Review of Girly

A very black horror comedy from Hammer favourite Freddie Francis. Mumsy and Nanny live with Mumsy's children, Sonny and Girly, in a neo Gothic mansion. This dysfunctional family love their children's games which are mostly conducted in strange baby talk. Sonny and Girly also have another game they love to play, they coax young men back to the house to join the fun, then when they tire of their new 'playmates' they kill them. However their latest 'friend' has a few tricks of his own up his sleeve. He realises the best way to survive is to divide and conquer, he does this by sleeping with all the women. Filmed in the familiar and instantly recognisable Oakley Court (a fixture of many British horror films including The Old Dark House and Monster Of Terror) this rare British horror film stars Ursula Howells, Pat Heywood, Howard Trevor and the excellent Vannessa Howard as the titular family, with Michael Bryant as the disruptive 'new friend'. It also features the beautiful but ultimately tragic Imogen Hassall, a classically trained actress who could never quite shake off her glamour girl reputation and committed suicide aged 38 in 1980. The film starts with Sonny and Girly meeting a homeless man, Soldier, on a park bench. They take him home and dress him as a schoolboy and feed him jelly for tea. When they tire of him they chop off his head during a game of 'Oranges And Lemons'. But when they bring 'new friend' home the family starts to turn on itself (Nanny's head ends up in a pot on the stove). I was reminded of both Spider Baby and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre at times. Although the cast is more than adequate it is Vanessa Howard who stands out as Girly (the title was shortened to just 'Girly' in the U.S.) Although once thought lost the film is now in the public domain and I've just ordered a new DVD to replace my old VHS copy. Well worth tracking down. 7/10