House of Mortal Sin – 1975 | 104 mins | Horror | Colour

Plot Synopsis

Cult director Pete Walker stood practically alone during the 1970s to save British cinema from dreariness with a series of Home County horrors that included House of Whipcord and Frightmare. House of Mortal Sin, however, is a disappointment despite embracing controversy and boasting excellent moments of blasphemous terror. The somewhat slender story centres on a girl whom nobody seemingly believes when she claims that she is being terrorised by a Catholic priest. The contrived script relies too much on mild sacrilege for its effects, instead of concentrating on more interesting aspects of organized religion and Catholic repression. Anthony Sharp gives an extraordinary performance as a lapsed Catholic priest and Susan Penhaligon is an impressively assertive damsel in distress. Walker stalwart Sheila Keith is on hand to give this warped morality tale its clever twist.

The story opens with the suicide of pregnant teenager Valerie, after she has been to confess her sins to her local Catholic priest Father Xavier Meldrum (Anthony Sharp). Her sister, Jenny (Susan Penhaligon), is getting the curate all hot under the collar whilst taking confession. Meldrum is violating the sanctity of the confessional and recording the confessions, and using the recordings to blackmail attractive young women for sexual favours. Meanwhile, Jenny’s sister, Vanessa (Stephanie Beacham), is giving old friend and rookie Father Bernard Cutler (Norman Eshley) second thoughts about his divine calling. Anyone trying to stop the crazed priest’s course of “divine justice” is murdered by such diverse means as incense burners, poisoned holy wafers or rosary bead strangulation’s.