Gary Kent, a drive-in regular going back the late '50s in numerous Ray Dennis Steckler and Al Adamson films, is the only major name in the unsavory story of Johnny and Frank, a pair of brothers devoted to their (offscreen) domineering mother who pass their lonely days by swiping passing ladies and subjecting them to a variety of demented games. Sporting really bad teeth and overalls, Johnny has his own unique slant on "playing doctor," while
Believe it or not, the world now has a turbo-charged, deluxe special edition of Schoolgirls in Chains while The African Queen still languishes in VHS bins. You wanna know how this film got made and where everyone is now? Well, guess what -- you get three commentary tracks! First up in R.A. the Rugged Man (a rap staple familiar to anyone who's watched Frank Henenlotter DVDs), moderator Lee Christian, and director Don Jones, an amiable guy who also directed the phenomenal The Love Butcher (where the heck is that DVD?) as well as The Forest. Then Jones returns in two separate chats with Gary Kent and cinematographer Ron Garcia, who went on to shoot One from the Heart and win an Emmy for his prolific TV work. All three tracks occasionally lapse into narrating the onscreen action, but for the most part they do a good job of covering the cast's obscure credits, the locations (including the story behind the main house), the doll collection used in the opening credits and throughout the film, and even the great vintage vehicles used in the outdoor scenes. The sex scenes provide more than their fair share of funny anecdotes, too, including one actor who kept tossing his leading lady aside after hearing "cut!" For some reason the Kent commentary sounds very hollow and echo-y which makes it tough to sit through for more than about half an hour, but die hards will want to slug it through to the end anyway.
Then you
get an interview featurette with Jones and Kent talking more about the film (including its original shooting title, The Black Widow), the original Schoolgirls in Chains trailer (sourced from VHS), a photo gallery, and bonus "Exploitation Digital" trailers (SS Experiment Love Camp, Divine Emanuelle, Rica, The True Story of the Nun of Monza).
Starring Gary Kent, Suzanne Lund, John Stoglin, Greta Gayland, Leah Tate
Media Blasters (US R1 NTSC)
in sinister old houses. Thus the box office suddenly exploded with the likes of Last House on the Left, Deranged, House of Whipcord, Behind Locked Doors, The Sinful Dwarf, and on and on. An obscure but oddly entertaining cheapjack entry in this cycle shuffled into theaters in 1973 under the title of Schoolgirls in Chains, though '80s VHS trash addicts will know this one better under its more intriguing alternate title, Let's Play Dead. Now it's out on DVD under yet another name, simply Girls in Chains, presumably to avoid the wrath of retailers who might think it features some underage bondage. Fortunately the film's opening MPAA R-rating card ensures nothing too unsavory occurs, but you can't blame the filmmakers for trying.
Frank sits around on his piano bench subjecting the girls to his demented monologues and fumbling attempts at straight sex. The surviving captives are kept with chains around their necks, often in the basement with rats crawling around their ankles. However, when the boys decide to pick up up the wrong females one day, their peculiar activities are quickly in danger of discovery.
Though not a title picked up by Something Weird, Girls in Chains sure feels like it. Kent and Stoglin do an efficient job as the wacko siblings, but the rest of the cast is pretty much local theater quality. Most of the women spend the bulk of the film topless, but their hair and other accoutrements are usually arranged to keep the skin within the limits of that aforementioned R rating. However, that doesn't stop the film from wallowing deep in its sleazy atmosphere, as the protracted scenes of psychological and physical sexual assault ensured this would never, ever become a recommended Oprah movie.
As for the transfer itself... well, it looks better than the blurry old VHS version, but don't expect fireworks. The full frame transfer presents the entire film information on all four sides, but there's some obvious damage and color distortion as well as a gritty visual texture over the entire film. It's watchable but doesn't look especially fresh or exciting. Still, how else are you gonna see it? The disc also contains an option to watch the film matted off to 1.85:1 (anamorphically enhanced), but it's just the same transfer blown up, which you could do automatically on a widescreen TV anyway. This alternate option really isn't all the preferable, though, as it lops out quite a bit of nudity and doesn't seem to benefit much compositionally either. The beginning fo the disc features a crawl explaining that this transfer from 2006 couldn't be redone since the film elements had deteriorated and Jones framed the shots for 1.33:1, so stick with that first option. All three commentaries are available for either version. Oh, and the main menu screen features the unforgettable theme song, a crooned pseudo-lullaby that adds to the queasiness of the entire experience.
