School of Death – Mondo Macabro (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Spain, 1975
Director: Pedro L. Ramírez
Writers: Sandro Continenza, Alfonso Balcázar, Manuel Sebares, Ricardo Vázquez, Pedro L. Ramírez
Cast: Dean Selmier, Sandra Mozarowsky, Norma Kastel, Carlos Mendy, Victoria Vera, Estanis González, Ángel Menéndez, Tito García

Release Date: February 8th, 2022
Approximate running time: 89 Minutes 42 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 Aspect Ratio / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Spanish, DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $29.95

"The outwardly respectable St. Elizabeth’s Refuge in Victorian London is a place where young orphans and other female waifs and strays are trained to be good servants, destined for employment in the houses of upstanding citizens. One by one the girls are sent out into the world, never to be seen again 

The headmistress, Miss Wilkins, is a firm disciplinarian. Any of her girls who seem rebellious or wanton will be taken to the punishment room and given a good whipping by her willing assistant, Miss Colton. But should the girls fall into the hands of the sinister Dr. Krueger, their fate will be even worse. One of the most rebellious students, Leonore, played by Spanish actress Sandra Mozarowsky, is determined to find out what happened to her friend Sylvia, who died after being sent to a rich man’s house one night. What she discovers is more horrifying and twisted than she could ever have imagined. But will she live to tell the tale?" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, “Brand new 4k transfer from film negative”.

School of Death comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 22.5 GB

Feature: 21.6 GB

The source used for this transfer looks great; colors and flesh tones look correct, details look crisp and black levels are strong throughout.

Audio: 4/5

This release comes with two audio mixes: a DTS-HD mono mix in Spanish and a DTS-HD mono mix in English. Both audio mixes sound clean, clear, and balanced. Included with this release are removable English subtitles for the Spanish language track. It should be noted that there is a second English subtitle track for titles and text that is in Spanish.

Extras:

Extras for this release include the Mondo Macabro’s Promo Reel and an audio commentary with film critic Kat Ellinger.

Summary:

There is something about 1970’s Spanish genre cinema that sets it apart from other European genre cinema from that era. Although 1970’s Spanish genre cinema can be split into two distinctive eras, a more subdued cinema that was bound by censorship under Francisco Franco Bahamonde, a dictator who ruled Spain for four decades, and a post-Franco era where just about anything was allowed. It's in the former category that the School of Death falls.

School of Death is a period melodrama set in the 1890’s that has many elements associated with Gothic horror cinema. And though many of these elements are effectively employed, there’s nothing in School of Death that’s ever frightening. Also, when it comes to any acts of violence, they are tame and virtually bloodless.

The School of Death, on the other hand, does a good job of maximizing its resources. Unfortunately, everything that’s positive about School of Death is undone by a meandering narrative and an anticlimactic finale. Also, though the performances are better than expected, there’s only so much the actors can do with one-dimensional characters.

Despite the constraints of censorship, it is amazing what a lot of Spanish filmmakers were able to achieve in the first half of the 1970’s. Though School of Death has all the elements that one would expect from a Spanish genre film from the first half of the 1970’s, the result is a subdued film that never reaches the delirious heights that have become synonymous with Spanish cinema from this era.

School of Death makes its way to Blu-ray via a strong release from Mondo Macabro that comes with an informative audio commentary track.

Written by Michael Den Boer