Schoolgirls in Chains – 1973 – Yet another Ed Gein Story?

In my mind, Schoolgirls in Chains is another take on the same stuff that gave us psycho. And as we all know Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Three on a Meathook were all loosely based upon the life of Ed Gein. When I say closely based I mean just that. There is a dominant mother somewhere in the background and in this case, there are two deranged brothers that carry out her every whim. Or maybe it’s the other way round, that the brothers do the things they think their mother would approve of and rather seek forgiveness if they’ve done wrong than permission to carry out their games.

Pretty simple plot

The plot is pretty simple. There are women in chains in the cellar and one of the brothers in particular likes to play with them. It’s not necessarily sexual games even if that was the first that came to my mind when I read the plot. He’s still has a child intellect and enjoys playing all kinds of games with the ladies. Including playing doctor of course. But in this case, it’s not just getting the clothes of the women. There is also the aspect of actually playing doctor. He wants to have them take medicine and even operate on them. The women need all their whit to not be hurt by these childish games.

The appearance of the other brother is more mature and seems to have a bit more intelligent. He’s the one helping his little brother but does not play in this manor himself. But in a deeper state, he reveals that his mother once ruined his future life with his girlfriend just as they were about to get married. He has more interest in “adult games” if any at all.

Bottom line

As a whole, this is a pretty terrible movie. There are some tits showing here and there and it’s a bit sleazy at times but it’s really very softcore. If Schoolgirls in Chains were done today I figure they would have used much more raw violence. But it’s still rather cozy and you can see it as a document of the sleazy movies of the ’70s. I couldn’t really recommend it. But on the other hand, I’m glad I saw it to get it into my frame of reference. At least I can imagine what could have been done with this material and as a fan of movies based around nutcases such as Ed Gein it’s at least interesting.