UK, 1975
35mm film, colour
mono, English
A British horror film directed by Pete Walker.
Plot Summary
Father Xavier Meldrum is a Catholic priest with problems – obsessed with the promiscuous sex lives of the young women whose confessions he hears, he tapes their intimate secrets and blackmails them. When his latest victim commits suicide, he sets his sights on Jenny Welsh. No-one who hears Jenny’s claims believes a word of it and even her sister Vanessa believes that she is going mad. But bodies are starting to pile up and Vanessa overhears an incriminating conversation that seems to suggest that Jenny may have been right all along…
Credits
* = uncredited
Crew
Directed by: Pete Walker
© MCMLXXV [1975] Peter Walker (Heritage) Ltd.
A Pete Walker production. Produced entirely on location in England by Peter Walker (Heritage) Ltd.
Produced by: Pete Walker
Production Manager: Robert Fennell
Screenplay by: David McGillivray
From an original story by: Pete Walker
1st Assistant Director: Brian Lawrence
2nd Assistant Director: James Hamilton
3rd Assistant Director: James Beasley *
Photographed by: Peter Jessop
Additional Photography: Tony Imi
Camera Operators: Peter Sinclair, John Metcalfe
Follow Focus: Colin Bucksey
Camera Assistant: John Simmonds *
Gaffer: Ted Davis
2nd Electrician: Ray Snooks *
Film Editor: John Black
Post Production Supervision: Matt McCarthy
Prints by: Technicolor
Music Composed and Conducted by: Stanley Myers
Sound Recordist: Peter O’Connor
Sound Camera: Ian Hills *, Edwin Quainton *
Boom Operators: Chris Munro, Ian Hills
Dubbing Mixer: Tony Anscombe
Sound Editor: Alan Brett *
Recorded at: Cine-Lingual Sound Studios Ltd
Make-up Supervision: George Partleton
Make-up: Pearl Rashbass
Art Direction: Chris Burke
Production Secretary: Leigh Taylor
Cast
Anthony Sharp (Father Xavier Meldrum)
Susan Penhaligon (Jenny Welch)
Stephanie Beacham (Vanessa Welch)
Norman Eshley (Father Bernard Cutler)
Sheila Keith (Miss Brabazon)
Hilda Barry (Mrs Meldrum)
Stewart Bevan (Terry Wyatt)
Julia McCarthy (Mrs Davey)
Jon Yule (Robert)
Bill Kerr (Mr Davey)
Victor Winding (Dr Gaudio)
Jack Allen (G.P.)
Kim Butcher (Valerie Davey)
Ivor Salter (gravedigger)
Andrew Sachs (man in church)
Jane Hayward (nurse)
Mervyn Johns as Fr. Duggan
Austin King [boy at presbytery] *
Melinda Clancy [girl at presbytery] *
Nicholas Power [altar boy] *
David Corti [altar boy] *
Anthony Hennessy [policeman] *
Alternative Titles
La casa del peccato mortale – Italy
The Confessional – USA
The Confessional Murders – UK (video)
References
Periodicals
- Films and Filming vol.22 no.7 (April 1976) pp.38, 39 – illustrated review
- Monthly Film Bulletin vol.43 no.506 (March 1976) p.53 – credits, synopsis, review
- Screen International no.23 (14 February 1976) p.14 – review
- Sight and Sound vol.15 no.4 (April 2005) p.85 – DVD review (HomeMovies: The Pete Walker Collection by Ronnie Hackston)
Books
- The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror by Phil Hardy (ed.) p.302
- English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema by Jonathan Rigby pp.116, 230, 258-60, 259, 266, 276, 307, 328
- Film Review 1976-1977 by F. Maurice Speed p.170
- Hoffman’s Guide to SF, Horror and Fantasy Movies 1991-1992 p.179 – credits, review
- Horror and Science Fiction Films II by Donald C. Willis p.64
- Serial Killer Cinema: An Analytical Filmography by Robert Cetti p.215-216
- Uneasy Dreams: The Golden Age of British Horror Films, 1956-1976 by Gary A. Smith p.129
- X-Cert 2: The British Independent Horror Film 1971-1983 pp.145-150; 285-286
