TV movies from the 70s relied primarily on well-written stories and the horror genre was no exception during that time. David Lowell Rich’s Satan’s School for Girls (1973) represents the taste for supernatural/mystery horror that would entertain the horror audience of that decade.
The movie starts with the sequence of a young woman Martha (Terry Lumley) running away from some unseen terror and ending up dead inside the room of her sister Elizabeth (Pamela Franklin). Not buying the official explanation of a suicide, Elizabeth sets out to find what happened to Martha while she was at the Salem Academy for Women. There, Elizabeth meets some strange people and witnesses more young women at the school turning up dead.
Satan’s School for Girls benefits from Arthur A. Ross’s engaging plot that blends mystery and supernatural horror with the thriller genre. Pamela Franklin’s charming and youthful look helps counter her rather emotionless acting in contrast to the brilliant delivery of actors in their respective supporting roles. The setting is historically relevant and interesting as the alleged venue of the Salem witch trials.
Satan’s School for Girls is good on the invisible evil and cult horror elements while free of gore – like terror on the clean side of the screen. The ending kind of connects with and explains the beginning of the story. And while it seemingly offered a good chance at a sequel, a remake was released on ABC in 2000 – the same channel that aired the original 1973 movie.
