House Of Mortal Sin

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Meanwhile Jenny needs her flat keys back, so she goes to see Father Meldrum (alone, as you would), where he rather lets the cat out off the bag: "Are you afraid of the man who defiled you? Then our star "Jenny" (Susan Penhaligon) meets up with her old school buddy (Norman Eshley) who is now a priest. A serious look at the theme of a respectable public person using their position to pass judgement on those they see as corrupt, done with elegance, wit and purposely indignant bad taste. But don't let anyone tell you that his magic touch finished with this savage attack on the hypocrisies of the Catholic church - it's worth hunting down his later works (Schizo and The Comeback), as they all display his bizarre, but entertaining, view of post 60s life. You might think, in this day and age, that making Catholic priests the subject of your ire is a bit like shooting fish in a barrel, but this is 1976, a very different time.

Meldrum arrives, strangles Vanessa, and at Brabazon's urging, murders his mother on the pretext of a mercy killing. When Jenny Welch (Susan Penhaligon) goes to confession and tells Father Meldrum that she has had an abortion, he decides that all those involved should be punished.

Much criticism has been leveled against this film for its unabashed attacks on Catholicism, but it's really Walker's trademark amoral approach to filmmaking that elicits a strong urge to take a hot bath after viewing.

After finding out that Meldrum tapes his confessions and uses them for blackmail, Jenny runs away (again), and is overjoyed (? The Confessional (1975) - Pete Walker - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie". Walker fails to bring any sensibility, other than the merely exploitative, to the grotesque material, this must be considered pretty irredeemable stuff, even for a horror film. Great performances from all involved with 2 lovely leading ladies in Susan Penhaligon and Stephanie Beacham. In THE CONFESSIONAL, that authority figure would be Father Xavier Meldrum (Anthony Sharp), a Catholic priest who tape records all his parishioners' confessions and murders those he considers too permissive.Add into the mix my favourite British scream queen, the uber-sexy Stephanie Beacham , as Penhaligon's flatmate who's herself busy tempting a younger colleague of Meldrums from the path of righteousness and the stage is set for a highly entertaining tale of repressed sexuality and Catholic guilt from the great Pete Walker! I may have remembered some of the movies more fondly than I should have and I blame this entirely on how much I love Sheila Keith. THE CONFESSIONAL is also known as HOUSE OF MORTAL SIN (also available on Blu-Ray from Redemption Films/Kino Lorber under this title) and THE CONFESSIONAL MURDERS. His style is certainly there, and his own Catholic background comes to the fore to caricature the church (via a dangerously repressed cleric) rather than (as many lapsed Catholics do) attack it. Anthony Sharp is wonderful as Father Meldrum, a mad-as-a-hatter old priest who becomes obsessed with lovely Susan Penhaligon after hearing her confession.