shocked to discover that Meldrum taped her confession to blackmail her. When she tells Terry of Meldrum's actions, Terry tracks Meldrum down and threatens him, but Meldrum bludgeons Terry to death with an incense burner and buries him in a freshly dug grave in the churchyard. Later, he quietly murders Robert in hospital.

At first refusing to believe Jenny's claims about Meldrum, Jenny's sister Vanessa learns the truth when she answers a threatening phone call from the priest on Jenny's behalf. She goes to the presbytery and encounters Mrs Meldrum, who knows that her son is mad and begs Vanessa to help. Meldrum arrives, strangles Vanessa, and at Brabazon's urging, murders his mother on the pretext of a mercy killing. Brabazon consoles Meldrum and says that she has always loved him, even though his mother forced him to call off their wedding and embrace a life of celibacy by entering the church. The pair make a suicide pact so that they can be together for ever, but after Brabazon fatally stabs herself, Meldrum hesitates. Bernard discovers the bodies of Terry and Vanessa and confronts Meldrum, who claims that Brabazon committed the murders out of love for him. He persuades Bernard to help him cover up the crimes for the good of the church. After Bernard leaves, Meldrum silent-calls Jenny to check that she is at home, then puts on a cloak and steps out into the night.

Cast

Production

Casting

Originally Peter Cushing was offered to play Father Meldrum and at the time there were some rumors that Cushing hated the script. In 1983, when Cushing acted in Walker's final film, House of the Long Shadows , Walker learned that Cushing actually liked the script, but had other film commitments.

Harry Andrews and Stewart Granger were also considered to play Father Meldrum.

Filming

The film was shot over a period of five weeks in Berkshire and London, England.

Critical reception

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References

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  2. "The Confessional". Eccentric Cinema. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
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  11. "House of Mortal Sin - Film from RadioTimes".