Director: Jimmy Sangster
Writers: Jimmy Sangster, Michael Syson
Stars: Judy Geeson, Joan Collins, Ralph Bates
Run Time: 1 Hour, 34 Minutes
Link: https://amzn.to/3ifFZBL
Synopsis
Credits roll as children sing. When the singing stops, we see a man hanging from a tree on the school grounds.
Peggy has recently married one of the teachers at the school, and she’s eager to move in with him in their cottage on the school grounds. We see that someone is in the apartment with her. She’s assaulted, but in the struggle, she pulls off the attacker’s prosthetic arm. She survives, but all she remembers the man only has one arm. The doctor and the landlady think she imagined it, as she had a nervous breakdown six months ago. She soon leaves to be with her husband.
Her husband Robert doesn’t much like teaching, and he’s jealous of Carmichael, the very-rich Headmaster, who owns the entire school. Peggy is still upset about the attack, but he reminds her that they are many miles away from London, and she’s perfectly safe here. She thinks she sees someone outside the house, but he says it’s probably just someone from the school out there; he doesn’t take her seriously.
The next day, she explores the empty school. She hears boys chanting, but when she opens the door, no one is around. She meets Carmichael the Headmaster. He shows her around the school and points out that he has a special interest in tying knots. He asks her to remove her scarf, and we notice that he has a prosthetic arm.
She returns to her cottage, and is once again attacked by the mysterious one-armed man. Robert returns home, and he doesn’t believe she was really attacked. He also thinks it’s all in her mind.
The next day, she’s out for a walk, and meets Molly Carmichael, who isn’t very nice. Robert keeps getting sent to London during the days for various errands, leaving Peggy home alone. This time, she’s got a shotgun and feels ready for what’s coming. She finds Mr. Carmichael in her living room and shoots him. She sees him following her anyway, and then she hears the voices of hundreds of children in the empty school. He catches up to her in the school and she shoots him in the face. He still keeps on coming…
The next morning, Robert returns. He finds a smashed door and puddles of blood at the location of both shootings, but Peg doesn’t remember anything special happening. She denies having shot the gun when Robert finds it used. They argue. Robert searches the school, and he flips a switch that makes the recorded sound of hundreds of students play over the speakers.
Robert explains that 9 years ago, there was a huge fire, Carmichael was badly burned, and several boys died. This isn’t a school anymore at all. Robert isn’t a teacher, he’s Carmichael’s caretaker. No one would let children attend this place; Carmichael just wanders around, “playing at being a teacher,” and Robert plays along. Now he thinks Carmichael must be the one who attacked Peggy.
We soon see that Robert and Mrs. Carmichael have been behind all this, having an affair and making Peggy think she was crazy and getting her to shoot and kill Carmichael. Now the question is how do they get rid of Peggy? Where is the body? They need that to get Peggy convicted of the murder.
Their plan seems to be going along well until they find out things aren’t always what they seem…
Commentary
From early on, this is clearly one of those is-she-crazy-or-is-it-real kinds of stories that were so common in the 70s. Psychology was still seen as a mysterious, possibly supernatural science, and insanity and madness was always good for a story plot.
When everything is explained about fifteen minutes before the end, it all makes sense, even if it is contrived and too complicated. Still, it does all make sense. The twists and turns of the plot aren’t completely predictable, and it’s pretty well acted overall.